Sheffield Liberal Democrats demand action as huge number of pensioners lose winter fuel payments

The data shows although 87,880 pensioners in Sheffield received winter fuel payments in the 2022/23 financial year, a total of 74,951 (85 per cent) are expected to lose this type of benefit. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA WireThe data shows although 87,880 pensioners in Sheffield received winter fuel payments in the 2022/23 financial year, a total of 74,951 (85 per cent) are expected to lose this type of benefit. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
The data shows although 87,880 pensioners in Sheffield received winter fuel payments in the 2022/23 financial year, a total of 74,951 (85 per cent) are expected to lose this type of benefit. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Sheffield Liberal Democrats will call on the council to commission an awareness campaign around pension credits after the government’s announcement on winter fuel payment “indicates” 75,000 pensioners will lose access.

At next week’s full council meeting at Sheffield Town Hall, the LibDems will table a motion titled “Helping vulnerable residents impacted by changes to winter fuel payment eligibility”.

This comes after – as the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed – according to new data, almost 75,000 pensioners will no longer be eligible for winter fuel payments in Sheffield as the chancellor tries to fill a £22billion black hole in public finances.

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The data shows although 87,880 pensioners in Sheffield received winter fuel payments in the 2022/23 financial year, a total of 74,951 (85 per cent) are expected to lose this type of benefit.

In their motion for next week’s (Wednesday, September 4) meeting, the Liberal Democrats want the council to note (among other bits) that “only 63 per cent of families entitled to pension credits claim them, meaning the 800,000 households across the country missing out on this payment will now also not receive winter fuel payments”.

Also, they want the council to agree that “the ending of universal winter fuel payments combined with the increased energy price cap will push thousands of pensioners into fuel poverty, including in Sheffield” as well as “the threshold at which pensioners do not qualify has been set too low and many on lower and middle incomes will now not receive the payments”.

The Liberal Democrats, therefore, will call the chamber on to request the strategy and resources policy committee “to consider commissioning other relevant services to urgently commence an awareness campaign to maximise uptake of Pension Credits”.

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The group also wants leaders of the political parties to write to Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and ask her to suspend and review her policy.

The chancellor’s decision was also criticised by leading charity Age UK, saying it happened with “virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners”. It dubbed the move the “wrong policy decision”.

The charity warned that around two million pensioners who find paying their energy bills a real stretch would be seriously hit by this cut – including those on low incomes who just miss out on pension credit, those with high energy needs because of disability or illness and the 800,000 who don’t receive the pension credit despite being eligible.

Also, around one million extra elderly people with incomes below £50 per week will be struck by the loss of the payment, the charity estimates.

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