More than 90% of pensioners currently claiming the winter fuel payment in Bath and North East Somerset are set to lose it this winter, the local council has warned.
Bath & North East Somerset Council has resolved to write to the new Labour government urging it to abandon the plan to stop giving the winter fuel payment to all but the most vulnerable pensioners.
A motion from the Liberal Democrat group of councillors passed at the council’s meeting on Thursday 19th September warned that an estimated 32,414 pensioners in Bath and North East Somerset would no longer qualify for the £200–£300 benefit.
David Harding (Chew Valley, Liberal Democrat) warned councillors as he proposed the motion: “We can be in no doubt: people will die this winter because of this change.”
Michael Auton (Midsomer Norton North, Liberal Democrat) added: “Before I was elected as a ward councillor, I worked as a village agent, supporting people with a range of health and wellbeing challenges, many of whom lived on limited incomes.
“I have seen first-hand how crucial the winter fuel payment has been for so many people in our communities — and I am very concerned about how our elderly will manage if this payment is taken away.”
Mr Harding added: “While it is sensible to withdraw winter fuel payments from those who don’t need them, pension credit is an inadequate way of addressing this.
“880,000 households eligible for pension credit do not claim it. The line needs to be drawn elsewhere; the system needs adjustment for the very disadvantaged.”
But the council’s Labour group criticised what it dubbed in a statement as a political motion “in one of the country’s wealthiest areas”.
Group leader Robin Moss (Westfield, Labour) told the meeting: “If you look at the statistics for B&NES, it is working families that are struggling most with poverty. It is not older people within B&NES as a whole.”
He said: “We have got a Labour government for the first time in 14 years who have taken over in extremely difficult financial circumstances. There are difficult decisions that have to be taken.”
He said that the council should be finding people eligible for pension credit but not claiming it, but council cabinet member for resources Mark Elliot (Lansdown, Liberal Democrat) insisted: “We are doing a huge amount of work in that space already.”
The council is planning to write to everyone they believe is eligible to claim for pension credit but does not currently.
Tim Warren (Midsomer Norton Redfield, Conservative), said he thought Labour MPs had “probably held their nose and voted for it” and said he thought the Labour group in Bath and North East Somerset “don’t really agree with the way it is”.
He described the Labour group’s challenge to the motion as “going round and round in circles trying to defend the indefensible”.
He said: “You’ve got your multimillionaire pensioners … They don’t need it. But there’s ways and means of doing it and this certainly is not the way.”
Joanna Wright (Lambridge, Green) said: “Winter fuel decisions are made at a national level not at local councils. It’s ironic that after the long struggle to get the peace motion to B&NES full council, the local Lib Dems and Labour groups are now using a national issue for political point scoring.”
The motion was passed with 38 votes in favour, six votes against, and four abstentions.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse (also Liberal Democrat) has also criticised the government’s decision to cut the benefit.
She said: “The government has made a huge mistake in pushing forward plans to scrap the winter fuel payment. Stripping support from thousands of vulnerable pensioners in Bath just as energy bills are set to rise is cruel and completely unnecessary.
“I’m proud of my Bath & North East Somerset Council colleagues for taking all possible steps to support the most vulnerable elderly people in our communities.
“Together, we can hold the government to account and fight for a fair deal for pensioners in Bath.”
Under the government’s plan, you will still be eligible for a winter fuel payment — except under certain circumstances — if you were born before 23rd September 1958 and receive one of the following benefits:
- Pension credit
- Universal credit
- Income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), and income support.
Full details of whether you will be eligible can be seen here: https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
