Age UK warns that two million pensioners could be in serious trouble this winter
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves pledged to press ahead with her winter fuel squeeze on pensioners today despite warnings that she is risking a public health crisis.
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“It’s not a decision I wanted to make, but a decision I had to make in incredibly challenging circumstances to put the public finances on a firm footing,” she said, while also not ruling out tax rises in her October Budget.
Bosses attending the talks with Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh are set to increase average household bills by £149 from October following a green light for the rise in the price cap from regulator Ofgem.
At the same time, the government is looking to save £1.4 billion by axing winter fuel payments from all pensioners not in receipt of pensions credit or other means-tested assistance.
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Charity Age UK said it “strongly” opposed Ms Reeves’s benefit cut, which would mean “as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in serious trouble as a result.”
Simon Francis, of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, warned that “this has the potential to create a public health emergency which will actually create more pressure on the under-pressure NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix.”
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