Winter fuel payments cuts to put ‘huge strain’ on Nottinghamshire services

The new Government policy will cause ‘huge problems’ for many who will no longer be able to claim them, Nottinghamshire Council’s leader has said.

Just over 200,000 pensioners in the county received between £100 and £300 last winter towards their heating bills to get them through the colder months.

But after coming into power following the General Election last month, Labour announced that only people receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits will be eligible this winter.

This is around 22,000 people in Nottinghamshire, according to the Government’s data, meaning roughly 178,000 will lose out.

It’s also estimated that 10m fewer people will receive it nationally, saving £1.4bn this financial year in an attempt to balance the country’s finances.

It has led to many pensioners’ groups claiming older people will face a choice between heating or food this winter.

Coun Ben Bradley (Con), county council leader, said: “I think this is going to cause a huge problem for many pensioners this winter.

“Whilst there’s absolutely a case for saying that the richest don’t need it, that’s not what Labour are doing.

“They’re removing it from 90 per cent of older people, even those with low incomes and it’s going to be a huge additional strain on services.

"It’s pretty cold and callous from Labour.”

Age UK has started a petition against the cut, saying there was ‘virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners’.

They warn it will hit low-income people who just miss out on Pension Credit, and people with high energy needs because of disability or illness.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Lab) previously said it was necessary to fix a £22bn ‘black hole’ in public finances.

She said: “This is not a decision I wanted to make, nor is it one that I expected to make.

“But it is a necessary and urgent decision I must make.

"It is the responsible thing to do to fix the foundations of our economy and bring back economic stability.”