Ashfield councillor calls for pension payment to mitigate loss of winter fuel allowance
An Ashfield county councillor, who is a member of the Nottinghamshire pension fund committee, has made a public call for a £300 one-off payment to be made to qualifying fund members who are to lose their winter fuel allowance.
The fund, worth approximately £6.1 billion, has 44,000 members, a significant number of whom will be impacted by the new Labour Government’s decision to end universal winter fuel payments and restrict eligibility.
Now, Coun Lee Waters (Ash Ind), who represents Hucknall South at County Hall and is pensions spokesperson for the Independent Alliance, has called for the pension fund to look into making a one-off payment to qualifying members to offset the loss of their winter fuel allowance.
The Alliance is the joint opposition with Labour on the Conservative-led authority.
Speaking at a pension fund meeting on September 12, Coun Waters formally asked the committee to investigate whether making a payment was possible.
Pension bosses will now look into the legalities of doing so.
Coun Waters has been an outspoken member of the committee since being elected back 2021 and in the past has led calls for council divestment in fossil fuel and tobacco companies.
He said: “Nottinghamshire’s pension fund is worth an estimated £6 billion and a huge number of its members will be impacted by the new Labour Government’s rushed decision to axe the universal winter fuel payments.
"It is common sense to look at how this wealthy pension fund can take positive steps to help members in their time of need and I am pleased that officers have agreed to look into this.”
In Nottinghamshire, nearly 90 per cent of pensioners will be unable to claim the winter fuel allowance following the decision by the Labour Government to end universal winter fuel payments and restrict eligibility.
According to the Nottinghamshire pension fund website, as of March 31, 2021, the fund was valued at approximately £6.1 billion, with around 300 contributing employers and around 44,000 contributing members.
Attempts by Opposition parties to force the Government to reverse its decision to scrap winter fuel allowance for many pensioners across the UK were defeated in the House of Commons this week when the Government won the vote on a Conservative-led motion to scrap the proposals.