Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
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Winter Fuel Payment
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(3 days, 14 hours ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. On the facts about growth, we inherited forecasts from the previous Government for 2025 growth where we would have been seventh out of seven in the G7. In quarter 1 of this year we were first out of seven in the G7, so we will not take any lectures from him about the growth performance of the economy. He asked about the costings of the policy. The costings of the previous policy included assumptions about take-up of pension credit, so that pension credit increase figure was already in the costings for the previous policy. The costings of this policy will be certified by the OBR and scored at the Autumn Budget, and we will set out what he asks for.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I commend my noble friend the Minister on the courageous decision to make the necessary changes to the winter fuel payment and bring some joy to many pensioners. The Government should be congratulated on actually listening to what the people are saying. In that respect and under the principle of parity as it relates to the payment of benefits in Northern Ireland, can the Minister outline what discussions have taken place between the Treasury, the Department for Communities and the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland about ensuring that pensioners—I declare an interest—qualify for this restoration of the winter fuel payment?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend for her question. As she knows much better than I do, winter fuel payments are transferred in Northern Ireland. The Minister for Pensions spoke to his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Government yesterday. We are of course very conscious of the need for sufficient lead-in time so that the necessary policies can be put in place in good time for this winter. The Northern Ireland Executive will receive a mechanical uplift in their funding as a result of this change in England and Wales.