Winter Fuel Payment

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Torsten Bell]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and he is right to say that we should focus on the big changes we are making to support pensioners, which in England are rescuing the NHS and raising the basic and the new state pension.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for his statement. I very much welcome the decision to give the winter fuel payment back to pensioners. Raising the threshold to £35,000 means that many will now qualify, and I thank him for that. On behalf of all of those pensioners who have struggled for the last 10 months, will they receive back pay from the Government to pay off the credit cards or the loans they have had to take out in order to make it through the last winter, bearing in mind that the cold weather over the last few weeks has meant people are still having to turn their heating on and racking up even more costs?

[Torsten Bell]

We have been making sure that there has been support over the course of the last winter, and the hon. Gentleman will have seen the increase in the state pension at the beginning of April, including for many of his constituents. The question for the Northern Ireland Executive is how they wish to handle this, but on the principle of parity, we would say that the same change should take place in Northern Ireland so that his constituents receive the winter fuel payment this winter.