Winter Fuel Payment

Lord Harries of Pentregarth Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[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.

[Lord Harries of Pentregarth (CB)]

I welcome the new policy, but does the Minister agree that the public would find it helpful if some thinking was given by the Government about the choice of the figure of £35,000? I have no feelings one way or the other, but I think the general public might find it helpful to find some kind of rationale behind this figure. Why was it not higher or lower? Why that particular figure?