Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 9237 on Pensioners: Tax Rates and Bands, for what reason does Government not publish this data.

The Winter Fuel Payment continues to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low income pensioners who need it. This was a tough decision, but the right decision given the public finances.

The Winter Fuel Payment is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions on a household basis whereas taxpayer information is held by HMRC on individual basis. As such HMT does not hold this data at a household level.

DWP does however publish data on pensioner incomes; this can be found at Pensioners' Incomes Series: Financial year 2021 to 2022.