Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making people with less than 12 months to live to automatically eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment.

This Government remains completely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners, ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they need; this includes people with a terminal illness who are eligible. There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria.

To ensure that Winter Fuel Payments are received by those on the lowest incomes, the Government is determined to do everything it can to maximise take-up of Pension Credit which provides a safety net for the pensioners on the lowest incomes and opens the door to other benefits including the Winter Fuel Payment.

For disabled pensioners or those with long-term health conditions, the “extra costs” disability benefits, including those provided for by the Scottish Government, provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid in addition to any other benefits received.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment and without serving waiting periods – and, in most cases, they receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have 6 months or less to live and have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.