Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will be affected by the change in eligibility requirements for the Winter Fuel Payment in Winter 2024-25 in Louth and Horncastle constituency.

In Louth and Horncastle constituency, the estimated number of pensioners who will have Winter Fuel Payments withdrawn is 26,570.

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency, from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency (using the latest statistics, sources shown below). The Pension Credit data is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024 in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.

Please note that the below does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Furthermore, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Sources used:

winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)

Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)