Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of changing the eligibility criteria for the winter fuel payment on (a) the number of additional patients that will require NHS treatment as a consequence of that decision and (b) other NHS services in Essex.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it.

The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1^st October 2024 until 31^st March 2025.  An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.