Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) the withdrawal of winter fuel payments, (b) frozen tax thresholds and (c) state pension taxation on pensioner households.

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

The commitment to protect the Triple Lock saw over 12 million pensioners benefit from a 4.1% increase to their basic or new State Pension in April 2025. Over the course of this Parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is expected to increase by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecast.

The Personal Allowance will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in 2025/26. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax.

The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. The current Government is committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and so decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds at Budget 2025.

From this winter pensioners with incomes below or equal to £35,000 will benefit from Winter Fuel Payments from this winter. This threshold is broadly in line with average earnings. It ensures the vast majority of pensioners – over three quarters, and around 9 million individuals in England and Wales - will receive support. It also ensures the means testing of Winter Fuel Payments has no effect on pensioner poverty. The relevant impact assessments are available on gov.uk:

Equality Impact Assessments produced for targeting Winter Fuel Payment - GOV.UK

Winter Fuel Payments eligibility change - internal modelling on pensioner poverty levels - GOV.UK.