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 exempting war (a) widows and (b) widowers from changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment.

This Government is committed to pensioners. Everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

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.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households that need it most, that is, those receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. These are, Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80. This approach retains support for pensioners on low incomes.

We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we are urging pensioners to come forward and check their eligibility for Pension Credit to ensure as many people in need as possible have access to this support. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them.

Other measures to support pensioners include the State Pension, which is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so, protecting 12 million pensioners through the Triple Lock. Based on current forecasts, the full rate of the new state pension is set to increase by around £1,700 over the course of this Parliament.

The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund 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.