Labour Party scraps Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners...

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£14k bonuses for civil servants who stripped pensioners of winter fuel payments



Top civil servants tasked with taking away pensioners’ winter fuel payments raked in annual bonuses of up to £14,000, figures show.

Nearly £12m of taxpayers’ money was paid in bonuses to over 80,000 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff last year.

This included 91 top-ranking officials who netted an average performance-related payment of £7,250, with the highest payout reaching £14,000.

In total, £634,685 was paid to high-ranking DWP staff – enough to pay for 3,000 pensioners’ energy bill support.

Sir Peter Schofield KCB, the department’s permanent secretary, received performance-related pay of between £10,000 and £15,000 last year, in addition to a salary of between £195,000 and £200,000.

Some £11.2m in bonuses was paid to 82,526 junior DWP staff, with the average payment of £150 and the largest at £214, according to data revealed through a Freedom of Information request by The Daily Mail. The £11.9m total was enough to pay for nearly 60,000 pensioners’ winter fuel payments.

Elliot Keck, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group, told The Telegraph: “These bonuses for bumbling bureaucrats are wildly unjustified given the catastrophic levels of fraud and error on DWP’s watch.

“While taxpayers face a budget of horrors, civil servants can sit comfortably knowing they have the pay, pensions and perks that the rest of the country can only dream of.

“Labour should put a stop to these rewards for failure and ensure that any future bonuses are based on a genuine improvement in results.”

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Reeves exposes her own hypocrisy over ‘freezing cold pensioners’



“I do not want to live in a country where so many people are priced out of heating their homes in the winter, or having to choose between sitting in a freezing cold flat and putting food on their table.” These are the words of Rachel Reeves when she sat on the opposition benches in 2018.

Fast-forward seven years, and her decision to axe the winter fuel payment for 10 million pensioners has left scores of retirees shivering at the start of 2025.

Charities have warned that Labour’s “chilling” policy has resulted in pensioners being admitted to hospital with pneumonia, and there were fears that the weekend’s cold snap would pose a danger to life as temperatures were tipped to plummet to as low as -10C.

Simon Francis, of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the Chancellor had forgotten about the concerns of adults living in “Dickensian conditions”.

He said: “When the Chancellor made the remarks in 2018, average energy bills were £700 less than they are today. Even then around three million households were in fuel poverty.

“Ms Reeves has forgotten the concerns of her constituents or she does not care about the very real health dangers of people living in cold damp homes.”

he NHS recommends heating homes to at least 18C and warns that colder temperatures can increase the likelihood of heart attacks and respiratory illnesses.

Around half of older people who have lost the winter fuel payment are going to bed earlier to avoid heating their home, according to a survey by the charity Independent Age.

Meanwhile, others have started skipping meals as they weigh up whether to save energy for heating or cooking.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told The Telegraph: “The cold weather will give millions a dilemma – to heat or not heat, that will be the question.”

It is the exact scenario Ms Reeves described in the House of Commons in 2018, when she claimed “I do not want to live in a country” where such realities come to pass.

At the Labour conference in 2022, the soon-to-be-Chancellor tugged at the heartstrings with her tale of meeting an elderly constituency member struggling with the cold.

“When I reached out to shake her hand, it was purple and freezing cold,” she said.

“Already back then, she was afraid to put the heating on, struggling to get by on the small pension that she had built up through a lifetime of work.

“As energy bills and inflation rise even higher, I often think of her. That is the stark reality facing people all around our country today.”

That stark reality, however, has only worsened since Ms Reeves took the reins of the country’s finances. Her purple-handed constituent could be one of the millions of pensioners to have lost their winter allowance, worth up to £300 per year.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Safir, of the National Pensioners Convention, said: “We have had some sad cases where people have said, ‘I am just above pension credit. I have lost the winter fuel payment. I do not know what to do. How am I going to get through this winter?’

“We had a story about someone’s uncle who was also in that scenario, started skipping meals, has not been putting the heating on, and ended up in hospital with pneumonia. These are real people.”

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Spotted an elderly neighbour taking advantage of the hot-drinks free refill offer at Morrisons, can't say I blame her. It's probably a lot warmer sitting in their café than it is at home? £1.85 for the first drink is a bit steep though if you're not going to take advantage of the refill offer.

Also, don't forget the 'Winter Warmer' £1 offer for the over-60s at ASDA.

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Coventry councillor 'supports' winter fuel allowance cut and explains why



A Coventry city councillor has expressed support for the cut to the winter fuel allowance brought in last year. Labour Cllr Pervez Akhtar claimed taxpayer money going to pensioners went straight to energy companies making "billions" in profit.

He said it was "wrong" the money was being "passed on" and an energy cap was a better solution. But his comments have met with criticism from opposition Conservative councillors at the authority.

Cllr Akhtar made the comments at a meeting this week (February 25). He addressed opposition councillor Marcus Lapsa who earlier in the meeting claimed pensioners had been "robbed" of their winter fuel allowance by the new Labour prime minister.

Cllr Akhtar said: "You criticise of [sic] winter allowances but I tell you I'm glad - you can put that and quote me - I'm glad they have abolished [sic]. Why? Because taxpayer money was paid to pensioners and that was straight away passed on to the energy companies and they were becoming billionaires.

"They were making profits in the billions. And yet you never had the decency to say that is wrong to pass on that money.

"The best way forward is to cap the energy bills," he added, as the chamber became increasingly noisy. Following the meeting senior Conservative councillors criticised the remarks which they shared in posts on X.

Group leader Cllr Gary Ridley accused Cllr Akhtar of "taking joy" at the axing of the winter fuel allowance. He added: "Absolutely shameful when so many pensioners in the city are suffering."

Deputy leader of the group Cllr Peter Male said: "Absolutely shocking comments when so many pensioners, here in #Coventry, have been impacted by the Labour government's decision to remove the Winter Fuel Allowance."

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Cllr Akhtar misses the point that in passing the money on, the pensioners are able to remain warm

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Freezing pensioners huddle in ‘warm rooms’ after Starmer’s winter fuel blow



The first signs of green shoots and warmer temperatures are welcomed by pensioners in Selly Oak, Birmingham, relieved to get some reprieve from the cold.

Unlike the vast majority of households who have long forgotten about the energy crisis, people here are still living it.

“Especially being on my own, it is hard at times,” says Myra Kemp, a 73-year-old pensioner.

“That’s why I go out with my free bus pass round different places on the bus, sometimes going to charity shops. Instead of being in the house, I’m in the warmth and I’m doing something.”

Kemp is one of millions of pensioners who took a £300-a-year hit when Rachel Reeves scrapped the winter fuel payment last July, the timing of which couldn’t have been worse.

Energy costs have been steadily rising since the controversial policy change, with regulator Ofgem confirming last month that gas and electric bills will jump from £1,738 per year to £1,849.

“I feel betrayed,” says Sue Wiseman, 73. “A lot of us now are thinking we might as well have voted for Nigel Farage. You think ‘well, he is a buffoon’ but the thing is he has got some truths whereas Starmer led us up the garden path.”

Wiseman and Kemp are among the many pensioners struggling to afford energy bills who visit the Brandwood Centre for Warmth every week.

It is one of 350 such warm spaces that have opened since 2021 across the UK, typically expanding existing community centres with funding from gas network supplier Cadent.

The rise of warm centres is an eerie nod to the 2010s when the number of Britain’s food banks mushroomed into the thousands.

For Brandwood’s pensioners, the centre is a lifeline. Pat Watson, its manager, has run the community space for more than two decades but started offering it specifically as a warm space at the height of the energy crisis. She has been taken aback by the many pensioners still struggling with their energy bills and coming to her for help.

“I can’t believe the influx of elderly people,” she adds. “After 20-odd years of being here, I was quite shocked by it. This is really problematic for them. They’re really struggling. It’s great they’re coming here but it is shocking how many now use the Centre for Warmth. We’ve had a few people say, ‘We would not be here if the centre wasn’t here.’

“You just feel sad about it.”

These scenes are playing out across the country, says Phil Burrows, from Cadent, who has overseen the rollout of warm spaces and has observed a clear rise in demand from pensioners over the past year. Burrows blames the winter fuel payment cuts and rising heating bills.

“They’re using it more and more and at key times to make sure they’re not using their energy at home,” he says. “They can’t afford it.

“With the changes in the winter fuel payment, there are certain people who sit above the threshold who just cannot afford it any more. They are massively impacted. With the energy price cap and the 6.4pc increase [in bills] – if you’re struggling to live, they’re huge numbers.”

At the Brandwood Centre, the proud pensioners find it uncomfortable to let on they are struggling. Often they only admit it when sitting across from Donna Read, the space’s benefits and debt adviser, with energy bills featuring prominently in the conversations.

“Until I shut this door and people have sat down and started to tell me what they need help with, you wouldn’t know,” she says. “After people are in tears. There has been a huge increase in people suffering ill mental health – both pensioners and younger families.”

Such pressures mean many have come to regard heating as a luxury. Margaret Clay, 77, [pictured] comes to the centre twice a week and keenly felt the loss of her winter fuel payment.

“It does make a difference,” she says, but adds she still considers herself fortunate that she can at least afford to put the heating on for short bursts.

“I just sit with my duvet [when it gets too cold],” says Clay. “And I don’t do my washing as much as now.”

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My views on Starmer and his rabble government are simply unprintable

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No 10 won't U-turn on winter fuel policy despite admitting it hurt them in local elections



The government has doubled down on its unpopular decision to cut winter fuel payments, despite admitting it hurt the Labour Party in the local elections.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has come under growing pressure to re-think the controversial policy, as ministers acknowledged the public's anger over the decision to means-test the previously universal benefit contributed to Labour's hammering at the ballot box.

Wales' First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan on Tuesday became the latest senior Labour figure to call for a government U-turn, saying "it's something that comes up time and again".

However, the prime minister would not respond to questions from broadcasters on whether he is re-thinking the policy.

Starmer confirmed he held a Cabinet meeting on this issue on Tuesday morning, adding: "I think it's really important that we indicate to voters that we get it. I think we need to explain the decisions we've taken - we had to stop the chaos, we had to stabilise the economy."

The prime minister's official spokesman also confirmed “there will not be a change to the government’s policy” and that the decision “was one that we had to take to ensure economic stability and repair the public finances following the £22 billion black hole left by the previous government”.

He added that the government will not be “blown off course” after the local election results, insisting: “We were elected as a stable and serious party after 14 years of chaos and decline.”

The spokesman suggested there were other ways the government was supporting pensioners, pointing to an expected £1,900 increase in the state pension over the course of the Parliament and an extension to the household support fund.

Media reports suggested changes were being considered to restore the payments to some who lost the handouts worth up to £300.

Cabinet minister Wes Streeting earlier admitted to ITV News that the policy was a "big issue" at the ballot box last week but said there was no formal review taking place, despite reports.

He told ITV News: "I'm not going to insult your viewers by pretending winter fuel hasn't been a big issue on the doorstep, it has... And at the ballot box, there's no doubt about that."

"We have taken last Thursday's results on the chin, we know that unless people feel change ion their lives they will look for change elsewhere."

Asked why the government won't look into this, he replied: "I know that winter fuel hasn't been popular... I'm not aware of any plans to change that policy."

On Friday, Labour lost the previously safe Runcorn and Helsby constituency in a by-election and almost 200 councillors as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made sweeping gains in last week’s elections.

Lady Morgan also fears Reform making significant gains in Wales at next year’s Senedd election.

In a speech in Cardiff, she said there were “two Labour governments working together” in Cardiff Bay and Westminster but insisted she would challenge Sir Keir where they disagreed.

Lady Morgan said: “The cut in winter fuel allowance is something that comes up time and again, and I hope the UK Government will rethink this policy.”

She also said the UK Government’s welfare reform proposals “are causing serious concern here, where we have a higher number of people dependent on disability benefits than elsewhere”.

Asked about her comments, Starmer's press secretary said: “We won’t agree on everything, but we are aligned in our mission to deliver security and renewal for working people.”

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Starmer announces U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts



Sir Keir Starmer has announced a U-turn on last year's controversial cuts to winter fuel payments.

More than nine million pensioners lost out on the payments, worth up to £300, after eligibility for the pension top-up was tightened last year.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said ministers would look again at the threshold to allow "more pensioners" to qualify again.

He did not provide further details, adding that the changes would be made at a future Budget.

But he added the government would only "make decisions we can afford".

The winter fuel payment is a lump-sum amount of £200 a year for pensioners under 80, increasing to £300 for over-80s, paid in November or December.

Around nine million pensioners lost out on the payments last year after the government restricted them to those who qualify for pension credit and other income-related benefits, to save an estimated £1.4bn.

Some Labour MPs have blamed the policy for losses at last month's local elections, where the party lost around two-thirds of the seats it was defending.

Grumbling from MPs generally on the Labour left spread into the party more widely, and even MPs who defended the policy said it was the most frequently raised issue by members of the public.

The policy has also faced fierce criticism from pensioner charities, and has been opposed by all the main opposition parties at Westminster.

Downing Street ruled out changes earlier this month, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves hinted at a change in position earlier this week, saying she was listening to "concerns" about the policy.

The income threshold to qualify for pension credit this year is £11,800 for individuals and £18,023 for pensioner couples.

Providing an alternative way to qualify for the payments could create administrative hurdles for ministers and officials.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, a spokesman for the prime minister was unable to say how many more pensioners would be eligible for the benefit under the U-turn.

And he declined to guarantee it would be in place this coming winter, but added: "We obviously want to deliver this as quickly as possible.

"We will only make decisions when we can say where the money is coming from, how we're going to pay for it and that it's affordable," he added.