‘Astonishingly brutal’: 270,000 Scots pensioners already in energy poverty will have winter fuel payment scrapped

A staggering 270,000 Scots pensioners already living in energy poverty will be plunged into further misery by having their winter fuel payments scrapped, we can exclusively reveal.

New analysis by older people’s charity Age Scotland highlights the “astonishingly brutal” impact the cut would have on some of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.

It found 890,000 Scots receiving the state pension will no longer get the payment if the Scottish Government follows Labour’s decision to remove it from those ineligible for pension credit or another benefit in England and Wales.

The SNP government has so far failed to say what it will do but First Minister John Swinney admitted the move will lead to “tough decisions” in Scotland.

Age Scotland estimates 39% of pensioners in Scotland – a total of 397,000 people – were living in fuel poverty last year.

The figure is based on more up-to-date research than the 2022 percentage of 36% often cited by the Scottish Government.

Of that group, 270,000 are not eligible for pension credit so will have the winter fuel payment taken away.

Helpline inundated with calls

Age Scotland says its helpline has been flooded with calls from desperate older people unsure how they are going to cope if the benefit is scrapped with little notice ahead of the cold winter months.

The charity says one woman who spent last winter wrapped in a duvet, boiling her kettle only once a day to save electricity told call handlers her situation is “an absolute nightmare and it’s only going to get worse”.

It believes the pension credit threshold is far too low and is calling on the UK Government to “think again and reverse this bitter blow”.

Age Scotland’s policy director Adam Stachura said: “This new measure will mean that well over a quarter of a million pensioners living on the lowest incomes and in fuel poverty will have between £200-£300 a year taken away during a cost of living and energy price crisis. It is astonishingly brutal.

“This might have looked like a simple cut to make on paper for the UK Government, but it will have a devastating impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of pensioners in Scotland as it has become an essential element of the state pension over the last two decades.

“The pension credit threshold for future support is a draconianly low line and switching off the winter fuel payment for almost 900,000 Scottish pensioners with a few months’ notice will no doubt leave many Labour politicians very uncomfortable.

“It’s not just the pensioners of today who are angry about losing this hard won and well-earned financial support which they have contributed to for decades, but younger people should be too as something they will really need in the future has disappeared in a puff of smoke.”

Who is responsible for the payment?

Responsibility for the winter fuel payment is set to be transferred to the Scottish Government in September and replaced with a Holyrood-managed equivalent – the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

The government estimated nearly one million Scots who were eligible for the UK payment would receive between £100 and £300 regardless of their annual income.

It needs £180 million to fund the payment this year but ministers say the chancellor’s announcement south of the border means funding from Westminster will now be cut to around £80 million.

Labour says it has been forced to scrap the universal entitlement to fill a £22 billion budget blackhole left by the Conservatives.

One Scots pensioner revealed he will be forced to take cold showers and give up his television if his payment is scrapped.

Retired agricultural worker John says he does not know how he will make it through the winter and fears many older people will die in desperate conditions.

The 74-year-old, who lives in Reiss near Wick, already lives frugally, cuts his own hair and says he rarely goes out.

John is forced to go to bed early in the winter because he cannot afford to heat the one bedroom bungalow he shares with his cat.

Payment cut is ‘cruel’

His state pension and small private pension take his income to less than £14,000 a year but he has been told he is not entitled to any further support.

John said it is “cruel” and “evil” for the government to focus on those who can least afford to plug a gap in the nation’s finances.

He said: “I don’t grumble about my situation but I just don’t want to worry about basic bills like eating or heating my house on the coldest days.

“I struggle now so I don’t know how I’m going to find that extra money.

“I have a very modest tiny little one bedroom bungalow. In the afternoon, when it’s cold, I just go to bed.

“I don’t want to go to bed at 3pm but there’s nothing else I can do to stay warm.

“The only thing I have to make up the difference is that I still have my television.

“It’s about 27 years old but the licence fee is the only thing I’ve got that I can stop to keep myself above water.

“That’s all I can do and then hope that we have a mild winter.”

Regional households to be battered

Tory MSP Miles Briggs, the shadow cabinet secretary for social security, housing and equalities, warned the “attack” on older Scots comes hot on the heels of an effective ban on wood burning stoves being installed in newly built homes.

He said this will have a dramatic impact on households in the coldest areas of Scotland.

Briggs said: “Labour would have everyone believe they were taking payments from millionaires. But these huge numbers show just how many Scots will be pushed into fuel poverty, or even further into deprivation.

“Scotland, with its large rural population, will be disproportionately impacted by Keir Starmer’s political decision.”

The UK Government insisted it is “committed” to pensioners.

It said: “We said we would be honest with the public and, given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, this government must take difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy.

“In these circumstances it is right that winter fuel payments are targeted at those in most need, and we will work with local authorities to boost the uptake of pension credit, reaching the many pensioners who could still benefit from this year’s winter fuel payments.”

It is estimated 65,000 people who are eligible for pension credit are not currently claiming it.

Age Scotland is asking people to contact its helpline on 0800 12 44 222 to check if they are missing out on any support they are entitled to.