H&F Labour Refuses to Back Winter Fuel Payment Motion
Rejects specific measures to relieve distress at council meeting
Many pensioners are set to lose an annual payment of £300. Picture: PickPik
October 28, 2024
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has refused a call to introduce specific support for low-income pensioners having their Winter Fuel Allowance cut, instead opting to pass a motion effectively congratulating itself on other ways it helps older people. The borough’s Labour administration rejected a motion tabled by Conservative councillors at a Full Council meeting on Thursday (17 October), calling for financial help for those facing their first winter without the Government payment to help cover energy bills.
An amended motion pointed to a range of initiatives the council already runs helping vulnerable people in the borough, in particular its flagship free home care scheme. Conservative councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure had called on the authority to help ease the shock of the cuts, saying they will leave some having to ‘scramble to make both ends meet this winter’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced soon after taking office that the scheme would become means-tested as she looks to plug a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances. Those in receipt of pension credit, which is available to those of state pension age and on a low income, and certain other benefits, will continue to be eligible.
Introducing the motion, Cllr Pascu-Tulbure asked the Labour bench how many of them would have guessed one of the Government’s first moves would be to ‘take an axe’ to the payment. He said the decision to means-test the allowance in the way the Government has will result in low-income pensioners being hard-hit.
“To put it in plain English, that means someone on as little as £12,000 a year will see up to £300 taken away from them and will have to scramble to make both ends meet this winter,” he said. He suggested the administration should look to do four things: identify which households need assistance; launch an awareness campaign; draw up options for direct help to those most in-need; and lobby the Government against implementing its planned cut-off point.
The motion came just a day after Tower Hamlets Council, which is run by the left-wing party Aspire, approved a one-off £175 payment for low-income pensioners, in place of the Winter Fuel Allowance. Cllr Rowan Ree, Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, told the chamber the Conservative speeches on the Winter Fuel Allowance had been concerned with central Government policy, and not what the council is already doing.
He turned the tables on the Conservatives, highlighting the council’s initiatives such as its decade of free home care and cutting the charges for meals on wheels, while accusing the Tories of voting against those measures.
Speaking of the free home care scheme, he said: “It’s a shame that given the continued opportunity to support this policy over the last decade they have consistently voted against the funding to continue it. But this is a common theme. We heard of nothing from the opposition when the last Tory Government decided to end the household support fund, something the new Government is extending.”
Cllr Ree added that some of Cllr Pascu-Tulbure’s suggestions, such as reaching out to those requiring assistance, are already in motion, with the council working to get in touch with residents eligible for but currently missing out on pension credit. The amended motion was agreed along party lines.
The cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance has caused consternation in Labour ranks. A total of 52 Labour MPs abstained from the vote on the motion in Parliament in September, though many of these are reported to have been given prior permission to not attend. One, Jon Trickett, voted for the opposition motion to scrap the removal.
The Winter Fuel Payment scheme was introduced in 1997 by former Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown. The changes announced by Ms Reeves are expected to reduce the number of people receiving the money nationally from more than 11 million to about 1.5 million.
A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said, “We’ve invested more than £11m to provide much-needed cost-of-living support to our residents which includes dedicated support for older residents in need in H&F.
“As well as being the only council in the country to provide free home care to older and Disabled residents, residents in need who lost their Winter Fuel Allowance can apply for up to £300 with our Crisis Prevention Fund.
“We’re working with partners to ensure all eligible residents apply for Pension Credit and subsequently will then receive their Winter Fuel Allowance too, and we’re working on £1.4m of additional support for residents with the government’s extension of the Household Support Fund.
“We’ve helped 5,000 older residents benefit from our Council Tax Reduction Scheme and provided more than £3.2m via our Third Sector Investment Fund to local groups including those supporting older residents.
“This year we will again be holding our annual free Big H&F Christmas Day Lunch for up to 500 older residents who would otherwise be alone on Christmas Day. This is all part of our continued work to make H&F a stronger and kinder borough for all.”
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter