More than half of Scots oppose winter fuel payment ‘madness’

More than half of Scots are opposed to the “madness” to stripping the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest pensioners, a new poll has found.
The decision by the UK and Scottish governments to end the universal payment for 890,000 older people has proved controversial.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs and pressure is mounting about a potential about-turn on the policy at the party’s conference next month.
The change was mirrored by the Scottish government when SNP ministers blamed the Treasury for cutting £160 million with its decision on the benefit. The Scottish government gave local authorities almost £210 million this year to fund a council tax freeze.
Research by the market research company Norstat found that 56 per cent of people believe that the allowance, which is worth £300 to those aged above 80, should be available to every pensioner regardless of income.
By contrast, 32 per cent said it should go only to those who claim means-tested benefits, while 11 per cent did not know and 1 per cent refused to give a view.
Adam Stachura, policy director at Age Scotland, said: “It is glaringly obvious that if you have something like this baked into the state pension system for 20 years it’s going to hurt huge numbers of people. To end it so suddenly without warning is madness in lots of ways.
“There are more than 400,000 pensioners in Scotland in fuel poverty, which includes 275,000 people who are about to lose the winter fuel payment. It demonstrates why the universality of this entitlement is so important, as everyone who really needs it gets it. We know that more than eight in 10 pensioners feel the payment is important to their winter energy budgeting.
“Our survey last year found that three quarters of older people were feeling the financial squeeze. Of those, 97 per cent said that energy bills were their biggest worry and that was when they had the winter fuel payment. For the UK government to take that away when energy bills are increasing again is a recipe for disaster.”
Ofgem, the energy watchdog, announced last week that energy bills would rise by an average of £12 a month — or £149 a year — from October 1. It is the first time that the energy watchdog has raised the price cap since January last year, with experts predicting it will be increased again next January.
UK ministers have privately admitted “deep concern” about the impact of removing the allowance for those not on benefits, amid claims there is “widespread support” within Labour for a U-turn.
Voters were more relaxed about the other controversial social security policy being debated within the UK government.
A total of 43 per cent of people said that removing the two-child benefit cap should not be a priority, compared with 35 per cent who said it should be. The remaining 23 per cent were either unsure or refused to answer.
Last week, Torsten Bell, a parliamentary private secretary to Pat McFadden, the cabinet office minister, said that the cap would not be lifted in this autumn’s budget.
Norstat interviewed 1,011 adults in Scotland between August 20 and 22.