Labour’s decision to cut Winter Fuel Payments has been a real blow for millions of older people (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
When I got up this chilly morning and switched on my heating I wondered how many older people had decided they couldn’t afford to turn on theirs and were trying to manage without it.
Make no mistake, the Government’s shock decision to sharply curtail eligibility for has been a real blow for millions of older people living below the poverty line or only just above it, or who have unavoidably high energy bills due to ill-health or disability.
There are some two and a half million in this position, who will now find it extremely difficult to keep their homes warm, without the that would have helped them pay their energy bills. What makes their situation worse is that these bills are rising by ten percent – just at the time when the temperature is dropping.
This combination of circumstances is a for many hard-up pensioners to ration their heating and to try to limit their energy use in other ways too, in the hope of avoiding going into debt.
We know that some older people have stopped using their cookers and are living off cereal and sandwiches, while others are cutting down on showers, and spending longer in bed than is good for them. It’s a miserable position for any older person to be in. No wonder there has been such a strong reaction against the Government’s decision.
As MPs return to Parliament all eyes are on the Budget at the end of October. This is the best chance – and one of the last ones too – for the Government to avert a looming disaster for pensioners on low and modest incomes this winter. Ideally, they will decide to keep as a universal payment this year, pending the Spending Review in the Spring. If they choose to press on though they must bring in measures to greatly expand the numbers who will still receive , by automatically giving it to those receiving Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, and Carers Allowance.
This is a partial solution but won’t help every older person we worry about, so further help is also required, for example, for those who do not receive a full .
The fact is though, if the Government brings no additional measures forward at all I fear for the health and wellbeing of many pensioners living in vulnerable situations this winter.
Caroline Abrahams is Charity Director at Age UK