Huge number of pensioners impacted by winter fuel allowance cut in Somerset
Over 150,000 pensioners across Somerset will be impacted by the cuts to winter fuel payments, a new study has estimated. The cuts, which were announced by the government earlier this year, will affect approximately 151,380 local people according to bonus code guide No Deposit Rewards.
The research revealed that over a quarter of people in South Somerset (25.54%) and Somerset West and Taunton (25.73%) are 65 or older, the age at which you become eligible to apply for the payment. People in the South West were also found to face high rates of fuel poverty (13.1%), with an average fuel poverty gap of £521.
Date researcher and No Deposit Rewards Mason Jones said: “Communities in the South of England are going to play a critical role in supporting pensioners this winter. With reduced Winter Fuel Payments and rising energy prices, local initiatives like warm hubs and energy-saving advice will be more important than ever in areas like Dorset and the Isle of Wight."
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The government announced earlier this year that the winter fuel payment- which is worth £200, or £300 for some people born before September 23 1944 - will now be means tested. The BBC claims that over ten million people will lose their fuel payment because of the new measures.
The policy faced strong opposition, with 228 MPs voting against the new measures on Tuesday, September 10. Every Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Reform UK, Green Party, and Independent MP who voted voted to block the cut.
Just one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voted to block the winter fuel payment cuts. However, the government triumphed with 348 votes, all of which were from Labour MPs.
At the Labour Party Conference last week, party members voted to reverse the winter fuel cuts. However, this is not legally binding.
Defending the controversial policy, Labour Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: "Focusing winter fuel payments on the poorest pensioners wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make, but when we promised we could be trusted with taxpayers’ money – we meant it. And when we were faced with a £22bn black hole, which the Tories left this year, we had to act, because we know what happened when Liz Truss played fast and loose with the public finances.
"It was working people and pensioners on fixed incomes who paid the highest price. We took what I know is a difficult decision, but let me tell you, conference: this Labour government has done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years.”
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