Winter Fuel Payment to be means-tested after MPs vote, affecting 900,000 Scots

MPs have voted in favour of means-testing the Winter Fuel Payment today in the House of Commons.

The Labour Government's plans to halt all pensioners from receiving the benefit were opposed by the Tories, but the vote passed with 348 votes to 228 on Tuesday afternoon.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sparked outrage in July when she revealed plans to deduct up to £300 from ten million pensioners by means-testing the payment. Her proposals, aimed at saving £1.5bn, have been met with criticism as older individuals on modest incomes will be hit during a period of escalating energy costs.

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Approximately 900,000 older Scots will lose out due to this reduction. Most of those who remain eligible for the payment receive Pension Credit.

The Scottish Government has postponed plans to offer a similar universal benefit this winter due to insufficient funds. It attributed a loss of £160 million to the decision made by the UK Government.

This follows former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard's call for the UK Government to abandon the plans. Speaking to the Record, Leonard said: "For me the treatment of our older citizens is a test of our values as a society.", reports the Daily Record.

He added: "We know the oldest pensioners are the poorest pensioners: many of them older women with no occupational pensions."

"And we know that providing universal support to reach everyone who needs it is not only morally right, it is much cheaper than means testing."

He concluded: "This plan should be scrapped and replaced with a wealth tax."

A Labour minister highlighted on Tuesday that "plenty of very wealthy pensioners" could manage without the winter fuel payment.

During a Westminster Hall debate, Work and Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds remarked: "In protecting the poorest pensioners on the lowest incomes and with the greatest need, it is the right decision given the tough choices that we face."

She further clarified her stance by saying, "Just to be very, very clear, I have spoken to a number of (MPs) present about the Government's decision and there actually is fairly widespread agreement that this benefit should not be universal."

Reynolds added, "There are plenty of very wealthy pensioners who are getting transfers of £200, or £300 if they're over 80, into their bank account and who don't need it, so it's right that we target this support on the poorest pensioners."