More than 11,000 pensioners in Slough could lose out on the winter fuel payment because of government cuts to the scheme, a councillor in Slough has claimed.
Parliament voted on Tuesday, September 10, to only pay the money – a sum of up to £300 to help with heating bills – to people receiving pension credit or some other means-tested benefits.
It means 10 million older people are likely to lose out, as previously the payment was available to anyone of pension age. Now Liberal Democrats want Slough Borough Council to call on the government to pause the cut until ‘a much fairer scheme can be found'.
Liberal Democrat councillor Frank O’Kelly said: “The Labour government’s plans to cut the payments will hit an estimated 11,216 pensioners across Slough.
READ MORE: How Slough MP voted on effort to keep winter fuel payments
“The government should only go ahead with cutting the winter fuel payments if the cuts can be restricted to those who clearly do not need the payments.”
Councillor O’Kelly has proposed that council leaders write to the government opposing the cut.
He also wants the council to run an ‘awareness campaign’ encouraging pensioners to apply for pension credit. This would make them still eligible to receive the winter fuel payment.
Councillor O’Kelly’s motion will be debated by councillors at a meeting on September 26 if it is accepted onto the agenda. Slough Borough Council leader Dexter Smith has said his Conservative group will back the motion, meaning it is likely to have enough votes in favour to pass.
He said: “The government must reverse this decision, which will adversely impact both a large number, and a large proportion, of pensioners in Slough.”
Sabia Akram, leader of the seven-strong Slough Independent Group of councillors, also said she backed the proposal – although her group hasn’t yet made a formal decision.
She said the Labour government had ‘adopted a Tory policy of austerity’. She said: “If they had real ideas on where to save and where to spend they'd have started with the corporates not those who barely make ends meet and are relying on foodbanks.”
Councillor Akram also said it was ‘disappointing but not surprising’ that Slough’s Labour MP Tan Dhesi voted against the motion in parliament to stop the cuts.
But Labour group leader councillor Pavitar Mann said the government was ‘committed to supporting the most vulnerable in our society’.
She said this was despite a need for ‘a series of difficult but necessary decisions’ after ‘the previous Tory government left this country in an utter mess’.
Councillor Mann said the Labour government would increase the state pension above inflation, and is investing in a plan to upgrade homes with insulation and low-carbon heating systems.
However she said she couldn’t say whether her group would back councillor O’Kelly’s motion until the final version was published in the meeting’s agenda next week.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here