Some expatriate pensioners living in the European Union will be eligible for a winter fuel allowance, while millions of people living in Britain will be left without one.
Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that pensioners in England and Wales who do not receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments worth between £100 and £300. The changes will begin next month.
Labour says the move will save around £1.4bn a year.
Because of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, some pensioners living in the EU will still be able to claim winter fuel benefit, even if their assets exceed the threshold recently imposed by Reeves for England and Wales.
Discrimination: Expat pensioners living in the EU will be entitled to a £300 winter fuel allowance, while millions living in Britain will not be covered by Rachel Reeves’ scheme.
British expats living in the EU, or in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are guaranteed benefits pending the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
According to The Telegraph, around 35,000 pensioners on the continent are expecting to receive the winter fuel subsidy.
On Friday, Ofgem revealed that the average household’s annual energy bill will rise by £149 under the new price cap in October.
The average amount gas and electricity customers will pay is £1,717 a year, representing a 10 per cent increase.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer said the decision to pay for universal winter fuel was necessary to patch what he said was a £22bn “hole” in the public finances.
He said the measure was “necessary to repair public finances.”
Reeves also defended the move this week: “It was a decision I had to make to put our public finances on a firm footing in incredibly challenging circumstances.”
The government has today called together energy chiefs to discuss how to help vulnerable families through the winter months.
The heads of Centrica, EDF, E.On, Octopus Energy, Scottish Power, Good Energy, Rebel Energy, Ovo, SoEnergy, Ecotricity and Utility Warehouse will meet the government at the roundtable.
The panel also includes representatives from Citizens Advice, Energy UK and Ofgem.
Carolyn Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said limiting winter fuel payments to pension credit or other benefits was “reckless and misguided” and “would spell disaster for pensioners on low and modest incomes”.
Age UK says it plans to challenge the decision and has launched a petition on the matter.
Citizens Advice chief Dame Claire Moriarty has called for a “social tax” in the form of a Concessions Bill for those who cannot afford it.
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