DWP outcry as rules mean many pensioners just miss out on Winter Fuel Payment
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA group of MPs is demanding a more generous threshold for access to Pension Credit and the Winter Fuel Payment. An early day motion has been tabled, arguing that pensioners with modest incomes are narrowly missing out on the £200 or £300 payment.
The eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment has been altered by Labour so that it's no longer a universal state pension age benefit.
Now, only those on certain means-tested benefits will receive the support, including those on Pension Credit. The motion states: "That this House notes that the current threshold of pension support to open the gateway of winter fuel allowance is too low; further notes the need to change the cliff-edge nature of the Pension Credit threshold".
17 Labour MPs have expressed their support for the motion, which "calls upon the Government to capture the gateway support for those citizens with small occupational pensions that take them just above the threshold".
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