Waltham Forest Council, local MPs, and the Treasury have stepped up efforts to get those eligible to sign up for pension credit so they can keep their winter fuel allowance, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter & Marco Marcelline

Main image credit: aliaksandrbarysenka via Canva

Eligible residents in Waltham Forest are being encouraged to sign up for pension credit and other benefits in order to keep their winter fuel allowances.

The annual payment, aimed at people over the retirement age, has not been scrapped entirely but it will no longer be available for all.

Only people who receive pension credit or are eligible for others, including universal credit and income support, will be able to claim it this winter.

The Treasury has urged eligible Brits to apply but the Department for Work and Pensions estimates that some 780,000 will unknowingly lose out.

National data shows there are around 3,300 people in Waltham Forest eligible for pension credit who have not yet applied.

Council leader Grace Williams said: “We know there are high levels of fuel poverty in Waltham Forest and we have an important role to play to ensure that we are effectively supporting pensioners to get the help they need during the winter months and beyond.”

She added the council was hosting an awareness campaign to encourage older residents to check if they are eligible, which will include “targeted approaches” and borough-wide messaging.

She said: “We are keen to work with the government to better understand who is entitled to pension credit so we can take as targeted an approach as possible.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to support our residents who are facing financial challenges, and there is a wide range of support and services available in the borough.

The government won a vote on its plan to rein in the winter fuel allowance earlier this month by 348 votes to 228 – a majority of 120.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the cuts will save £1.5billion amid criticism of his efforts to “stabilise” the UK economy.

The £200-£300 payment was launched in 1997, under the last Labour government, to help older people heat their homes in the colder months.

Cllr Williams added the “welcome extension” of the Household Support Fund (HSF) would “further enable us to provide targeted help to those who need it most”.

The HSF was initially set to end on 30th September but has been extended until March 2025. Last year, London borough councils spent £135.7million through the HSF on families living in the capital.

The decision to restrict the winter fuel payment was backed by Labour MPs Calvin Bailey and Stella Creasy, while Chingford and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan Smith, a Tory, opposed it.

Leyton and Wanstead MP Calvin Bailey told the Echo he voted in favour of the government’s move in order to “repair the utter mess the Tories have left for our public finances, and prevent the kind of spikes in prices, mortgages, and rents that we all saw caused by Tory recklessness under Liz Truss”.

Clarifying that he was “not happy” to vote to cut winter fuel allowance, he said he understood that some of his constituents would be “negatively affected” and would seek to support them.

He said: “After holding my first surgery last Friday, I’m going to offer some specialised surgery slots over the coming weeks to help older constituents with their applications. There is a range of help that pensioners in need can access even if they aren’t eligible for pension credit.”

Meanwhile, Creasy, writing to constituents about the issue, said she “did not pretend” it was an easy decision to vote for the cut. Stating she had “longstanding concerns about low take up of any support by older age groups”, she added that it was “right to ask” if pension credit entitlement was the appropriate threshold for means testing.

However, she cited government mitigation efforts, including a dedicated team of staff who were processing pension credit claims up to the 21st December deadline and a widespread awareness campaign around the pension credit, as reasons why she had voted for the cut.

Check your eligibility for pension credit and sign up here

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.