Portsmouth councillors have welcomed the government’s reversal on Winter Fuel Payment cuts, with the benefit now extended to 75 per cent of pensioners across England and Wales.
The policy change overturns contentious reductions announced last July, which would have limited the payment – worth between £100 and £300 – to pensioners with incomes below £12,000.
Previously, approximately 25,000 Portsmouth pensioners faced losing the support, leading Portsmouth City Council to establish its own Older Person’s Energy Payment Scheme as a response.
The updated eligibility criteria now includes pensioners earning up to £35,000 annually.
Liberal Democrat council leader Steve Pitt expressed his delight at the government’s policy reversal, noting that the council intervened last winter to protect “around 1,300 additional pensioner households” from fuel poverty.
“Hopefully, the government will learn from this and not leave the local government to do what it can to fix their mistakes, as resources are already stretched and pressure on funding grows every day,” Pitt stated.
Portsmouth Council had earlier approved a motion, proposed by Conservative councillor Spencer Gardner, demanding the policy’s reversal, which gained support across party lines, including from Labour members.
Gardner said the outcome demonstrated that “campaigning works” and highlighted how the cuts had pushed pensioners into difficult decisions, including “turning off their heating or having to eat less”. He reported receiving distressing calls from “residents in tears” regarding the loss of financial support.
Labour group leader Charlotte Gerada praised the decision, attributing the Chancellor’s move to improving economic conditions. Nevertheless, she criticised the Liberal Democrat-controlled council for failing to fully allocate last year’s Household Support Fund.
She maintained the funding was “vital” and claimed the administration had withheld money that should have reached struggling residents directly.
Portsmouth Independent Party leader George Madgwick endorsed the reversal whilst describing it as “too little too late.
Following “14 years of Tory U-turns,” he expressed disappointment that “Labour make the same mistakes”.
