Lack of winter fuel payment ‘might be unpopular’ as snow falls, Streeting admits
Wes Streeting has acknowledged withdrawing winter fuel payments from pensioners “might be unpopular” following health service advice to keep home heated during this weekend’s cold snap.
The Health Secretary faced questions on Sunday about his advice to “turn the heating on”, after heavy overnight snowfall of up to 12cm in parts of the country.
Conservative Party chairman Nigel Huddleston described the advice Streeting gave on Friday as “cruel”.
The government last year axed universal payments of up to £300 to help with pensioners’ heating bills, with the uplift now only available to claimants of certain benefits such as pension credit.
Asked whether his advice was “tactful”, Streeting said: “It is part of the advice that the NHS is giving to people during this cold snap to make sure that people are doing whatever they can to keep warm, to make sure, as we’ve been doing in the run-up to this winter, that people get vaccinated and so on.
“But just coming back to this issue of winter fuel allowance, the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) did protect winter fuel allowance for the poorest pensioners.
“There is the warm homes discount (which) people should see if they’re eligible for.
“So in terms of protecting the poorest pensioners this winter, the government is taking action. Of course, that doesn’t mean that getting rid of the winter fuel allowance for others has been a popular decision.”
Streeting told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News: “The reason we’ve been wanting to make unpopular decisions in the last six months is to get Britain out of the massive hole it was left in.
“So they might be unpopular decisions now, but I hope they’ll be decisions that in the longer run people thank us for when they see the country improving, when they see waiting times in hospitals falling, when they see children having enough teachers in the classroom and breakfast clubs, when there are more police on the streets, all of the change that we want to deliver, which isn’t easy given the scale of the challenge in the country, but that’s what we’re focused on in 2025.”
The Health Secretary told BBC Breakfast on Friday “this is definitely a weekend to turn the heating on”.
He added: “I’ll just remind people that the Chancellor did take the decision to protect winter fuel allowance for the poorest pensioners, to protect people this winter and in future winters.”
Huddleston said: “It’s clear that Wes Streeting has no idea about the impact of Labour’s disastrous decisions.
“After Labour scrapped winter fuel payments for millions of vulnerable pensioners, the Health Secretary’s comments that they should ‘put the heating on’ are not only out of touch but cruel.
“The shameful reality is that many pensioners will face an impossible choice between heating and eating this winter because Labour decided to prioritise pay rises for their union friends over pensioners’ welfare.”
According to the NHS website, pensioners should heat their home to a temperature that is comfortable for them during the winter, with living rooms and bedrooms at least 18C.
By Will Durrant, PA Political Staff