Council steps in to help Bay pensioners with energy bills

Campaigners against the Labour Government’s cuts to winter fuel allowances, have welcomed news Torbay Council will step in and help over 1,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

It has been estimated over 31,000 Torbay pensioners will lose their winter fuel payment this year after the decision by Labour MPs to cut the winter fuel allowance. Yet some in our bay will now receive help from Torbay Council with their winter heating bill thanks to a fresh round of the Household Support Fund which is administered by local authorities.

Council leaders have decided pensioners receiving council tax support (but not pension credit) who have recently had their winter fuel payments stopped will get a payment. If a household has one or more people aged 80 or over, the household will receive £300. If no one in the household is 80 or over, the household will receive £200.

More than 1,000 households across the Bay will benefit from this and letters will be sent by Torbay Council to those eligible by the end of this month. The news follows nearly 2,000 local pensioners backing a national petition which was presented to the Chancellor on Budget Day calling for a rethink on her decision to cut the allowance.

It is estimated approximately 90 per cent of state pensioners will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Allowance following the cuts made by the Labour Government. 

Former Bay MP Kevin Foster, who backed the national Keep Winter Fuel petition, said: “This is welcome news and shows the Conservative leadership of our council listening to the campaign, then doing what it can to mitigate the impact of the decision taken by the new Labour Government to cut winter fuel allowances.

“I am pleased to hear over 1,000 Torbay pensioners on modest incomes will now get help this winter. Yet we must remember there will still be approximately 30,000 Torbay pensioners losing out on vital support to pay their energy bills after Parliament backed the Chancellor’s decision to axe their winter fuel allowance.”

Whilst the campaign to force a rethink continues, if you are struggling as a pensioner and on a low income, it is easy to check online if you are entitled to Pension Credit. Just head to: https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator

Someone can help you use the Pension Credit Calculator, provided it is your information they are inputting.