- Conference
- 2025 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 6 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference expresses its concern at the shocking announcement at the end of July 2024, by the Labour government, that those State Pensioners not entitled to benefits will no longer get the Winter Fuel Allowance from autumn 2024.
The Winter Fuel Allowance is specifically designed to help cover winter heating costs. Many pensioners rely on this payment and are amongst those most likely to be affected by the cost of fuel and rises in energy costs.
It is not part of the Pensions Triple Lock, which is designed to cover the rise in the cost of living. It has been estimated that under the Triple Lock mechanism the new state pension will rise by £460 per year in April 2025, and the old state pension by £353. Conference notes that this means a pensioner over 80 on the old state pension will (after compensating for the loss of the Winter Fuel Payment) will be better off by a guinea a week in 2025/6.
It is estimated that 10 million pensioners in England alone have lost their right to this annual payment from autumn 2024 worth between £100 and £300.
Conference notes that although the decision initially only applied to England and Wales, further constraints placed on the Scottish government’s funding resulted in similar restrictions on the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in Scotland being announced on 14 August 2024.
Conference notes the government won a vote in the House of Commons to go forward with this change on 10 September 2024, despite there being no Impact Statement on the consequences of the proposal being made available, no mandate for the proposal being contained in the 2024 Labour General Election manifesto, and, at Prime Minister’s Questions on 1 May 2024, Sir Kier Starmer asking Rishi Sunak, “Will the Prime Minister rule out taking Winter Fuel Payments off them (pensioners) to help fund his £45 billion black hole?”
Conference further notes that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) stated it had received 38,000 new applications for Pension Credit in the five weeks following the announcement of 29 July, however in an “equalities analyses” released by the DWP after Freedom of Information requests on 14 September 2024, the DWP estimated a further 780,000 people were eligible for Pension Credit but had yet to claim it. Conference notes that this matter is not helped by the DWP application form for Pension Credit which runs to 24 pages and 243 questions.
Pension Credit (which in itself needs change) is an ‘all or nothing’ benefit. If your income is a few pounds under the limit, you get the benefits but stray even a few pounds over and you get nothing. This change will penalise those who are the poorest in society removing their small cushion of finance at a time when extra heating is required at the coldest time of the year.
Age UK has estimated that more than two million people who are only just above the eligibility threshold for Pension Credit will no longer qualify and who will be hardest hit by this decision. A means tested benefit has more than a whiff of Conservative dogma about the myth of the wealthy pensioner.
Many State Pensioners who are members of UNISON, particularly those that gave a lifetime working in low paid public sector jobs, with little or very poor work pensions, will be caught up in this situation. Many pensioners live alone in poorly insulated homes where there is an increased need for need heating to overcome the cold, and now face the double hardship in the loss of this payment at the time the cap on energy prices has been raised. It will undoubtedly lead to a rise in cold related illnesses, such as flu and bronchitis, and inevitably more winter deaths.
Conference notes that this shock decision has been met with fury by pensioners’ organisations such as the National Pensioners’ Convention, the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, Age UK, Independent Age as well as vocal opposition from unions such as Unite, GMB and CWU. Silver Voices launched a petition which at the time of writing had acquired over 50,000 signatures.
Yet Conference notes, with regret, that UNISON’s response has been limited to signposting retired members to a benefits calculator on the UNISON website on 6 August, followed by a statement on 10 and an assurance that UNISON has “set out our concerns directly to the government.”. At the time of the deadline for submitting Emergency Motions to the National Retired Members’ Conference last year, there was no detail as to what these concern are, who expressed them, to whom in the government and precisely when, nor is there any mention whatsoever of the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment in the National Retired Members’ Committee (NRMC) Annual Report, which was published on 29 August 2024, a month after the Chancellor’s statement.
Whilst Conference recognises that it could be argued that, in the early stages of a new government’s life, there is an option to criticise privately rather than express public disapproval in a statement or campaign, but if such as strategy was adopted it clearly failed as the vote in the House of Commons on 10 September showed. Conference believes the time for UNISON to stand idly by in mute disapproval of the abolition of the Winter Fuel Payment has passed. Whilst UNISON is generally supportive of the Labour government, it is now time for UNISON to campaign against this targeted and punitive attack on pensioners.
Conference notes that, despite the Commons vote of 10 September (which was called for by opposition parties), the changes to eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments has been made through secondary legislation, which means it is far easier to amend or repeal than if it were enshrined in primary legislation such as an Act of Parliament. Conference therefore believes the issue is far from determined and the fight against it must continue.
UNISON needs to show all retired members across the UK that they are concerned about their welfare and this dire situation by utilising all their powers to demand that this government retracts such an appalling decision. This is not how our members expected to be treated by a Labour government. Conference believes that the decision to remove the Winter Fuel allowance was unfair and calls upon the National Executive Council to take this matter forward as a matter of urgency.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:
1)Campaign on this issue and raise our concerns with:
a)The Labour Party via our Labour Link;
b)The TUC.
2)Work with Labour Link to call for the immediate reinstatement of the winter fuel payment, including payment of any arrears in the strongest possible terms;
3)Work with Labour Link to lobby the Labour government to institute a fair, equitable and simple system to help pensioners with winter fuel costs which ensures the poorest and most vulnerable pensioners in society have the necessary funds to stay warm in winter;
4)Campaign with other relevant pensioner organisations for the abolition of restrictions on the Winter Fuel Payment for 2024/5;
5)Work with regional and branch retired members groups to highlight this issue, raise awareness of the issues amongst retired members, encourage such groups to raise the matter of Winter Fuel Payments at branch and regional levels and provide regular campaign guidance and updates on progress;
6)Encourage retired members to participate in and support branch, regional, and national UNISON initiatives and campaigns by pensioner organisations to reinstate this essential benefit, and to lobby their MPs on the need for immediate reinstatement of the Winter Fuel Allowance for all those in receipt of the state pension.