Ministers promise fairer access — but millions still face a winter without help 🔥

Controversial winter fuel policy to be partially reversed this year
More pensioners will qualify as the means test threshold is raised
Universal payments ruled out – support to remain income-based
Original cuts saw 10 million pensioners lose eligibility in 2024
Full details of the widened scheme expected in the coming weeks

Millions more pensioners are expected to qualify for winter fuel payments this year, as the Government signals a softening of its controversial decision to slash support last winter.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the income threshold for eligibility would be raised, telling reporters: “People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter.”

Further details will be announced “as soon as we possibly can,” she added.

The move represents a partial reversal of one of Labour’s most contentious early decisions after its landslide election win last year, when the Government restricted winter fuel payments to only those receiving a means-tested benefit - cutting support from around 10 million pensioners.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech during a visit to Mellor Bus in Rochdale on June 4, 2025, to announce investments in regional transport (Photo: PETER BYRNE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

placeholder image — Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech during a visit to Mellor Bus in Rochdale on June 4, 2025, to announce investments in regional transport (Photo: PETER BYRNE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Ministers have ruled out a return to the universal scheme, however, with Pensions Minister Torsten Bell telling the Work and Pensions Committee “there is no prospect of a universal winter fuel payment” during a hearing.

“We will be looking at making more pensioners eligible,” he said, but made clear that the universal payment would not return. “Most people – 95%, I think – agree it’s not a good idea to pay a few hundred pounds to millionaires.”

The original move to restrict the payments, announced on July 29, 2024, aimed to plug a multi-billion-pound hole in the public finances.

Payments dropped from being available to 11.4 million pensioners to just 1.5 million, limited to those receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying benefits.

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Sir Keir Starmer recently hinted at the growing pressure to revise the policy, saying that “as the economy improves”, he hoped to widen eligibility once again.

But the Government has so far declined to say how many more pensioners will be included under the revised rules.

Bell said he understood public concern and acknowledged the gaps in the current system: “We’d like to see wider eligibility... I think all of us will have heard from people on lower incomes who didn’t receive winter fuel payment this year.”

He reiterated that fairness would be central to any changes, saying: “Our priority is those who are on lower incomes but have missed out.”

The full announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

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