Scotland could extend the £300 Winter Fuel Payment as a result of further devolution next year, according to reports.
Scottish Labour has argued that the payment could be kept under Scottish control when it comes under Holyrood’s jurisdiction in October 2024.
This development comes as Scotland prepares to decide which pensioners will receive the allowance, just eight months before a critical Scottish parliamentary election in 2026.
Labour strategists in Scotland are concerned that the UK Government’s decision to cut eligibility for the benefit could significantly damage their chances of beating the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the upcoming election.
The issue is particularly sensitive in Scotland, where colder temperatures, longer winters, and a higher number of damp and poorly insulated homes make the allowance especially important for many residents.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that Winter Fuel Payments will now be means tested, in contrast to last year when every pensioner automatically qualified for this one-off payment.
Now it will now only be available to those on Pension Credit or certain other entitlements.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader addressed the Labour conference, stating that the July general election landslide was a “job half done” as the Scottish party still faces the 2026 Holyrood election.
The decision to cut eligibility for the Winter Fuel Allowance has sparked fury among Scottish voters, potentially damaging Labour’s chances in the 2026 election.
Despite these setbacks, Scottish Labour sees an opportunity to widen access to the Winter Fuel Payments when it comes under Holyrood’s control next October.
The party is considering extending the benefit to pensioners receiving housing benefits or Attendance Allowance, aiming to differentiate itself from the SNP Government’s decision to restrict the allowance to those on Pension Credit.
Although the Winter Fuel Payment is paid by the Scottish government in Scotland, the funding for it will fall by at least £140million because of the chancellor’s cut.
As a result, the SNP Government copied Reeves’ decision to restrict it to those on Pension Credit. About 770,000 pensioners are likely to be affected, according to Scottish government estimates.
Bill Lynch, an activist from the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, travelled overnight to picket the Labour conference in Liverpool.
He warned: “When Theresa May proposed this in 2017, Labour research suggested there would be 4,000 excess deaths. Is that a place where Labour want to be?”
Scottish Labour’s strategy to retain support faces challenges as recent polls suggest the party is slipping behind the SNP after months of progress.
Sarwar and Murray, the Scottish Secretary, have lobbied Starmer, Reeves and other cabinet ministers in London to remember their policies directly affect Labour’s chances of defeating the SNP.
It is understood Welsh Labour leaders have also done so.
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The Labour government has been urged to review its decision affecting 10 million pensioners after the regulator Ofgem announced household energy bills will rise by £150 in October.
Starmer has been warned the double hit will lead to disaster for pensioners on low and modest incomes or living in vulnerable circumstances due to ill health.
The payment amount remains unchanged, at £200 for those aged between 66 and 79, and £300 for those over 80. Charities and campaigners have urged the government to reconisder.
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said: “An estimated two million older people, in all, will face an even steeper mountain to climb in paying their energy bills and staying warm and well when the weather chills. With pensioners also losing the cost-of-living payments they’ve received over the last two years we simply cannot see how some of them will cope.”
She adds that lifting of Ofgem’s price cap for energy bills makes it “even more obvious” that making the Winter Fuel Payment means-tested could be “hazardous for some older people”.
