Winter Fuel Payment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department is taking to address potential unintended consequences of the new Winter Fuel Allowance criteria that result in single pensioners with lower incomes being excluded from support given to higher-income couples.
Answered by Torsten Bell
Winter Fuel Payments remain a simple scheme to provide a payment to the majority of pensioners quickly and automatically, as a contribution to heating costs in winter.
The personal tax system operates on an individual basis and, as such, any individual with an income of more than £35,000 will have their Winter Fuel Payment recovered. This means that the vast majority of pensioners will now benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment.
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