Winter fuel payment bombshell for OAPs as more to get cash, says under-fire Rachel Reeves - Daily Star

Winter fuel payment bombshell for OAPs as more to get cash, says under-fire Rachel ReevesChancellor Rachel Reeves has said that ministers have "listened to the concerns" about the

controversial decision to means test the annual paymentsLife & StyleDave Burke Political Correspondent , Sophie Huskisson Political Correspondent and Vince Soodin Assistant Editor (Digital)

12:46, 04 Jun 2025Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech(Image: PA) Rachel Reeves has assured pensioners that they should be "in no doubt" that more people will qualify

for winter fuel payments by the end of the year.

The Chancellor stated that public finances are in a stronger position than they were last July, which means thresholds can be raised following a heated backlash. Ms Reeves further added that

ministers had taken on board concerns about the contentious decision to means test the annual payments.

‌ When The Mirror asked if there would be any news on winter fuel payments in next week's spending review, Ms Reeves said details would be announced "as soon as we possibly can".

‌ Speaking at an event in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the Chancellor said: "I had to make decisions last year to restore sound public finances, and that involved a number of difficult

decisions around welfare, taxation and also public spending, including the decision to means test winter fuel payments, so only the poorest pensioners, those on pension credit, got it.

"But we have now put our public finances on a firmer footing, the economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test,

and so we will be making changes to that.", reports the Mirror.

"They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter, and we will announce the detail of that and the level of that as soon as we possibly can.

Article continues below "But people should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter."

Government bods have been in a right flap trying to figure out how to get more old-timers in line for the winter fuel dosh, which could fatten their wallets by up to £300 a year. On Monday,

Keir Starmer piped up, saying "the sooner we have clarity on that the better".

Last year, Ms Reeves dropped the bombshell that only those on pension credit or similar benefits would get their hands on the payments. But now, it looks like they're tweaking the rules,

bumping up the £11,500 cut-off point so more folks don't miss out.

‌ Pensions minister Torsten Bell gave MPs in Westminster the lowdown: no chance of the winter fuel payment going back to being for everyone.

In front of the Work and Pensions Committee, he laid it out straight: "Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no, the principle

I think most people, 95% of people, agree, that it's not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundreds of pounds to millionaires, and so we're not going to be continuing with

that."

He didn't leave it there, though, promising, "But we will be looking at making more pensioners eligible."

Article continues below Bell hinted that the nitty-gritty will come out at next week's Spending Review, but in the meantime, he reckons the Chancellor owes an apology to all the pensioners

left out in the cold this winter thanks to this daft policy.