The Winer Fuel Payment will be restored to nine million pensioners, the Government has confirmed today.
All pensioners with an income of £35,000 or less a year will have the payment restored in full, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced.
The change, announced in July last year, meant only those on Pension Credit or other benefits were eligible for the payment.
The decision means that about 7.5 million pensioners in England and Wales who missed out on the payment of up to £300 last year will now get it.
There was a major backlash against the move.
The Government said the new £35,000 threshold was well above the income level of pensioners in poverty and broadly in line with average earnings.
It will cost around £1.25 billion to implement.
Liberal Democrat Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP, said: “After many months of campaigning, I’m relieved that the Chancellor has finally seen sense and is reinstating winter fuel payments for those who need them.
“Many pensioners in Westmorland and beyond were put into the heartbreaking situation last winter of being forced to choose between heating and eating.
“For their sake I am relieved that the Government has changed its mind but I am disappointed it has taken so long.”
