Council urges pensioners to apply for benefits

Proactive approach in North Devon praised

North Devon Council is encouraging pensioners to apply for benefits to maximise the number eligible for  winter fuel payments.

The council is understood to be the first to write directly to residents eligible for pension credit but currently not claiming. This amounts to 280 people.

Only those receiving the benefit will still qualify for £200 or £300 this winter after parliament voted to scrap the universal winter fuel allowance – a drop from  22,000 North Devon pensioners to 2,400.

Across the country 10 million pensioners are expected to lose the winter fuel payments. Some people fear that thousands of households just above the threshold for pension credit will be impacted.

Most district councils have launched social media awareness campaigns about pension credits but are being urged to target those most in need.

Not all pensioners eligible for pension credits are adept users of social media.

The council’s deputy chief executive Jon Triggs said Devon County Council had remarked that North Devon’s work is a good example of raising awareness.

“We have been as proactive as we can be to write to the ones we are aware of,” he said.

At the full council meeting, members supported motions by Cllr Graham Bell (Lib Dem, Braunton East) and Cllr Pru Maskell (Con, Braunton West and Georgeham) to write to the government condemning the new policy.

They want a new threshold to determine eligibility for winter fuel payments.

Cllr Bell said: “The winter fuel allowance has been a bit of a band-aid covering over a poor system. Now taking it away without having anything else to replace it with is quite damaging, especially in North Devon where we have hundreds of elderly people and a lot of poor quality housing across the district.

“Only those receiving a pension of less than £218.15 a week (or £332.95 a week for couples) are eligible for pension credits. This is significantly lower than the living wage rate. It also means that pensioners who continue to work through necessity to top up their pension, will be losing out because of their continued hard work.

“If the winter fuel payment cut is to go ahead then a more sensible metric is required to allow the government to more precisely ensure that fuel allowance is paid to everyone who requires it.”

Cllr Maskell said rural pensioners often live in older, less energy-efficient housing, with more than 70 per cent of rural homes in the UK built before 1980.

“These homes are typically harder and more expensive to heat due to poor insulation and outdated heating systems.”

Councillors agreed that money from the next round of the government’s Household Support Fund (HSF) should be used to help people heat their homes, prioritising those on low incomes and in fuel poverty.

More than £1.6 million has been given to North Devon’s most vulnerable residents over the last three years through the fund.

Cllr Malcolm Prowse (Ind, Bratton Fleming) said efforts should be made to find people living in homes with low energy efficiency ratings to see what home improvements could be made.

Cllr Mel Lovering (Lib Dem, Barnstaple with Pilton) said a campaign is needed about what pensioners and people with health and mobility problems are entitled to.

She said had been caring for a poorly relative for years but had only just become aware of the assisted living allowance which paid for things like stairlifts and loft insulation.

At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, unions won a non-binding vote calling on the government to reverse the planned cuts to winter fuel payments.

The prime minister has defended the plan saying he does not want to risk the public finances.

Some Labour MPs hope that chancellor Rachel Reeves may introduce some mitigation in October’s budget to help people in need who don’t qualify for pension credit.