Winter fuel payment cut 'will outweigh any money saved', experts warn

The collateral costs of cuts to winter fuel payments to the NHS will outweigh any money saved, research shows.

The analysis comes as medical experts warned Labour’s decision to cut winter fuel allowance to pensioners will lead to deaths among people with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer or those with serious lung conditions.

The £200-300 annual winter fuel payment, introduced in 1997, was intended to help older people with heating costs.

Last week the Labour government voted to scrap the subsidy to all but the poorest pensioners, reducing the number who get the money from more than 11 million to about 1.5 million. The treasury estimated this will save an estimated £1.5bn a year.

But figures from Age UK show the potential saving will be offset by the extra cost to the NHS in treating elderly people for cold related conditions - estimated at £1.4 billion a year.

And experts warn that scrapping the payment will potentially lead to unnecessary deaths.

Last year alone 4,950 deaths were associated with cold homes according to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

Professor Carl Heneghan, Director of Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence Based Medicine said: “Being able to turn the heat up in your home in winter is essential for people with chronic conditions to ensure they don’t become unwell and need hospital admission, and in the most severe cases die due to cold this winter. The cost of cold homes is £1.4 billion a year - about the same as the estimated savings of cutting the winter fuel payments. It is unacceptable people with chronic conditions that require them to stay warm to protect them from harm should have fuel payments cut.”

A new analysis for the Sunday Express by Age UK shows nearly a million (980,000 - ten percent) of pensioners in England live in homes which are too cold in winter, have rising damp or have bad condensation problems.

More than half of these pensioners - 550,000 or 56 percent - have a disability, compared to 39 percent of pensioners whose homes do not have these problems

Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK said: "There's been a lot of discussion about the Government's decision, but at heart Age UK's critique of their policy is really simple: we just don't think it's fair to remove the payment from the 2.5 million pensioners on low incomes who badly need it, and to do it so quickly this winter, at the same time as energy bills are rising by 10 percent.

"Winter is coming and we fear it will be a deeply challenging one for millions of older people who have previously relied on their Winter Fuel Payment to help pay their energy bills and who have no obvious alternative source of funds on which to draw. As a charity we will do everything we can to help them, but with so many in need and no extra support on offer from the Government at the moment it's looking like an incredibly uphill task."

Independent Age Chief Executive Joanna Elson, said: “We hope the UK Government listens to the evidence being shared, and doesn’t means-test the Winter Fuel Payment now. Long-term there must be financial security for all of us as we age. We urge the UK Government to lead a review where all major parties come together and agree on what an adequate income in older age is, then ensure that everybody receives it so that no one lives in poverty in later life.”

A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to giving pensioners the dignity and security they deserve in retirement, which is why we are protecting the Triple Lock with the State Pension set to increase by £1,700 over the course of parliament.
“But given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it’s right that we target support to those who need it most. Over a million pensioners will continue to receive the Winter Fuel Payment, many will benefit from the £150 Warm Home Discount scheme, and we urge others to check their eligibility for Pension Credit.”