Good news for hundreds of Inverclyde pensioners after winter fuel payment pledge
NO pensioner in Inverclyde will receive a winter fuel payment less than those now to be provided to OAPs in England and Wales, according to the First Minister.
John Swinney made the announcement on Monday following a U-turn by the UK Government over the payments.
Labour's Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said last year that the winter fuel payment would no longer be something every pensioner would be entitled to.
That prompted the SNP to step in and say it would provide a payment of at least £100 to all pensioner households in Scotland in mitigation.
But in a major policy change, Ms Reeves announced last week that everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales will receive a winter fuel payment of at least £200, as long as they have an income of not more than £35,000 a year – with the payment rising to £300 for those aged over 80.
John Swinney made the pledge during a speech in Glasgow on Monday. (Image: PA) That prompted calls from Labour politicians, including West Scotland regional MSP and Inverclyde representative Neil Bibby, for the Scottish Government to match the pledge.
In his speech in Glasgow on Monday, Mr Swinney said that no Scottish pensioner "will receive less than they would under the new UK scheme", without giving further details.
Plans to introduce a new universal benefit in Scotland from this September were put on hold after the Chancellor's announcement last July that winter fuel payments were to become means-tested, with only those receiving Pension Credit or certain other benefits remaining eligible.
The latest Tele news headlines:In November, councillors in Inverclyde approved plans to spend £600,000 on helping older people who were no longer eligible for the winter fuel payment following Ms Reeves' announcement last summer.
The council's move saw pensioners who are no longer eligible for the benefit receive £200 credit on their council tax account.
A report by council officials estimated that the move would help around 1,300 low-income households across Inverclyde.
The step taken in Inverclyde was only intended as a one-year plan while the authority awaited further news on the Scottish Government's plans for the winter of 2025-26.
The UK Government's U-turn on winter fuel payments has been followed by a pledge from John Swinney that the Scottish Government will keep pace with the financial support to be provided to older people in England and Wales. (Image: Newsquest) Adam Stachura, associate director of policy, communications and external affairs at Age Scotland, said: "We've been really concerned that for hundreds of thousands of Scottish pensioners on low and modest incomes, living in fuel poverty and not claiming or entitled to Pension Credit, that the £100 Pension Age Winter Heating Payment just wouldn't be enough. It is good news that the Scottish Government have now also recognised that.
"We've asked the First Minster to commit to using every penny of the new funding to boost the energy support payment for pensioners in Scotland, rather than covering what they have already budgeted for.
"The money is now there to not only match what pensioners in England and Wales, but offer even more to those on the lowest incomes, and help drive down the astronomically high levels of fuel poverty and financial insecurity faced by pensioners in Scotland.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Why Taxing the UK's Rich Less May Make Sense
The Laffer Curve does exist. You may not want it to, but it does. The UK's political class is in the process of learning this lesson. One of the first things Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves did was to make the global assets of those living in the UK but domiciled elsewhere for tax purposes (the 'non-doms') subject to UK inheritance tax. Those people have responded to that incentive exactly as one might expect. They are leaving. Exact numbers aren't available, but many financial advisers will tell you of their fast-vanishing high-net worth clients—heading for the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Malta and maybe even the US (there are some 70,000 applications for information on the new ' gold Trump card ' visa, apparently). Henley and Partners, a global relocation company, backs this up. It reports that inquiries on how to become a resident elsewhere were three times higher in the first three months of 2025 than the same period in 2024.
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Starmer Faces Brewing Rebellion Over £5 Billion Benefit Cut
By , Lucy White, and Joe Mayes Save UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is less than 10 days away from the biggest parliamentary challenge to his authority in his not-yet year-long tenure. Unpopular cuts to disability benefits unveiled earlier this year as part of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves' efforts to balance the country's books are due before the House of Commons for their first vote on July 1, with a large-scale rebellion brewing on the Labour back benches.
CBS News
4 hours ago
- CBS News
Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse leads effort to end corruption in the federal government
Americans' trust in the federal government has been eroding for years. According to Pew Research, 77% of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing "all or most of the time" in 1964. Today, only 22% do. Rep. Joe Neguse, the U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader and a Democrat who represents Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, is now leading a bipartisan effort aimed at restoring that trust. "End Corruption Now" is a sweeping package of bills that targets corruption and cronyism at the highest levels of government. While scandals involving bribery, extortion, kickbacks, and conspiracies have permeated American politics throughout history, Neguse says the graft today is next level. "The difference in my view is the normalization that I think citizens have become almost desensitized to the everyday corruption that is now so rampant in our nation's capital," he said. Rep. Joe Neguse, the U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader and a Democrat who represents Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, during the House Democrats 2025 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, on March 12, 2025. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images From insider trading by members of Congress, to self-dealing by the president, Neguse says corruption is endemic in D.C. Many politicians have lost their moral compass, he says, and the public has lost faith. "I think the president and frankly I think members of Congress are constantly testing to see how much they can get away with. And the more that voters become and citizens become apathetic and desensitized to this type of corruption, the more corruption will occur," Neguse said. Which is why he is leading an effort to change the status quo with bills that among other things ban members of Congress from ever serving as lobbyists, prohibit them from serving on corporate boards, and bar them, their spouses, and children from trading stocks. "We ought to be willing to condemn that and to stand up and say that that's wrong irrespective of one's political affiliation," he said. The bills also take aim at the executive branch by prohibiting CEOs convicted of financial crimes from serving in the White House. They also install new oversight measures for the president after Neguse says Trump dismantled many of them. He fired about 18 inspector generals -- government's independent watchdogs -- and suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act even as he accepts a luxury jetliner from Qatar and other foreign governments spend billions of dollars on his family's real estate ventures and his crypto meme coin. Neguse says Trump's pay-to play schemes are brazen and dangerous. "It gives him an immense amount of power that no chief executive has had or has attempted to acquire in our country's 250-year history. The silver lining here is we have the agency to be able to stop it, right? We can ameliorate all this corruption. We can prevent it, we can end it and we can end it now with these common sense measures if we have the political will to do it." The package of bills also includes legislation to clearly define an "official act" by a public official after the Supreme Court redefined the definition of bribery and a bill called the "Musk Act," which requires government employees to recuse themselves from any matters that affect their financial interests or that of previous employers. Neguse says when he first introduced the bill placing a lifetime ban on members of Congress serving as lobbyists seven years ago, he had two co-sponsors. He now has 85. But while leadership in both parties and President Trump support reforms like banning members of Congress from trading stocks, Neguse says the bills will only pass if the public demands it.
