Falling temperatures across Scotland have focussed attention on how at-risk pensioners could be impacted by cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment.
Rather than a universal payment of up to £300 the new government has restricted eligibility to only those in receipt of pension credit.
There is no doubt that the UK’s public finances are in a precarious position.
Labour blame a £22 billion budget blackhole for the decision which they say they did not want to have to make.
Finances can’t be balanced on backs of most vulnerable
But the books cannot be balanced on the backs of the most vulnerable.
The UK has huge fiscal resource and it’s wrong for the Chancellor to pretend that this was the only option.
So to is it wrong for the Scottish Government to claim its decision to replicate the cut is purely a result of the what has been decided elsewhere.
Holyrood’s budget for this year has already been set and the £160 million for the universal Winter Fuel Payment assigned.
It is not the case that this money has simply disappeared or been withdrawn.
Finance chief Shona Robison could have decided that the benefit should paid this year, with the pain felt in the Scottish budget in future years.
There are also legitimate and very serious concerns around how the narrow eligibility criteria will leave many Scots facing impossible decisions between paying for heating or eating.
Around 2.2 million pensioners receive the top-up to their pension and will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment.
However, over £2 billion of pension credit still goes unclaimed with an estimated 850,000 households not currently signed up to receive it.
This includes many “hard to reach” pensioners.
Isolated pensioners don’t know they are eligible for help
It is a sad reality of modern life that many pensioners are isolated without the vital safety net of family support.
They may not know they are eligible or have no support to apply.
This has prompted severe warnings from campaigners and charities. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition fears the change could prompt an additional 4,900 excess deaths.
Without a plan B, the UK will head into winter unsure that the most vulnerable can afford to survive.
In 2024 it is a sad indictment of life in the UK that pensioner poverty is so severe that a mere £300 can make the difference between life and death.
But government cannot respond to life as we wish it were. High fuel bills and the spiralling cost of living have left many particularly at risk.
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares for her budget on October 30, she should consider carefully how truly necessary this cut is.
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