Sioned Williams MS writes about the impact of cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment
This article was published in the Glamorgan Gazette on Thursday 12 September 2024.
We should look after pensioners, not cut their support
This week’s main political news has been focused on the Labour UK Government’s proposed cut to the Winter Fuel Payment. We should look after our pensioners, who have worked hard all their lives and are some of the poorest in our society. Yet 400,000 pensioners in Wales will be affected by the cuts to the winter fuel payment.
MPs voted earlier this week on the proposal to change the payment, which is designed to help the elderly with higher heating bills, so that now only those claiming Pension Credit are eligible. So 400,000 pensioners in Wales will no longer receive payments of up to £300 to help with their winter fuel bills.
No-one with an understanding of Welsh communities could claim that these 400,000 Welsh pensioner households are well-off and can get by without this payment. And there are other ways the UK Government could have gone about changing this essential support mechanism, that would have continued to support the oldest and most vulnerable – such as increasing the age at which pensioners can claim the payment or use a sliding scale linked to taxation levels.
The Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues have repeatedly echoed the line in recent days that their new government is forced to make 'tough choices' and indeed, the state of the UK’s finances has been well rehearsed. But my question is why 'tough choices' always seem to result in more misery for those already struggling?
The UK is the sixth-largest economy in the world, and there are 165 billionaires in the country. Cutting fuel support for pensioners is not, and should not be the inevitable solution to the UK’s economic problems.
Pensioners are being pushed deeper into fuel poverty, which will have serious health consequences for older people. Last year nearly 300 people died in Wales due to cold homes.
The Labour Welsh Government says that tackling poverty is a priority for them, but in the past, they have pointed to Tory austerity as the reason their hands are tied. Now that we have a Labour government in Westminster, there’s nowhere for them to hide.
As Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Social Justice in the Senedd, I will continue to hold Welsh Government’s feet to the fire on what they intend to do to help the 400,000 households in Wales that will now be facing a cold winter.