Reeves’ target areas: Where winter fuel payments cut will hit the hardest – is it YOUR town?

Reeves announced the cuts shortly after Labour won the general election in July saying the move was to fill a “£22 billion black hole” in the nation’s finances.

The changes mean that those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments, which are worth between £100 and £300.

In 2022/23, when the latest figures were available, just over 11.1 million pensioners were eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment in England and Wales.

However, last November only 1.2 million older people were eligible for pension credits meaning about 9.9 million will miss out in England and Wales.

In Scotland, the government has confirmed it will follow the UK government and no longer provide Winter Fuel Payments to all pensioners.

The UK Winter Fuel Payment is due to be replaced by a Holyrood-run alternative, but ministers have confirmed it will also be means-tested.

The cuts are most likely to affect pensioners in the most affluent areas of the UK, with more than nine in ten pensioners missing out in some areas.

1. Hart (95.2%)

2. Isles of Scilly (95.40%)

3. Wokingham (95%)

4. Rutland (94.60%)

5. Vale of White Horse (94.50%)

6. Mole Valley (94.50%)

7. South Oxfordshire (94.40%)

8. East Hampshire (94.30%)

9. Ribble Valley (94.30%)

10. West Oxfordshire (94.20%)

11. Fareham (94.20%)

12. Waverley (94.20%)

13. Horsham (94.20%)

14. South Cambridgeshire (94.10%)

15. Surrey Heath (94%)

According to DWP statistics, in Hart in Hampshire, 95.2 per cent of pensioners will no longer be eligible for payments, which means only one in 20 will receive it.

In contrast, the area where elderly people are least likely to lose the benefit is in the more deprived London borough of Tower Hamlets, with just 54.9 per cent losing the payment.

In other local authority areas, commonly described as having the highest levels of deprivation, such as Blackpool and Middlesbrough, more than 80 per cent of pensioners will lose their payment.

Charities have been among those criticising the cuts with Age UK warning that up to two million elderly people who narrowly miss out on the payment could have a tough winter ahead.

Labour members voted in favour of a motion calling for the minister to reverse the Winter Fuel Payment cut

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Age UK estimated that more than 800,000 elderly people on low incomes who do not receive pension credit will now also lose their Winter Fuel Payments.

At the Labour Party Conference this week, Labour members also voted in favour of a motion calling for the prime minister to reverse their cut to the Winter Fuel Payment.

While there was nothing binding to the vote, it put further pressure on the prime minister over the already unpopular policy.

The motion was put forward by the trade union Unite, which accused the government of embarking on “austerity mark two.”