Deputy PM Angela Rayner said she hoped Chancellor Rachel Reeves will provide more details on the winter fuel payments in just a few weeks at the spending review in June
Angela Rayner has refused to guarantee whether more pensioners will receive fuel payments in time for the winter.
The Deputy PM said she hoped Chancellor Rachel Reeves could provide more details in just a few weeks at the spending review in June. But No10 has insisted details will only be provided “when possible” with many expecting clarity at the Budget in the autumn.
It comes after Keir Starmer announced a U-turn on the unpopular decision to cut the payments of up to £300 for all but the very poorest pensioners. Last week he said he would look at making more older people eligible – but details are yet to be thrashed out by No10 and the Treasury.
Labour argued the decision – announced just weeks after the party’s election victory in July – was necessary to fix the dire economic inheritance left by the Tories. Asked on Sunday whether the government can guarantee the changes will be made in time for the coming winter, Ms Rayner replied: “I can’t guarantee that, because it has to come through a fiscal event and the Chancellor.”
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She added: “Now the economy is showing signs of improvement, we’ve had the interest rates cut, we’re the fastest growing economy in the G7, the Prime Minister has indicated he would like to see movement on this. But that is for the Chancellor at a fiscal event.”
It came as she told Sky News she also hoped more details will be set out within weeks. The Deputy PM said: “We’ve got the upcoming spending review, and I’m sure that the Chancellor will set it out when we’ve got the opportunity, at the first opportunity, she will set out what we’ll be able to do.”
Asked if this means details on the winter fuel payment will definitely be announced at the Spending Review, Ms Rayner added: “I don’t know, but I hope so.
“I mean, the Prime Minister has announced it, so logically to me that indicates that the Prime Minister wants to do something in this area. And if the Prime Minister wants to do that, I’m sure the Chancellor is going to look at how we can achieve that.”
Ms Rayner also refused to be drawn on the future two-child benefit limit. It was introduced by ex-Chancellor George Osborne in 2017 and restricts parents from claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits for any children beyond their first two.
She said the child poverty strategy, which has been delayed until the autumn, will look at the issue alongside other pressures on vulnerable families. She added: “I’m not going to speculate on what our government is going to do.”
There were also reports on Sunday the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is preparing to use a speech this week to commit to fully reinstating winter fuel payments and lifting the two-child benefit limit in an attempt to appeal to Labour voters. But Ms Rayner said: “Nigel Farage comes up with lots of ideas, they’re not necessarily good ideas, and he doesn’t know how he’s going to pay for them.”
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