Rachel Reeves is under growing pressure ahead of her much-anticipated spending review next week, which is expected to see sweeping cuts across Government departments
Rachel Reeves quizzed on Winter Fuel Payments by Mirror’s Sophie Huskisson
Rachel Reeves has said pensioners should be “in no doubt” that more people will qualify for winter fuel payments by the end of the year.
The Chancellor said public fiances are in a stronger position than they were last July – meaning thresholds can be raised following a furious backlash. Ms Reeves added that ministers had listened to concerns about the controversial decision to means test the annual payments.
Asked by The Mirror whether there will be anything on winter fuel payments in next week’s spending review, Ms Reeves said detail will be announced “as soon as we possibly can”.
Speaking at an event in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the Chancellor said: “I had to make decisions last year to restore sound public finances, and that involved a number of difficult decisions around welfare, taxation and also public spending, including the decision to means test winter fuel payments, so only the poorest pensioners, those on pension credit, got it.”
“But we have now put our public finances on a firmer footing, the economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test, and so we will be making changes to that.
“They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter, and we will announce the detail of that and the level of that as soon as we possibly can.
“But people should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter.”
Officials have been scrabbling to find ways of making more pensioners eligible for winter fuel payments – worth up to £300 a year. On Monday Keir Starmer said “the sooner we have clarity on that the better”.
Last year Ms Reeves announced that the payments would only be available to those who claim pension credit or similar benefits. But the Government is now set to raise the £11,500 threshold at which people miss out.
As she was speaking in the North West, pensions minister Torsten Bell told MPs in Westminster that, while more pensioners will be eligible, there is no prospect of returning to universal winter fuel payments.
He told the Work and Pensions Committee: “Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no, the principle I think most people, 95% of people, agree, that it’s not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundreds of pounds to millionaires, and so we’re not going to be continuing with that.
“But we will be looking at making more pensioners eligible.”
The Government has come under fire for its handling of the partial U-turn. Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This whole debacle has caused needless misery for millions of pensioners.
“We will look at the details of the changes at the Spending Review next week. In the meantime the Chancellor should apologise to all those pensioners who had to freeze this winter because of this senseless policy.”
Ms Reeves admitted some Government departments will not get what they want ahead of next Wednesday’s announcement. She said: “Not every department will get everything they want next week. I’ve had to say no to things I want to do.” Ms Reeves went on to blame the Tories for wrecking public services over their 14 years in power.
“It’s important to have control of public finances,” she stated. And she took a swipe at Nigel Farage, warning he could unleash chaos similar to that of Liz Truss.
She said: “Be in no doubt, Nigel Farage and Reform are itching to repeat that same experiment to pursue these fantasy economics all over again. The results would be the same.”
But she ruled out ripping up Labour’s manifesto pledges by raising taxes for working people, stating: “We made those commitments in the manifesto and we stuck to them.”
It comes amid dire warnings that failing to massively boost police funding could lead to dire consequences. In a letter to the PM, police chiefs including the head of the Met Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) said forces will face “stark choices” over which crimes to prioritise if funding is not ramped up.
Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley joined Gavin Stephens, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and Graeme Biggar, who leads the National Crime Agency (NCA), in raising the alarm. They said their workforces will shrink if pay pressures and inflation are not taken into account – with “far reaching” consequences.
Confronted by the remarks, Ms Reeves said: “That’s not a choice that I would recognise.”