Winter fuel payments to pensioners rose to 11.6 million last year, figures show as the Government continues to face a backlash over its plan to cut back the benefit.
The number of people who received the payment last winter was 214,000 more than the 11.4 million in 2022-23, and it has steadily risen from 11.1 million in 2020-21, statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show.
The annual tax-free payment of between £100 and £300 was introduced in 1997 to help eligible pensioners meet the costs of heating their homes in winter.
The Government is facing opposition to its decision to means-test the payment, stripping it from millions of pensioners.
Pensioners staged a protest outside Labour’s annual conference on Monday to criticise the plan.
A conference showdown on the issue is expected on Wednesday as Unite and the Communication Workers Union have put forward motions to debate the policy and push for its reversal.
🚨 @UKLabour leadership blocks @unitetheunion winter fuel conference motion!
Right now it is fair to say that the Labour leaders have tried to silence the voice of pensioners, workers and communities at party conference in this blatant manoeuvre to block debate on winter fuel…
— Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) September 23, 2024
Almost a quarter (23%) of those surveyed in a new YouGov poll said they had expected Labour to do well but were disappointed, with 28% of that group citing changes to winter fuel payments as their main reason for feeling that way.
YouGov surveyed 2,389 adults between September 19-20.
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling said in response to the DWP statistics: “Hundreds of thousands more pensioners are now set to lose out on these desperately needed payments that protect so many from having to choose between heating and eating.
“Cutting these payments for pensioners, which include millions who are just scraping by and are now worried about how they will get through the winter, is totally wrong.
“It is not too late for this new Government to change course and Liberal Democrat MPs will push them every step of the way to reverse these cuts and protect vulnerable pensioners this winter.”
The DWP figures show that Clacton in Essex is the parliamentary constituency with the highest number of winter fuel payment recipients in 2023/24, at 30,109 people.
Clacton is one of the seats gained by Reform at the UK general election, with party leader Nigel Farage winning the constituency from the Conservatives.
The seat with the next highest number of recipients is the Conservative-held constituency of Christchurch in Dorset, with 28,941 people receiving the payment in 2023/24; followed by Dorset West (Liberal Democrat, 28,934 people); Louth & Horncastle in Lincolnshire (Conservative, 28,385 people); Norfolk North (Lib Dems, 28,251 people) and Honiton & Sidmouth in Devon (Lib Dems, 27,774 people).
The constituencies with the fewest winter fuel payment recipients are all held by Labour, with Manchester Rusholme having the lowest number in Britain (6,241 people), followed by Na h-Eileanan an Iar in western Scotland (6,367), Poplar & Limehouse in London (6,658), Sheffield Central (7,180) and Bethnal Green & Stepney in London (7,506).
