House of Lords members warn government rushed decision to scrap winter fuel payments

Labour's winter fuel payment cut has been criticised as 'rushed' by a House of Lords committee, as ITV News Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana reports

Members of the House of Lords whose job it is to scrutinise legislation have warned that the government has unnecessarily rushed through its decision to scrap winter fuel payments, leaving too little time for its impact to be properly considered.

The warning also makes clear that the changes could cause "potential inequalities" between low income pensioners, but adds, "it is not clear whether DWP [the Department for Work and Pensions)] has assessed this risk".

The warning from a committee that includes peers from a number of parties, such as Labour, comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces increased pressure over his decision to means test the universal benefit.

Ahead of a binding vote on the decision on Tuesday, there is unease on the prime minister's backbenches, with 12 Labour MPs signing an early day motion calling for the policy to be delayed.

The motion was laid by the Labour MP for Poole - Neil Duncan-Jordan. Another Labour MP, Lee Barron, has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to say his "main concern is ensuring that no pensioner is at risk of falling through the gaps".

There are a number of Cabinet members who have privately raised concerns, while former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has spoken out, saying the government needs "an escape route" from the policy.

Meanwhile, there are also concerns about how much money the change will actually save.

The policy is to limit winter fuel payments to those who already receive pension credit.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning

However, while winter fuel payments were universal - so everyone received them - the means test on pension credit is complicated and take up is low.

Only 63% of those who qualify access the benefit, leading to fears that almost one million poor pensioners - who qualify for pension credit but do not access it - could now be pushed into hardship as they lose their winter fuel payment.

That is why the government is urging people take up pension credit - and has assumed that 5% more will do so in its calculation of the overall savings from the policy (£1.3 billion and then £1.5 billion per year).

But if they were more successful, and pushed up pension credit take-up to 100%, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) tell me that would cost over £2 billion - more than the savings from means testing winter fuel payments.

Carl Emmerson, IFS deputy director, told : "The rationale behind choosing to target winter fuel payments at the poorest pensioners, rather than having a universal payment, is clear.

"It means that the cost for the taxpayer is reduced. And it is important to remember that on average pensioner incomes are no longer below that of the population as a whole.

"But the challenge is then how to get winter fuel payments successfully to poorer pensioners."

He argued that while targeting pension credit claimants is the obvious and straightforward way to do this, there are an estimated 880,000 low income pensioner households who are entitled to pension credit but don't claim it.

The Lords committee warned: "We are concerned that the regulations may cause potential inequalities between low income pensioners claiming benefits and low income pensioners not claiming benefits."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…