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NewsDWP's latest moves suggests Winter Fuel Payment could be reinstated for someThe Winter Fuel Payment is currently given to people who were born on or before September 1955 and lasts for

14 weeks in the winter, with those eligible able to claim between £100 and £300coventrytelegraphBookmarkShareNewsByJayne ThomsonJames RodgerContent Editor16:04, 4 JUN 2025BookmarkThe

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is considering the reinstatement of the £300 Winter Fuel Payment for state pensioners earning below a certain threshold (Image: PA)

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is considering the reinstatement of the £300 Winter Fuel Payment for state pensioners earning below a certain threshold.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has urged the Labour government to "create a new means-tested system", suggesting: "The government could allow households not on PC to apply directly

for WFP, reporting their income and other circumstances, enabling it to apply a means-test with a higher eligibility threshold than PC.

"The hassle of applying would no doubt result in many not claiming, and would imply a lot of administrative cost for what is a fairly small benefit (average WFP entitlement is £242 per year;

average PC entitlement is £4,300)."

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They also proposed an alternative similar to the current child benefit system: "A closely related option would be to do the equivalent of what is currently done for child benefit: allow all

pensioner households to claim WFP, but then require those who have income above a certain level to do a self-assessment tax return to pay some of it back in the form of a higher income tax

charge."

The IFS noted that this method would be more straightforward administratively if based on the income of the higher-income household member, despite creating "As with child benefit, the most

administratively straightforward way to do this would be to base the repayment on the income of the higher-income member of the household (rather than their total income), creating a

somewhat strange means-test; and again, there would be clear downsides in the form of administrative costs and non-take-up – it is time consuming for both taxpayers and the government to

fill in and assess self-assessment tax returns.", reports Birmingham Live.

Tom Waters from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has suggested that the most straightforward solution would be to reverse the policy change made last summer and "return to giving

Winter Fuel Payment to all pensioners".

In a recent session of PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged: "I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners, as the economy

improves."

He further stated, "We want to make sure people feel those improvements in their lives moving forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for

Winter Fuel Payments."

Starmer added, "As the economy improves, we want to take measures that will impact on people's lives, and therefore we will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of the

fiscal event."

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