The ministers have been accused of a serious mistake reductions in winter fuel payments This damages public confidence in the policy.
The argument erupted after the department ment responsible for the changes wrongly claimed that retirees made up more than half of one MP’s constituency.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns hit out at the “ridiculous” mistake and challenged ministers on how locals can have confidence in “what the government is doing when they… can’t even get the basic figures right?”
Millions of retirees will be stripped of help to pay their winter fuel billss, after Labor blamed the last Conservative government for this leaving a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
Ministers have pledged to protect less affluent pensioners and urged them to apply for a pension credit, under which they would still be eligible for the £200-300 this winter.
Millions of retirees will be stripped of help to pay their winter fuel bills (Getty Images)
Defiant Work and Pensions Secretary Emma Reynolds in the House of Commons told Ms Kearns that “the department told me that 48,351 people in my constituency of Rutland and Stamford were eligible for winter fuel payments”.
She added: “That is a ridiculous figure… for a heartless and unnecessary decision that will cost more in the long run. So how can I or any of my residents have confidence in what the government is doing when they think more than half my constituency is made up of pensioners and can’t get the basic figures right?
Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Stamford (BBC Parliament)
The Conservatives also accused ministers of “carelessly underestimating” how many pensioners will “fall through the cracks”, as shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately urged the government to “think again”.
She pointed to a letter from the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) last month, which said the savings from limiting the winter fuel surcharge to only the poorest pensioners are unclear and could be offset by an increase in the number of people that is looking for pension credits.
The SSAC also criticized the government for failing to provide an impact assessment of its plans before they were passed into law.
Ms Reynolds told MPs: “We didn’t want to take the decision to means test winter fuel payments, but we have had to do so, to make some tough decisions, to clear up the mess, to tackle tax inheritance. and start rebuilding our public services, which retirees across the country and many, many others rely on.”
Ministers said last month that they planned to do so write to 120,000 of the most vulnerable pensioners who they feared would miss out on payments after the changes – but many are facing delays in the processing of their applications for pension credits.