Winter Fuel Payment cut will cost NHS Scotland '£85m a year'

Analysis from campaign group End Fuel Poverty Coalition has suggested making the previously universal benefit means-tested will got the UK NHS £169m a year due to treating pensioners living in cold and damp conditions. 

According to Department for Work and Pensions figures, Scotland has 9% of WFP claimants across the UK.

The SNP has said that this means the cut will cost Scotland's health service £17m a year and £85m over the parliament.

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Pensioner couple Peter and Florence Fanning from Coatbridge are looking to take the UK and Scottish governments to court over the decision to cut the payment.

The latest figures comes amid warnings Scotland’s emergency departments will likely fare worse this winter than last.

Dr Fiona Hunter, vice-chairwoman of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said there is a “crisis” in emergency care – a description rejected by Health Secretary Neil Gray.

The SNP have accused Scottish Labour MPs of “shafting” their constituents in voting for the cut to the WFP.

Seamus Logan (below), the SNP's health spokesperson, told the Daily Record: “When Labour took an axe to the Winter Fuel Payment, they served up a harsh winter for 880,000 Scottish pensioners, but now we know they’ve dealt a blow to our NHS too with new figures showing it could cost our NHS in Scotland up to £85m.

“It's shameful that Scottish Labour MPs shafted their constituents by voting for these cuts at Westminster - Scottish winters are infamously harsh, yet they chose to rubber-stamp Keir Starmer's cuts and force hard-pressed pensioners to choose between heating and eating.

(Image: Michal Wachucik/PA Wire)

“Politics is about priorities and rather than lining their own pockets with more than £800,000 of freebies and donations, the Labour government should be protecting our NHS and our pensioners this winter – not only is this a savage blow to older people, it makes no economic sense either.”

Mariana Mazzucato, a professor in the economics of innovation and public value from University College London, warned last month that Labour’s decision to make cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment may not save them money at all as pensioners could end up hospitalised from being unable to heat their homes.

Labour have claimed making the payment means-tested will save about £1.3bn this year and £1.5bn in subsequent years.

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But Mazzucato said on Question Time: “If you are actually cutting areas like the winter fuel [payment] that then perhaps makes the people who are not receiving their winter fuel - and there’s lots of pensioners who will not – get sick, and they end up in hospital, [and] there’s a cost there.

“And so any sort of modelling or analysis of whether this was the right thing to do to save £1bn has to be taking a long-run view.”

Around 900,000 Scots will now miss out on receiving the payment due to it becoming means-tested. Most of those who are still eligible for the payment receive Pension Credit.

It comes as average energy bills increased by 10% earlier this week when the price cap went up. This means that people using an average amount of gas and electricity will pay £1717 a year, adding £149 onto the average household bill.

The Scottish Government said it was left with “no choice” but to replicate the UK Government’s cut to the payment due to a funding cut of up to £160m.

Adam Stachura, policy director at Age Scotland, said: “There is no doubt that many of the 890,000 pensioners in Scotland who have had their Winter Fuel Payment taken away from them are going to suffer in the coming months.

“As the weather gets colder pensioners who are already struggling financially are likely to try to save money by turning down or switching off the heating. This can be disastrous for older people.

“We know that living in a cold, damp home carries significant health risks, including respiratory illness, heart disease and circulatory problems.

“There are around 270,000 pensioners in Scotland living in fuel poverty, who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment. We really don’t want to see any older person putting their own health at risk in a desperate bid to avoid falling into unmanageable debt."

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Winter Fuel Payment is devolved and the Scottish Government has decided to means test it for pensioners in Scotland.

“We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.”