by Salford’s mayor doesn’t claim to have a crystal ball – but somehow he seemed to have seen the winter fuel payments saga coming.
Earlier this year – several months before the new Labor government announced it would take the allowance from millions of pensioners – Paul Dennett was unwittingly preparing for the move. In fact, the mayor decided to send him around £400,000.
The universal payment for pensioners, introduced by the last Labor government in 1997, is to be scrapped this winter and only those claiming Pension Credit – or certain other benefits – will get the up to £300 on offer. . Announcing the decision in July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to help more people claim Pension Credit, revealing that 800,000 pensioners are currently ineligible.
READ MORE: A free school meals offer that has helped over 15,000 children continue
However, Salford council took the lead, having decided in February to invest £400,000 over three years to help more pensioners claim the benefits they are entitled to. So far, pensioners in Salford have claimed an extra £1.6m, including Pension Credits.
But despite being more prepared than most for the upcoming cuts to pensioners’ income, the mayor is still worried about the move. He is lobbying MPs representing all parts of the city, explaining why he is concerned about the impact of the decision.
And he seems to have some concerns. When there was a vote in Parliament last month, Salford MP Rebecca Long Bailey, who is currently facing suspension from Labor for rebelling against another vote, actively refrained from supporting the controversial measure.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening NewsMr Dennett said he fears many pensioners are ‘proud’ of not claiming the benefits they are entitled to. And he says the application process is ‘difficult and complicated’ for those who apply.
He has a solution though. The Labor mayor believes pensioners who are eligible for the payment should be automatically registered.
He said: “I don’t know how feasible this is, but to me, given all this tax data and all this pension data, we certainly know who is in entitled to pension credits. So why don’t we just register them?
“I have expressed that idea, I shared it with our members of Parliament, I shared that with the [council] leaders and mayors [Andy] Burnham. That seems like a logical way forward.
“Auto-enrolment of those who are entitled to Pension Credits. We will ensure that the least well-off in society get access to winter fuel payments, and also, it is likely to save us significant sums of money on the complex administration bureaucracy Pension Credits.
“Maybe I’m too simplistic in how I think about things. We’ve brought it into the mix as an idea and we’ll continue to lobby and influence in that space.”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that it is currently not possible to accurately identify people who may be entitled to Pension Credit directly from DWP data. As with all means-tested benefits, a person’s eligibility for Pension Credit and the amount they are entitled to depends on their personal and family financial circumstances, which are often ‘complex’, according to the Department.
Mr Dennett says he understands why the government has decided to cut the allowance, citing the £22bn black hole in the public finances the Chancellor said it had caused. But he remains ‘really concerned’ that too many people will not apply for Pension Credit.
He said: “Within the context of shortages – and boy do we know that in local government after 14 years of cuts – I think millionaires should be getting the winter fuel payments right now? Probably is not.
“Yes, I am committed and I like the idea of universalism. It feels right to me.
“But at this point, on winter fuel payments, do I think we should be getting millionaires? Probably not.”
He said: “We think we have about 3,700 people [in Salford] who are entitled to Pension Credits who are not currently claiming. We’ve already written to people – directly from myself – asking them to contact social welfare rights and debt advice if they can’t go through the application process themselves because we think they’re entitled to it . That’s using our own data set.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “To make sure Pension Credit is accessible to everyone, applications can be made online at gov.uk, over the phone, or via a paper application form. claim online – the service is available 24/7 every day of the year and can be completed with a friend or relative – or by telephone where the caller is guided through the claim process.
“We have already seen a 152 per cent increase in the number of claims in our drive to increase the number of Pension Credit claims and we will continue to raise awareness of the benefit so that all eligible pensioners receive the financial support which they are entitled to.”
