Health Secretary Defends ‘Unpopular’ Winter Fuel Payments Decision as Temperature Plummets

A man digs a car out of the snow near Allenheads, in the Pennines in Northumberland, England, on Jan. 6, 2025. Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

The government’s change to the winter fuel allowance “might be unpopular,” but voters will thank Labour for making the savings in the long-run, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Streeting told Trevor Phillips on Sky News on Sunday that his government had been making unpopular decisions in the past six months—such as means-testing pensioner Winter Fuel Payments—to alleviate pressure on public finances.

“So they might be unpopular decisions now, but I hope they’ll be decisions that in the longer run people thank us for when they see the country improving,” he said.

The minister continued, “When they see waiting times in hospitals falling, when they see children having enough teachers in the classroom and breakfast clubs, when there are more police on the streets, all of the change that we want to deliver, which isn’t easy given the scale of the challenge in the country, but that’s what we’re focused on in 2025.”

Streeting made the remarks after he had told “BBC Breakfast” on Friday that “this is definitely a weekend to turn the heating on,” ahead of last weekend’s drop in temperature.

Asked whether this advice was “tactful,” Streeting told Phillips, “It is part of the advice that the NHS is giving to people during this cold snap to make sure that people are doing whatever they can to keep warm, to make sure, as we’ve been doing in the run-up to this winter, that people get vaccinated and so on.”

The Labour minister then defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to means test the Winter Fuel Payments, saying that the benefit was still available for the poorest pensioners.

‘Cruel’

Last year, the chancellor ended universal access to the Winter Fuel Payments and made them means-tested so that only pensioners on Pension Credit or other assessed benefits could receive it.

As a result, around 10 million pensioners will lose out on support paying their energy bills, worth up to £300 this year.

Conservative Party Chairman Nigel Huddleston had described Streeting’s advice on Friday as “cruel,” saying that the minister has “no idea about the impact of Labour’s disastrous decisions.”

“The shameful reality is that many pensioners will face an impossible choice between heating and eating this winter because Labour decided to prioritise pay rises for their union friends over pensioners’ welfare,” Huddleston said.

Charity Age UK said in November that 37 percent of pensioners, around 4.4 million people, will find it difficult to manage financially without the Winter Fuel Payments.

Consumers are also facing rising energy prices, with energy bills for homes in England, Wales, and Scotland having increased by 1.2 percent on Jan. 1, with analysts predicting a further rise of 3 percent in April.

Ministers have previously said that means testing the allowance was not something the Labour government wanted to do, but was necessary to correct the “£22 billion black hole“ left in the public purse by the previous administration.

However, the Social Security Advisory Committee, which provides advice on benefits to ministers, said it is “not clear” how limiting access to Winter Fuel Payments will save money, given the rise in the number of those applying for Pension Credit.

Weather Warning Issued

Over the weekend, parts of the UK saw heavy snow or icy rain, causing disruptions to travel.

Some 40 flood warnings and 250 flood alerts have since been issued as a result of thawing snow.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting speaking to the media during a visit to London Ambulance Service headquarters in south London, England, on Dec. 9, 2024. Ben Whitley/PA Wire

Sunday night was the coldest night across the country so far, falling to minus 13.3 degrees Celsius in Loch Glascarnoch in the Scottish Highlands.

Commuters by rail and road faced delays on Monday morning. Manchester Airport’s runways were closed due to heavy snow, but they later reopened.

A blanket of snow at Allenheads, in the Pennines in Northumberland, England, on Jan. 6, 2025. Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Hundreds of schools were also closed on Monday, including in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the north east of Scotland.

On Monday, the Met Office issued fresh yellow warnings for snow and ice across the west of Great Britain and the whole of Northern Ireland set to last until Tuesday, with warnings for snow continuing to last in the south of England until Wednesday.

PA Media contributed to this report.