Winter Fuel Payment update: New details emerge on plans for greater roll out as some pensioners to be left disappointed

Today, the Government has definitively ruled out returning to universal winter fuel payments, with Pensions Minister Torsten Bell telling MPs there is "no prospect" of reversing the means-testing policy introduced last year.

Speaking to the Work and Pensions Committee this morning Bell said: "Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no, the principle I think most people, 95 per cent of people agree, that it's not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundreds of pounds to millionaires, and so we're not going to be continuing with that."

However, the minister confirmed the Government would be "looking at making more pensioners eligible" for the payment, which is worth up to £300.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled that more pensioners will receive winter fuel payments "this coming winter", with details to be announced "as soon as we possibly can".

Speaking to reporters in Rochdale, Reeves acknowledged the difficult decision to means-test the payments last year was necessary to restore public finances.

She said: "But we have now put our public finances on a firmer footing, the economy is in a better shape, but we have also listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test, and so we will be making changes to that," she said.

The Chancellor confirmed: "People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter."

When pressed on which groups currently missing out on winter fuel payments he would prioritise, Bell told the committee: "We are committed to the principle that there should be some means-testing and that those on the highest incomes shouldn't be receiving winter fuel payments in the context of wider decisions we have to make and fairness is an important part of that."

He added: "You can then take from that, that my priority is those who are on lower incomes but have missed out."

The minister acknowledged the concerns raised by constituents, saying: "I think all of us will have heard from people on lower incomes who didn't receive winter fuel payment this year, and I understand the points they've raised. And so we'd like to see wider eligibility."

Bell defended the policy decision in the context of the government's broader spending priorities, particularly healthcare investment.

"We definitely need to think about the debates around health in a wider context, like 'what is the big picture?'" he told the committee.

"This is a Government putting £26 billion extra a year into the NHS funded by tax changes and other difficult changes that lots of people don't support, but those changes are necessary to deliver that extra health investment."

The minister also addressed concerns about health impacts from the policy change, noting that data from last winter showed "negative excess deaths, so fewer deaths than normal" and "no differential effects on their health outcomes" for cohorts affected by the winter fuel payment changes.