Winter fuel payment: ‘No pensioner in Scotland will receive less’ than English counterparts

The Scottish Government will match the UK Government’s offer to pensioners receiving the winter fuel payment, the first minister has confirmed.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves partially U-turned on scrapping the payment last week, with a new scheme set to be put in place for next winter to ensure those with an annual income of £35,000 or less receive the cash.

The benefit was removed last year for all pensioners except those in receipt of pension credit, a widely unpopular move.

In the aftermath the Scottish Government announced its own version of the payment – the pension-age winter heating payment – would deliver a universal payment of £100. Those in receipt of pension credit would be entitled to more.

But the chancellor’s announcement last week meant that pensioners on the lowest incomes in England and Wales could receive up to £200 more than Scottish counterparts if the Scottish Government did not act.

In a speech at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Monday morning, John Swinney announced: “I am very happy to confirm that no pensioner in Scotland will receive less than they would under the new UK scheme.

“Details will be set out in due course by my government, but the Scottish Government will always seek what is best for Scotland’s pensioners.”

Extra cash from Barnett consequentials is expected to come from the UK Government announcement but it is as yet unclear how much.

The first minister suggested to reporters that it would be around £120m.

He would not confirm whether the upcoming change would mean the £100 universal payment could remain in place.

The government may opt to remove that and only pay money to those earning less than £35,000, matching the UK scheme, or it may retain the £100 for all and provide top-ups to the lowest income households.

The first minister was in Glasgow to deliver a broader speech on public service reform, in which he highlighted the importance of utilising technology.

He warned: “We are not going to be able to make the money we have available for public services match the demand for those services unless we ramp up our use of technology. That requires a near complete digital refit of our public realm.”

Business minister Richard Lochhead and public finance minister Ivan McKee has been tasked with promoting the “day-to-day use” of new tech in the NHS, he added.

He also said the focus on investment going forward must be in prevention, saying this would deliver both better outcomes for people as well as ensuring public cash went further.

“Prevention is the hard-nosed financial principle behind the decisions we have taken,” he said.

He also confirmed the government would move ahead with plans to reduce the size of the public sector. He was unable to confirm a figure for how many jobs would be cut, but said the government would stick to its policy of no compulsory redundancies.

Scottish Labour said the SNP had “failed” to deliver the necessary public sector reform during its almost two decades in power.

Deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This is a government that is flat out of ideas and quickly running out of time.

“Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it – Scotland needs a change in direction and a change in government.”

The Scottish Tories said the SNP had been “forced into a humiliating U-turn because of the huge public backlash”. 

Social security spokesperson Liz Smith added: “Labour and the SNP created huge anxiety, uncertainty and financial hardship for pensioners up and down the country and that betrayal will not be forgiven or forgotten.”