Loosing winter fuel allowance

I am not sure where you live Moobox but please do not encourage the abolition of the bus pass as it will leave many in rural areas completely isolated and reliant on neighbours to go anywhere.

(I don't think railcards are anything to do with government but come from the railway company)

It is really important not to think every pensioner is as well off as, thankfully, some are and not to set policy according to the richest.

We don't vote for a personality on a General Election. It's not I'm a Celebrity make me PM.
How many children are going hungry, how many deaths attributed to benefit cuts, how many pensioners penalised by the acceleration of the rise to state pension ? That's before you look at the tax avoidance and how many Conservative MP's have investments in the companies who will clean up when services are all privatised!

I do so agree GracesGran. Removing the bus pass in rural or even urban areas would hit not just pensioners but the bus companies & subsequently the environment.

I use my fuel allowance to pay for my fuel! I use my bus pass to go into Town to buy food! Am I the only Gransnetter who does use these for the intended purpose?
If so then maybe I should not be on here?

It's not I'm a Celebrity make me PM.

It's so nice to smile when we are talking about such serious subjects. Thank you grabba

Jaycee5 Thank goodness for your sensible contribution.

And another thing, why oh why are pensions still considered a benefit? We have paid NI all our lives and those who have occupational pensions have paid into those as well. Sorry rant over.

SillyNanny. I need the fuel allowance for heating , I need a bus pass because I cannot afford to run a car.

as do many of us annie and silly, sometimes that gets forgotten.

Anniebach thats two of us at least then, dont feel so alone now.

Jaycee5 I agree with what you are saying but ...

The problem with that is that pension credit brings people up to the basic state pension so they would be getting more than people who get the same amount of state pension.

Just to highlight that currently the PC brings people up to, if I remember rightly, 5p below the current basic NEW Pension. The basic OLD pension and the NEW one will increase at the same percentage but, as we know, people on a larger amount gain more when we use percentages so all people on the OLD pension will gradually fall behind and, if the PC is not increased that will continue to fall below the NEW pension too.

It's a real hornets nest and I am glad I am not sorting it out but whoever is needs to have the needs of pensioners at the heart of what they do, not the needs of their party.

My husband and I have paid nearly a 100 years worth of tax between us. Why does everyone keep banging on about us being a burden. We have paid for years for the infrastructure of this country which the young and middle aged benefit from.. We are actually still working and pay lots of tax as do the better off pensioners. To get a little back tax free so those that need it get it. Seems good to me. We are also always bailing out our children. What happens when we are gone and maybe the house is eaten up on care home fees. By the way the costs and profits of care homes and home care should be looked at.

I remember a few years ago Ann Widdicombe saying she had tried to stop receiving the WFA as she did,nt need it but it was impossible not to have as there was no government provision to do so. She said she started to donate hers to a charity after trying unsuccessfully not to receive it. Also Peter Stringfellow the night club owner said likewise and donated his. Instead of just giving it to people when they reach the age to have it the government should have made it like the free bus pass were you need to apply for it. That way it would not be handed out to everyone. Talking of bus passes I think they should be means tested as some of the very wealthy particularly living in the London area use these all the time costing I would think over the space of a year far more than the heating allowance. An MPs wife on a TV programme saying how she makes good use of hers...even travelling on the bus to go to Mrs Thatcher's funeral. Another famous actress on our screens still says she uses hers all the time too. I think wealthy people like these apply for a bus pass are just taking the ...proverbial. People who genuinely need them should receive them along with the heating allowance.

That's how I feel exactly.

I am still curious as to how many MP's and how many in the Lords get heating allowance

It seems fair enough ....

All over the appropriate age annie The all have access to the NHS as well, and the state pension - It's called universal welfare - a basic Welfare State principle.

making the elderly apply wouldn't work ...well not here I know a lot of people in their 80's who are too proud to admit that they need help ,in one case it took a fall and a hospital trip for it to come to light that she wasn't getting all the things she should .Her wee face lit up when she knew she could have life a bit easier Theres no way she and thousands like her would claim WFA.My friend is a nurse and she helped this lady fill in all the forms to claim what she should have been getting for years.

Means testing, as several of you have already said, is very expensive to administer. It would be better to assume everyone over pensionable age gets the winter fuel allowance and tax them accordingly.

And is anyone else worried about free primary school lunches for our grandchildren's generation being replaced by breakfasts (unlikely to be high protein/ cooked, as this measure is supposed to be saving £4 billion of public money)??

Children who qualify will once again have to suffer from the stigma of coming from a poor family. Once again, it could be assumed that everyone with young children gets this benefit and be taxed accordingly, according to their income.

I have been horrified myself to see on occasion children faint from hunger in school time..It is not only poverty that causes this but neglect (which,disgracefully,also happens in households with a good income).

Too true paddyann. I came across many similar cases when I was working. According to Age Uk 3.5 billion of low income benefits annually are unclaimed by those eligible. It's also pensioners who are living just above the poverty line and cannot claim benefits who will very likely be disadvantaged (a surprisingly large number). My 92 yr old mother is one, she very much depends on her winter fuel payment to keep warm in winter.

That's what they are -very cynically - hoping.

Ah yes brought in in 1997 by Blair , surprising how some can forget just what good that government did

There is a theory going round that May doesn't want to win at all! Well, she was a remainer. I assumed that she was doing the honourable thing and doing what the electorate voted for but maybe she is putting obstacles in the way to get out of it. I've also heard that approximately one quarter of Conservative MPs, have connections with private health care. Makes you wonder,doesn't it.

Absolutely no need for means testing, pensioners who pay tax at high level do not need fuel payments, or pension for that matter.

I don't get winter fuel payment as only 61, think I have to wait until either 65 or pension age (66/67)

I only found at last year that I could apply for a warmfront fuel allowance (around £140) no one tells you this...if it hadn't been for a friend I would never have known,as my income was very low (£320) per month job seekers.

I will no doubt not be allowed to claim this year as I am now working although only a low wage.

You cannot claim if you are on jobseekers and other benefits it has all to do with age...maybe the Gov thing that a 59 yr old woman/man doesn't get as cold!!!

I would assume by the time I do! get to the age where I can claim it, it will be long gone ..hey ho..