Motion no: 30
Conference condemns the recent decision by the UK government to end the universal entitlement to winter fuel payments, a decision that was enforced in Northern Ireland by the Stormont Executive parties.
The policy will limit the special fuel payment to the ten percent of pensioners who are eligible for the receipt of pension credit and exclude pensioner with any significant level of employment-based private or public pension. This measure therefore disproportionately impacts retired workers who were employed in low-wage positions – many of whom already experience severe hardship.
Conference notes that the incomes of pensioners are fixed and they have no mechanism to make up this loss. Furthermore due to the region’s climate and our low-income status, this regressive policy will disproportionately impact Northern Ireland which has the highest fuel poverty rate (24%) in the UK. More pensioners in Northern Ireland will struggle to either ‘heat or eat’ themselves this winter than any other part of the UK.
Across the UK, this policy has been opposed by trades unions and allies supporting older people such as the National Pensioners’ Convention. They point out that 10 million UK pensioners will lose up to £300 a year. This is equivalent to losing more than a week’s pension income, and the cuts come just as Ofgem has announced the energy price cap will increase by £149 this winter.
Pensioners shouldn’t be made to pay the price for government mistakes. There is plenty of wealth in our society which the government could tax. The energy companies more than trebled their profits during the pandemic and the 50 richest families in Britain own a combined £500 billion in wealth - the same as half the UK population. A wealth tax on the richest 1% would raise billions, yet this Labour Government has chosen to target pensioners, the most vulnerable in society, instead.
Conference calls for a unified campaign to lobby our elected representatives both in Stormont and Westminster to lobby this Labour Govt to "change their minds" and reverse the introduction of means-testing for the Winter Fuel Allowance.
