Means-testing winter fuel payments is more nuanced than headlines suggest, says Tim Farron. But it runs the risk of leaving older people worse off. If we want to look after those on the margins, Christians must pray for wise leaders and support those who are vulnerable
Plans to scrap the winter fuel allowance for the majority of pensioners have been met with outrage across the political spectrum. Keir Starmer has dug in, telling journalist Laura Kuennsberg that he is prepared to be unpopular as part of Labour’s plans to balance the books – both with the country and his own MPs, many of whom are threatening to abstain or vote against the proposals this week.
The winter fuel payment was introduced by the last Labour government in 1997 to tackle pensioner fuel poverty. Since then, it has been paid to all pensioners, regardless of income. The government now proposes to restrict it only to those who also claim the means-tested pension credit.
Our culture is content to leave many of its elders isolated and alone
However, analysis by former Lib Dem pensions minister, Steve Webb, has found that there are about 1.9 million pensioners living below the poverty line, but only 300,000 of them claim pension credit. In other words: a lot of people could potentially suffer - at a time when Ofgem has announced a rise in the energy price cap of 10 per cent.
A good steward
All of this raises a number of issues for Christians to consider. There’s the question of how governments should steward, target and spend public resources. We see right from Genesis 1 that God has given humans the task of managing his world on his behalf, making just decisions in the interests of the whole population.
The winter fuel payment is a blunt instrument and reaches rich pensioners as well as poor. There have been debates for years about whether it should be restricted or better targeted. The 2017 Conservative manifesto proposed to means-test it. Other options have been to tax it, withdraw it from pensioners who pay higher rates of income tax, or target it at those who live in the lowest council tax bands.
But many of these alternatives would be complex and costly to administer. And anyway, the government has said that the £400 increase in the state pension by next April will more than cancel out the loss.
Care for the poor
Another issue is how we look after the poorest in society. The Old Testament law shows us how God embedded caring for the poor, the foreigner and the more vulnerable into the very fabric of how his people should live and work. Scripture is full of exhortations to remember the poor.
Our culture is content to leave many of its elders isolated and alone. There can be no assuming that elderly people have family or community to rely on for support. Age UK has called the winter fuel payment an “essential weapon in the battle to stay warm during winter”. This policy change could mean that many of our most vulnerable citizens struggle to heat their homes when the cold weather arrives.
Scripture is full of exhortations to remember the poor
The winter fuel allowance has been at its current level of £200 since 2000, with an extra £100 for over 80s added 21 years ago in 2003. This means that its value falls every year, and is seen by some as political tokenism: a small annual payment that does not dent the real poverty faced by thousands of pensioners. Should the government instead be increasing tax for those who can afford it most, or are they right to fear these people will leave the UK and stop paying tax here altogether?
A new way forward
However we view this proposal, the pros and cons are always more nuanced than the headlines suggest. As Christians, we must continue to pray for those in authority.
At a time of economic difficulty, with public services and individuals struggling to make ends meet, we need leaders who act with compassion and wisdom, and who can find new approaches and solutions to issues which may often seem insurmountable or mired in political controversy.
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