'Cannot be undone': South Tyneside Council votes against Winter Fuel Payment challenge

The controversial move by the new Labour government to restrict eligibility for the winter fuel payment to older people who receive pension credit is expected to see the number of people who receive the winter payment plummet.

It has also sparked concerns from politicians, charities and campaigners about the financial impact on older people over the winter, with a recent parliamentary vote on the changes seeing more than 50 Labour MPs not taking part.

South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck and Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne were among those who abstained.

The issue was raised by independent councillors at a meeting of South Tyneside Council this week calling for the national policy “on linking winter fuel payments to pension credit receipt to be immediately reversed”.

Members of the opposition South Tyneside Alliance Group called for the local authority’s leadership to take action over the national government changes.

The motion aimed to instruct the council leader, Labour’s councillor Tracey Dixon, to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer “calling for the policy on linking winter fuel payments to pension credit receipt to be immediately reversed”.

The motion also requested the council leader to write to the borough’s two MPs “asking them to give their formal support to reversing the changes to the winter fuel payment eligibility” and for all South Tyneside Council political group leaders to sign a joint letter to the chancellor.

The motion criticised the Government’s “decision to means-test winter fuel payments, especially with such short notice and without adequate compensatory measures”.

It also raised concerns that the Government had “set the threshold at which pensioners do not qualify for winter fuel payments far too low” and noted the “low take up of pension credit” in South Tyneside.

Councillor David Kennedy, South Tyneside Alliance Group leader, said the change to winter fuel allowance eligibility criteria was “deeply unfair” and that more than 23,600 pensioners in South Tyneside would be affected.

He added that “82.1 per cent of pensioners currently eligible for winter fuel payments will no longer be able to claim the payment from this winter onwards”.

Cllr Kennedy also referenced a previous report published by the Labour Party which claimed that restricting the winter fuel allowance to pensioners on benefits could “cost up to 4,000 pensioner lives” nationally.

Meanwhile, independent councillor Karen Myers said vulnerable pensioners across the country would be left with “dire risk and consequences” and forced to make choices between heating and eating.

The council’s group of Green Party councillors attempted to amend the South Tyneside Alliance Group motion, with an additional bullet point added linked to the council leader’s letter to government.

This included reference to the “cap” and the “inadequate amount that pension credit provides for the elderly”, with calls to raise it “to at least the minimum standard of £14,400 for a single pensioner and £22,400 for couples”.

However, the amended motion and original motion were ultimately voted down by a majority of Labour councillors at the meeting.

Several Labour councillors highlighted the work South Tyneside Council was doing to support those in fuel poverty, as well as work providing advice and support for residents around accessing pension credit and other benefits.

Councillor John McCabe, referring to the previous Labour government decision, said “what is done cannot be undone” but stressed the council had “always been on the front foot in trying to alleviate poverty”.

He added that writing to government ministers had already been done through “channels in the Labour Party” and that there were other government schemes available, including the £150 ‘warm house discount’ for low-income households.

The Labour councillor said the council had also written to 1,100 residents eligible for pension credit but not claiming it and had also held anti-poverty summits to boost partnership working, as well as a focus on welfare services and work with local organisations.

“We as a council are going to try our best to make sure and alleviate what the Government have done,” Cllr McCabe added.

Labour councillor Michael Clare said that the Labour government, in hindsight, “would be the first to acknowledge they would have done things differently around the way they announced the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment”.

He added there were planned changes nationally to support pensioners, including the “triple lock” to boost the state pension and provide more sustainable funding.

Cllr Clare urged the council to “double their efforts” working with agencies to promote pension credit eligibility going forward, even if it meant “knocking on every door in the borough”.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, leader of South Tyneside Council, also listed council projects, schemes and strategies helping to alleviate poverty in the borough, from family hubs and ‘welcoming places’, to helping residents claim the benefits they’re entitled to.

Local authority bosses have estimated almost 3,000 older people are missing out on pension credit, which would add around £5 million to the local economy.

Council leader Cllr Dixon added that the “Labour-led council was delivering for residents despite being starved of [government] cash over the last 14 years” and was “supporting our residents, our vulnerable and our pensioners”.

“We have talked about how many pensioners in this borough are not accessing [pension credit] […] it’s up to us as politicians to help support our pensioners and getting that message out there and getting them the benefits that they’re entitled to,” she said.

Several opposition councillors raised concerns about the Government’s decision and impacts on the health of pensioners, from increased hospital admissions to excess deaths.

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Councillor David Francis, leader of the council’s Green Group, acknowledged there was “amazing [council] work to try and plug the gaps and stop people falling through the cracks”.

But the Green councillor stressed that the “people that really have the power to do something about that on a large scale is the national government” and said changes to winter fuel payments were a “harsh blow”.

“There should be no shame in welfare and benefits and the Government should be there to provide help to those who need it […] winter fuel payments save lives, up to 4,000 per winter according to some estimates,” he said.

“This policy must be reversed, no-one should have to choose between staying warm or staying fed, we must act now to demand fairness for our pensioners.”

Green Party councillor Chris Davies added: “There was not an impact assessment and a conservative estimate I think is 4,000 deaths this year, on top of the additional strain that will place on the NHS with cold, ill, elderly people and then the additional things that come from a hospital stay.

“Because of that, we need to have this restored and then properly considered and implemented after this [government] budget.”

After being put to a named vote, the motion from the South Tyneside Alliance Group was defeated with 19 votes for and 21 against.

Independent councillor David Kennedy said Labour councillors voting against the opposition motion should “hang their heads in shame” for “allowing our pensioners to freeze this winter”.

“How you can sit there now, you’re about to bring a motion in about voter ID, you will need more than voter ID to get through in the 2026 [elections] after this shambles of a vote,” he added.

The motion was discussed at a borough council meeting on Thursday, October 17, at South Shields Town Hall.

The meeting was also live-streamed on South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel and is available to view.