Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
Maggie Chapman raises an important point. I assure her that discussions are on-going about what we can do in this situation. Once again, the Scottish Government is having discussions about how to mitigate a decision of a UK Government, but this time it is a Labour Government rather than a Tory Government.
This winter, payments of our proposed new benefit will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions under an agency agreement with Scottish ministers. That approach seeks to ensure that eligible individuals in Scotland continue to receive support over the winter. Given the timing of the UK announcement, it was not possible for Social Security Scotland to deliver those payments this year.
The Scottish Government acknowledges that there are other pensioners who are likely to face financial difficulty and who would benefit from that support. We will continue to call on the UK Government to reverse its decision to means test winter fuel payments and to reinstate the payment for all pensioners in future years. I am committed to keeping the eligibility and scope of pension-age winter heating payments under review.