South Kesteven District Council calls on Labour government to rethink winter fuel allowance cut

South Kesteven District Council has joined the call for the Labour government to rethink its decision to remove the winter fuel allowance for all but the most financially vulnerable pensioners.

A motion, brought before 80 councils across the country over the past few weeks, demanding the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves review the decision to restrict eligibility for the winter fuel allowance to those in receipt of pension credits and other benefits, has now gained the support of SKDC.

Lincolnshire County Council and Boston Borough Council were the first authorities in the county to support this cause.

The motion was presented by the leader of the opposition, Coun Graham Jeal (Conservative), during a full council meeting yesterday (Thursday, September 26), where he stressed that the cuts would impact 29,882 residents in South Kesteven alone.

"I want to be clear, nobody says that the winter fuel allowance isn’t in need of reform," he stated, arguing that means-testing for well-off pensioners could have been a better solution.

"To remove it for everyone in such a short time span and with so little consultation feels wrong."

The motion was quickly seconded by Coun Harrish Bisnauthsing (Liberal Democrat), who described the cuts as an "ill-thought proposal" by the current government.

"Winter is approaching, and this new government seems fit to punish the most vulnerable in our society," he added.

Ultimately, members agreed for leader Ashley Baxter (Independent) to write a letter to Ms Reeves to ensure that vulnerable pensioners, particularly those who do not claim pension credits, are protected from financial hardship.

Earlier this month, Neil O’Brien, Conservative MP for Harborough, shared data outlining the number of people per constituency losing winter fuel payments, describing it as "the numbers the government doesn’t want to publish".

This data showed that 215,897 people across Lincolnshire are set to lose support.