WYCHAVON councillors have called on the Labour government to reverse cuts to winter fuel payments.

Figures show 29,080 pensioners in the district will lose their allowance this winter, meaning 92.6 percent of pensioners currently eligible for winter fuel payments will no longer be able to claim them.

At a district council meeting on Wednesday, October 16, councillors unanimously supported a Liberal Democrat motion to write to Wychavon MPs asking for them to support pausing the removal of winter fuel payments and to push for the government to introduce a new threshold to determine eligibility.

All group leaders within the council will also sign a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling for the new winter fuel payment policy to be suspended and reviewed.

The request will also call for the application forms for pension credit to be made simpler to help those who apply. 

The council has also pledged to use its resources to continue to support residents with filling in the pension credit forms, and provide emergency funding to those who need it through the Discretionary Welfare Assistance Scheme. 

READ MORE: Cuts to winter fuel payments 'a disgrace' say councillors

Leader of the Liberal Democrats at Wychavon District Council, Dan Boatright-Greene, said: “Thousands of pensioners in Wychavon are desperately worried about how they will make it through this winter.

“We have too many pensioners not claiming the money they are eligible to receive, and I am grateful that Wychavon and our councillors will do all they can to make sure people receive the right information to claim.

“With the Energy Price Cap going up 10 percent this month, thousands of local pensioners could be pushed into fuel poverty. It is time for the government to change course and come up with a fairer system. Just because something is hard to do, doesn't mean they shouldn’t do it.”

Speaking at the meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Boatright-Greene said that for anyone filling in the Pension Credit form, “your soul leaves your body around page 18 and tries to escape the room”.

Cllr Jodi Arnold said many residents struggle to apply for Pension Credits online and to get help filling in the forms.

Cllr Dan Birch, the council’s executive board member for wellbeing, said the government had shown it was “out of touch with millions of households”.

He said the council had already been helping residents via its household support fund and would expand its Warm Welcome network.

Cllr Mary Tasker said: “There are people who have the winter fuel allowance who don’t really need it.

“I’ve heard some people say they use it for buying Christmas presents, because they’re lucky enough to have a good pension” she said. “But it’s the people who don’t have those pensions and are the lowest in the community, with the funding that they get.”