Scottish ministers 'in the dark' over winter fuel payment U-turn

The Scottish government says it has been left in the dark over a surprise decision to reinstate winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners in England and Wales

Scotland's Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said ministers were not consulted on the major U-turn announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

More than 75% of pensioners in England and Wales will be entitled to the new annual payment of up to £300 after the UK government abandoned one of its first - and most controversial - policies.

Scotland has already created a devolved benefit of £100 for all pensioner households, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of Scots worse off than their counterparts in England and Wales.

Last July, Reeves drew widespread criticism over cuts to the winter fuel payment - a lump sum of £200 a year for households with a pensioner under 80, or £300 for households with a pensioner over 80 - in a bid to save an estimated £1.4bn.

In response, the Scottish government introduced a new scheme offering those in receipt of qualifying benefits like Pension Credit £200 or £300 depending on their age, and £100 for all other pensioner households.

However, while the benefit for pensioners above the income threshold will be clawed back through tax, richer pensioners in Scotland will be able to keep the payment.

Following the latest announcement from Westminster, Scottish pensioners who do not get pension credit but whose income is below that £35,000 threshold are expected to receive £100 less than if they lived in England or Wales.

There are 1.1 million pensioners in Scotland living in 751,000 pensioner households. Almost 17% of these households receive pension credit.

The Treasury has said the "uplift" for the Scottish government will be £250m, delivered in the usual autumn budget.

Shirley-Anne Somerville said Scotland introduced a winter heating payment for all pensioners because of the UK government's "betrayal of millions of pensioners".

She said the Scottish government welcomed the U-turn, but "there is still no detail about how the Chancellor intends to go about that".

The social justice secretary said: "We have once again not been consulted on the policy and its implications in Scotland and will scrutinise the proposals carefully when they are announced.

"I would therefore urge the UK government to ensure the Scottish government is fully appraised of the proposed changes as soon as possible."

Scottish Labour has called on the SNP to ensure Scots are not "left behind".

"The SNP must not go ahead with plans that would rob poorer pensioners in order to fund payments for millionaires," Labour MSP Paul O'Kane said.

"The SNP must re-examine their own proposals in light of this game-changing announcement, ensure payments reach those most in need, and give a cast-iron guarantee that no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans."

The Scottish government now has a decision to make.

They had announced a devolved benefit for this winter which meant every pensioner household would get a minimum of £100 this winter.

This new UK government announcement means that households in England and Wales, where someone's income is less than £35,000, are due a payment of £200 (or £300 for households with a pensioner over 80).

It's important to note that the Scottish payment is universal. The English and Welsh one is not.

But, all of a sudden, a cohort of Scottish pensioners – who don't get pension credit, but whose income is below that £35,000 threshold – are getting less than their English/Welsh equivalents.

That puts some pressure on Scottish ministers. Do they have to change what they're planning to pay out?

After some conversations with people in the Scottish government, it seems they're still digesting the implications of all of this.

But it looks like they'll get extra money off the back of today's announcement (known as Barnett consequentials).

There are already calls for that all to be used to make their payment more generous.