Debate contribution: Emergency Fuel Support for Winter 2024-25

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 19 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

19 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

Emergency Fuel Support for Winter 2024-25

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4665882

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I wish to update the Assembly regarding winter fuel payments in Northern Ireland. Being in government is about making choices. Sometimes, we have to take difficult decisions in the best interests of the people we serve. The Labour Government have sought to portray the decision on the winter fuel payment as difficult but necessary: I could not disagree more. I have previously set out my opposition to their move, and I will continue to make the case for full reinstatement. It was not in the Labour Party manifesto; it was not even mooted by them beforehand. Secondly, I do not believe that there will be a significant financial saving, and, finally but most importantly, I believe that it will be detrimental to the health and well-being of many of our people, especially those who just fall short of qualifying for pension credit. As we all know, winter brings many challenges. For our older people, staying warm and healthy during the colder months is particularly important. Energy costs are not just a financial issue; they affect people's comfort, health and quality of life. The decision by the Labour Government to remove the winter fuel payment from pensioners who are not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits has left many of our people feeling anxious about how they will manage their energy bills this winter. The decision has had a significant impact, and I recognise the need to act quickly to provide relief. In my statement to the Assembly on 10 September, I advised that I had asked Executive colleagues to ring-fence any Barnett consequentials for cost-of-living support this winter. That request was to enable me to do whatever I could to alleviate the worst consequences of the winter fuel payment changes announced by the Labour Government. I have kept my promise. I am pleased to announce that I have secured £17 million to help mitigate those winter fuel payment changes. I thank my Executive colleagues for supporting my bid for that funding. My goal is simple: to ensure that every pensioner in Northern Ireland has some support to stay warm and safe during the winter. We understand that the costs of fuel and energy are a burden on many households, particularly those on fixed incomes, as is the case with our pensioners. On the basis of the available funding, I asked my officials to explore options to help and support the pensioners impacted by the loss of the winter fuel payment. Following careful examination of each of those options, I can confirm that a one-off winter fuel payment of £100 will be paid to all pensioner households affected by the Labour Government's decision. I believe that that initiative reflects my commitment to fairness, compassion and responsibility towards our older population. My officials are now working at pace to prepare and bring forward the necessary legislation to finalise arrangements. The payment will be made available to all pensioner households that have had their winter fuel payments removed. There will be no application process, as we will automatically identify eligible individuals through existing records. That approach will ensure a smooth and efficient distribution of payments without the additional burden of application forms or red tape. The payment will be made before the end of March 2025. However, I am working closely with officials to deliver it as soon as possible. As previously stated, it is extremely important that people ensure that they are receiving all the benefits that they are entitled to. Recent pension credit promotional activities by my Department have been successful, and the number of pension credit applications has increased significantly. During the period of August to October 2024, 3,026 pension credit applications were received. That is an increase of around 56% on the number of applications received in the corresponding period last year, during which there were 1,941 applications for pension credit. Furthermore, last week I announced an uptake in additional benefits of £62 million in 2023-24 through my Department's Make the Call service, £21 million of which went to pensioners. That free and confidential service puts people in touch with support that they may be entitled to but have not been claiming. Pension credit in particular can provide access to a range of other supports and benefits, which can be a lifeline for our older generations. I want to ensure that all available support and entitlements go directly to those who need them, so I encourage everyone to make the call.

There is also good progress being made on the fuel poverty strategy, which has the vision of a warm, healthy home for everyone. I look forward to launching the consultation in the next number of weeks. The actions from the strategy will eventually deliver future benefits for the people of Northern Ireland, but we are all acutely aware of the energy well-being needs of today. That is why I hope that the additional support will be welcomed by the pensioner households affected by Labour's decision. I have heard the stories from those who are worried about what the cut has meant for them. Although I may not be in a position to reinstate fully that which has been removed, I pledged to the House that I would do what I can to help, and that is what I have done today. I hope that the announcement brings some comfort to those who were most affected. I commend the statement to the House.

If he had listened to my statement, the Member would have heard that it is for pensioner households. All that we get is criticism from the Opposition. It is not the constructive opposition that we were promised but just negativity. The Labour Government, of whom the SDLP is a sister party, removed in its entirety 80% of the funding that was available for winter fuel payments, which meant that 80% of pensioners were going to lose out because of that decision. I stood here and said that I would do what I could with what I had. I bid for the funding and secured it, and I am getting that funding out to people across Northern Ireland. I have been clear that it is not what I would like to be doing. I would like the payment to be fully reinstated, but I am doing what I can. I would be interested in hearing what, if Mr McCrossan were in my position, he would have done differently. I believe that we have put the best solution that we could in place to provide some comfort to those who are in need. He is shaking his head. I would love to hear his alternative, but, of course, he does not have one.

The Member asks a couple of questions. First, as I outlined in my statement, it is a one-off payment for this year, because that is the money that I currently have available. I, of course, hope to be in a position to extend the household support fund. I emphasise, however, that, although the payment is not a permanent one — we are not in a position to do that — we are doing what we can to help. The Member raised the important issue of longer-term support. I will go out to consultation shortly on a fuel poverty strategy. We will have the anti-poverty strategy in the new year as well. There are many issues to do with fuel poverty that need to be addressed. That is where the funding can have the greatest impact for the longest period. I look forward to going out to consultation and getting responses, but it is important that, in the meantime, we give whatever help we can, which is what I am doing.

I am tempted to say that, if the Member thinks that the Opposition or other parties will come forward with alternative proposals, perhaps she is being a little naive. She will be aware that lots of people like to sit on the other side of the Chamber and pontificate about what they would like to see, but they have no concrete plan to deliver it and no idea of where it would come from. The payment will assist almost a quarter of a million pensioners. Those are people who live in households that would otherwise have lost out. It is not everything that we would like to be in a position to give, but it is some help that will be available for them.

First, in any online post or comment that I made prior to my statement today, I said that I would be coming forward with a proposal. I did not indicate in those posts —.

Yes. I said that I intended to make a statement to the House. Is it in any way inappropriate for me to indicate that I will make a statement to the House? No, it is not. In fact, I know that that is not the case because I spoke directly to the Speaker and told him that I intended to make a statement. I asked him whether he had an issue with my publicising the fact that I was going to make a statement to make people aware, and he said no. The Member is shaking her head, but I spoke to the Speaker and got that assurance. She is still shaking her head: maybe she had conversations with the Speaker that I know nothing about. I gave no detail of the information in my statement or about the extra £100 that will go to households that did not previously get it. The reason why it is a flat-rate payment that will go to all pensioners is that we have limited tools at our disposal in how we allocate the funding in Northern Ireland. We are using the existing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) systems. They are in place, and we have permission to use them for this year. It is right and appropriate that we do this as quickly as possible. I did not want to get us into a position where we had an application process and people had to fill in forms or that our older people had to go online or get someone to help them. We would then have needed to use very many man-hours of Department officials' time to deliver the payment. I wanted the support to go out as simply and straightforwardly as possible. That is why we have done what we have done.

Additional applications have been made for pension credit. Obviously, those need to go through the system, and it will take a little time before we have the information about the number of people who were successful. Those who are entitled to pension credit will not only see its full restoration but have the ability to avail themselves of many other benefits. The objective of the fuel poverty strategy is to make sure that everyone lives in a warm home. The emergency fuel support certainly aligns with that strategy, which I hope to be able to put in place after consultation, in that it will ensure that people have more resource specifically to pay for their fuel needs.

We expect the full £17 million to be used for the winter fuel payment for those who will lose out, but, again, I take the opportunity to encourage people to use the Make the Call service. We have had a fantastic response to that. Millions and millions of pounds of additional benefit are being delivered to people across Northern Ireland, simply because they are now applying for and getting the benefits that they are entitled to. I encourage the Member and others to, in the first instance, get people to use that service.

As the Member knows, I am extremely concerned about this and the impacts that it will have. That is why I have raised it at every level that I have been able to as a Minister. I have spoken to Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office and to DWP, and, together with Executive colleagues, we have written to the Prime Minister. I would characterise the response as disappointing. It is disappointing because they do not seem to understand the plight of older people in Northern Ireland, and it is disappointing that so many continue to parrot the line that this is somehow a way in which we give lots of money to millionaires when the vast majority of people, of course, do not find themselves in that category. The Member asked what, I think, the prospects are of them changing course on the policy. I am not sure, but I certainly think that they should. I do not think that it will save them any money at all; in fact, it might cost more, because you will have more people moving on to pension credit who will get not only the winter fuel payment but all the other benefits that they may be entitled to. It is an ill-thought-out policy and, I have to say, very disappointing. It is not dissimilar to issues that we were talking about last night in relation to the changes to agricultural relief with regard to inheritance tax. They are ill-thought-out policies that will have a detrimental impact on some of those who need our support and help.

First of all, we have a draft fuel poverty strategy that will go out to consultation in the next number of weeks. It is important that we set a longer-term plan for how we deal with some of the issues. I strongly disagree with what the Member said about a "scattergun approach". The vast majority of people who will avail themselves of the additional support will need it, and I would rather be in a position where we give it to everybody and some who do not need get it than be in a position where many people who need it do not get it at all. It is important that we provide that support. I got extra funding as a Barnett consequential. I bid for that, and it came for the household support fund, which is there to help the households that will be struggling this winter. It is entirely appropriate that we put it towards those who find themselves less well off compared with last year. However, of course, we need to have longer-term plans in place, and that is exactly what I will do with the fuel poverty strategy.

I have corresponded with the Committee, of course, and we have talked through this at previous meetings. There is limited scope for us, and there was really limited debate for us to have about it. There were not many good options for us and not many good options available for the distribution of the payment, but it was my prerogative as Minister to go forward and find a way as quickly as possible to help those who are in need. That is what I have done.

First, if someone was in receipt of a payment before, they will continue to be in receipt of that payment, because we still have the details in the DWP system that we are using. However, as always, there are those who feel that they may miss out or that there have been some issues that mean that they have not got the support that they thought they were otherwise going to get, so, of course, there will be support from my Department to make sure that we can help those who fall through there. I want to make sure that we do have that support available and that people do not feel that they are lost and do not know where they can go if there is an issue.

Yes, absolutely. I want to confirm that and be very clear, and I would appreciate it if Members could share that information as well. My Department will never ask for bank details or personal information by phone, by text or by email, and we have updated the benefit-related pages on nidirect to make that clear. If anyone does get such a message, it will be a scam, and you should report any suspicious emails or text messages that are asking for your bank details.

First, thankfully, very few man-hours or woman-hours will need to be used on this, because we will be using a system that is already in place. That takes me to the second part of the Member's question, which is in relation to how this is processed. Essentially, there is the data set of everybody who was previously getting it. Those who are on pension credit will have been taken out, so we will be using the remainder to process this. It will take some time, because we are using the DWP system, and we need to get in there. DWP has given us permission to do that and said that it will deliver this. We need to get a slot to get in there because, obviously, the IT systems are used for various different changes, including the current winter fuel payment changes that will be taking place in the rest of the UK. As I said, I hope that that will happen as soon as possible. I will continue to put the pressure on to ensure that those who are in need get this as soon as possible.

2,898 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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