Winter Fuel Payment announcement linked payments to Pension Credit

On 29 July 2024 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced that from winter 2024/25 households in England and Wales would no longer be entitled to the Winter Fuel Payment unless they received Pension Credit or certain other means-tested benefits¹. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says the announcement drove an increase in Pension Credit applications and awards for Winter 2024 to 2025².

Applications rose sharply in the weeks after the announcement. Which? reported that 150,000 claims were made in the 16 weeks that followed, a 145% increase on the previous 16 weeks³. At that point 1.4 million pensioners were receiving Pension Credit, with an estimated 880,000 eligible households missing out³. The qualifying week for the 2024-25 Winter Fuel Payment was 16 to 22 September, and the last date for a backdated Pension Credit claim was 21 December⁴.

The DWP's February 2026 release, which covers Great Britain only, compares the 52 weeks from 24 February 2025 to 22 February 2026 with the equivalent period a year earlier²:

There were 11,710 outstanding Pension Credit claims still to be processed at the end of the week commencing 16 February 2026, a fall of 65%, or 21,980 fewer, on the week commencing 17 February 2025². The DWP says the release is classed official statistics in development, drawn from management information, and that figures from the August 2025 supplementary release onwards are presented to the nearest 5, having previously been rounded to the nearest 100².

The policy has since changed. From Winter 2025 to 2026, Winter Fuel Payments were made to all pensioners in England and Wales, with pensioners whose taxable income is over £35,000 a year, and who do not receive Pension Credit or other qualifying benefits, having the payment recovered through the tax system². The Scottish Government replaced the Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland with a Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, also linked to Pension Credit and other qualifying benefits for 2024/25². In November 2024 it said all pensioners would receive £100 in winter 2025/26, with households on Pension Credit receiving £200 or £300 depending on age¹; on 18 June 2025 it withdrew those regulations and said all pensioners with income under £35,000 would receive Pension Age Winter Heating Payments of £203.40 or £305.10 per household depending on age¹.

Why it matters for households

For Winter 2024 to 2025, entitlement to the Winter Fuel Payment in England and Wales depended on receiving Pension Credit or another qualifying means-tested benefit, so pensioner households above the Pension Credit threshold lost the payment for that winter². Pension Credit tops up weekly income, and in 2024-25 guarantee credit brought a single person's income up to at least £218.15 a week and a couple's to £332.95³. Receipt also acts as a gateway to other support, including the Warm Home Discount, Cold Weather Payment, help with rent and council tax, and a free TV licence for households where someone is over 74³.

The DWP's figures show the volume of new claims falling back in the most recent 52 weeks, while the number of claims cleared and not awarded fell by 38% over the same comparison². The Work and Pensions Committee noted that Pension Credit take-up has remained at around two thirds of those eligible for about ten years, that efforts by DWP and 200 local authorities produced 60,000 additional awards, and that the latest official estimates were of 700,000 eligible households not claiming¹.

What happens next

The DWP says this release updates the series published on 27 November 2025, and that following the changes for Winter 2025 to 2026 the statistics will now provide a 52-week rolling presentation of Great Britain figures². The Committee's report was published on 24 July 2025 and the Government has two months to respond¹. No further dated steps are set out in these sources.