"Cut to winter fuel payments have been a mistake"

Posted on May 13, 2025

The results of the local elections have been a sobering moment for our party. The optimism that followed last year’s landslide victory has been met with a reality check, as voters have sent us a clear message: Labour must urgently address the pressing issues that affect people’s lives, or we risk losing seats to a resurgent Reform Party.

By Sir Stephen Houghton

The cuts to winter fuel payments, in my opinion, have been a mistake and are the antithesis of what we stand for as a party - giving people the support they need to help improve their lives.

During campaigning on the doorsteps in Doncaster, it was clear that it’s not just pensioners who are upset; it’s whole families, their kids and grandkids who say the decision is not fair. About 10 million pensioners lost up to £300 a year after the Chancellor opted to means-test winter fuel payments.

This decision has become totemic, allowing political opponents to portray the government as insensitive to the struggles of working-class people. It was the first major decision taken by the government after 14 years of austerity, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. This policy set a tone for public attitudes towards the government, overshadowing much of the good work Labour has achieved under the Prime Minister’s leadership in the first 10 months, including the beginning of positive changes to the local government finance system and improvements in the National Health Service.

In councils across the country, everyone says the same thing: this issue is not going away. There are four more winters before the election and this will come back to damage Labour every year. The cut is particularly significant in more deprived areas like Barnsley, but it affects every family, every community. We’ve had people ringing us up in the town hall saying they will never vote Labour again because of the decision. In Barnsley, we’ve stepped in to provide support for 2,000 local pensioners, but it is clear that a national solution is needed.

Despite the good work on the NHS, consistently reducing waiting times each month, providing more vital funding to the most deprived councils through the Recovery Grant, and the Prime Minister's leading work on supporting Ukraine and securing new trade deals, these results show that the outcome of next year's local elections will be even worse if things don't change and the government doesn’t do more to help councils and communities in need.

The Reform Party's success in local elections is a clear indication that they are vocalising the concerns that people in our constituencies have, while Labour is not answering those concerns fast enough. Reform won the by-election in Runcorn & Helsby, won a majority of councillors in Doncaster and Durham, and came within 400 votes of winning the North Tyneside mayoralty. Nigel Farage’s party swept to power in 10 councils across the country, as well as winning the new mayoralties in Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire on both banks of the Humber. These are all historically Labour strongholds, so this is a worrying indication for the party of what could come in next year’s local elections.

There are several key areas - most notably the Government’s commitment to reform council funding to fix the foundations of local government, which we expect imminently – that will give local councils the support they need to make significant investment and point to tangible benefits they have created to voters by the time of the next election.

I applaud the Government’s ambition for big capital expenditure projects to achieve economic growth. However, capital spending takes time to have a political effect: time the government simply doesn't have. Delivering support on immediate problems, such as the cost-of-living crisis, and rethinking cuts to the benefit system and the winter fuel allowance, is pivotal if Labour wants to hold off Reform and get a second term.

The current thresholds implemented for winter fuel payments leave vulnerable households struggling to keep warm during the winter months and should be raised. One option would be to increase the eligibility threshold to £30k, the average national income for pensioner couples, or to a higher threshold of £37k, the national median for household disposable income.

Additionally, the government should consider supporting free bus travel for under-18s. There are a number of councils now trying to make transport cheaper and easier to access for young people.

The government should enter into joint schemes with those authorities. There is also an opportunity to review the threshold for free school meals, which should be raised to ensure that more children are able to access free school meals.

These measures will provide immediate relief to families and communities in need. I am increasingly concerned by reports this week that the Government is not taking another look at these points, and I hope the government rethinks its position.

Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton is the leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

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