'There has to be a better way than this...people are scared' TH

Local leaders are warning of consequences of the cuts to winter fuel payments

- DECLAN CAREY

PENSIONERS in Greater Manchester could be left ‘struggling to survive’ this winter following cuts to winter fuel payments, councils have warned.

Fears are growing in town halls across the region that elderly residents could find themselves unable to keep their homes warm enough when temperatures drop.

Thousands of pensioners in Greater Manchester are set to lose out on the £200 to £300 yearly sum, after a majority of MPs backed proposals to limit the payment to those who get Pension Credit, or pensioners claiming other means-tested benefits.

In Stockport, council leader Mark Hunter said up to 50,000 people in the borough will be at the sharp end of the cuts – around 90 per cent of those currently eligible. He said the move will ‘leave many residents currently on the margins of fuel poverty struggling to heat their homes and stay alive this winter.’

He added: “We believe the criteria being applied are too narrow and consideration needs to be given to those pensioners who either do not qualify for Pension Credit or have not yet applied. Other criteria have been suggested by various bodies and we call on Labour to do the decent thing and reconsider this, trying to find a way of giving support to those who rely on it at present.”

Coun Jilly Julian, Stockport council’s finance lead, said: “If the government must restrict the Winter Fuel Allowance, there has to be a better way to cut it than this.

“Pension increases won’t be felt until April – well after winter – and between now and then there will be huge numbers of residents facing a choice between heating and eating.”

Bernie Gallagher, a 69-year-old pensioner from Bolton and secretary of the Bolton and District Pensioners’ Association, said elderly people in Greater Manchester are ‘frightened’ about what the cut means for them.