Statement from Age NI regarding Communities Minister decision to means test Winter Fuel Payment

Age NI is profoundly disappointed at the decision by the NI Executive to means test Winter Fuel Payment. This decision, we believe, will leave so many older people not receiving the vital help they need to stay warm this winter.

We know from listening to many older people that they are already extremely anxious about the winter and how they will manage to stay warm. Our fear is that more older people will have to choose between heating their home or eating.  We also know the detrimental impact living in a cold home can have on health, such as increased risk of respiratory infections, heart attacks and stroke, so this is a decision that could potentially affect an older person’s health as well as their finances, which will inevitably lead to increased pressures on our health service. Means testing the Winter Fuel Payment, with virtually no notice and no mitigating measures in place may mean that older people will face further hardship.

There are 36,000 older people in Northern Ireland living in relative poverty and 22,000 in absolute poverty. We are calling on the Communities’ Minister to urgently publish the Anti-Poverty Strategy and identify how they will support older people who will now be at greater risk of poverty and in need of extra help this winter. 

We continue to call on the UK government to rethink this policy and highlight the strength of opposition across the whole of the UK.

Age NI Chief Executive, Linda Robinson