Government departments behind moves to axe the OAP Winter Fuel Payment have refused to reveal if their sums add up.
Labour wants to deny a £300 cold weather cash lump sum to 10 million pensioners, claiming the country cannot afford it.
But when asked to make its homework public, both the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions refused to come clean.
One former minister claimed the stonewalling was because no impact assessment for the elderly cash grab exists.
They said: “This is utterly wrong and a terrible blunder. This has been foisted upon the elderly with no warning and I suspect it’s driven by young policy wonks who feel it’s high time to get back at pensioners. It’s simply unreal. I think there never was an internal impact assessment. And I think the Government is panicking and is probably now frantically writing one.”
Impact assessments are used to support legislative change, regulation, policy development and to inform parliamentary decision making.
But the speed with which ministers confirmed the perk would be scrapped, just days after winning the general election, has led many to believe it is simply policy-on-the-hoof.
Labour wants to penalise pensioners, who many incorrectly assume are sitting pretty, by means testing the annual payment, a universal tax-free bonus first introduced by Gordon Brown in 1997.
In its crosshairs are the supposedly well-off retired, but the cash grab will see 10 million older people miss out with many forced into a life-threatening choice of eating or heating this winter. The number of OAPs entitled to the one-off payment made to see them through the coldest months of the year will plummet from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, estimates suggest.
Pensioners – many vulnerable and in poor health – have been given virtually no warning and equipped with no compensatory measures.
The move by Chancellor Rachel Reeves is part of efforts to plug what Labour claims is a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
Only those in receipt of Pension Credit or certain other benefits will be entitled to the cash. Payment remains unchanged at £200 for those aged between 66 and 79 and £300 for those over 80.
The Daily Express asked both departments to confirm – with a simple yes or no – whether any assessment had been carried out. Both refused to cooperate.
We asked to see the document and, if not, a reason for refusal. Again, both refused.
The DWP, headed by Liz Kendall, suggested we submit an application using Freedom of Information laws. We have done so.
But it refused to clarify whether any impact assessment actually exists, despite a Labour promise to “be honest with the public”.
Separately, Baroness Ros Altmann, 68, the campaigning peer, former Pensions Minister and Saga director general, has tabled a written Parliamentary question asking the Government “what impact assessment it has made of the effect of removing Winter Fuel Payments, without warning, from pensioners whose incomes are a small amount above the Pension Credit threshold and on those who do not claim their entitlement”. She has yet to receive an official response.
She said: “Pensioners are understandably angry at the sudden announcement that their Winter Fuel Payment will not be paid in a few weeks’ time, as expected. Of course, some can manage fine without, but millions can’t. This is not the way to fix the nation’s budget, yet there seems to be a determination to try to balance the nation’s books on the backs of pensioners. There should be a considered review of all aspects of how this country supports its elderly citizens, before making this kind of draconian change – £300 does not sound like much to most of us, but for pensioners it is significant.
“Surely it is time for an independent or cross-party review of all aspects of pensioner support. Meanwhile, the Winter Fuel decision should be reconsidered urgently.”
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: “Means-testing Winter Fuel Payment has big implications for millions of older people, particularly those living on low incomes or who face unavoidably big energy bills because of ill health. While better off pensioners probably wouldn’t notice its loss, these less advantaged groups are likely to feel it very keenly, especially as this new approach is being introduced immediately this winter, giving little if any time to prepare.
“We presume the Government commissioned a thorough impact analysis as part of their decision-making process, in which case it would be good for that to be published, so the public can understand the basis on which this policy choice was made.”
A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to pensioners: protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our Warm Homes Plan, and cutting NHS waiting lists – bringing real stability to people’s lives.
“We said we would be honest with the public and, given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, we are taking difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy.
“In these circumstances it is right that winter fuel payments are targeted at those in most need, and we will work with Local Authorities to boost the uptake of Pension Credit, reaching the many pensioners who could still benefit from this year’s Winter Fuel Payments.”
