Cheshire East Mayor refuses debate at Full Council, to mitigate the impact of the loss of Winter Fuel Allowance and the loss of the 10% Energy Cap for those Cheshire East Pensioners who are entitled to claim Pension Credit and thus claim Winter Fuel Allowance this winter.
Cllr Janet Clowes (Conservative Group Leader) explained;
“We are shocked and deeply disappointed that the Mayor of Cheshire East has refused to allow the urgent Winter Fuel Allowance Notice of Motion, submitted by Cllrs Andrew Kolker and Allen Gage, to be debated and decided at Wednesday’s Council meeting.
Under the Constitution, NoM process is ultimately the decision of the Mayor, whose word is final - and the Mayor has said “No”.
“Instead the urgent actions identified in the NoM will be kicked into the long grass and won’t be heard by committees until mid-November when action MAY be taken. Consequently, any opportunity for CEC to deliver an effective Pension Credit Eligibility awareness campaign and application support for vulnerable pensioners, before the final date for applications on the 21st December, will be lost.”
“The DWP have already stated it is unlikely they will be able to ‘capture’ all those eligible in this time frame. Even if the date is extended in the budget, until April, winter will effectively be over and of little comfort to pensioners who will have spent the intervening months in the cold.”
“Age UK (July 2024), estimates that two million vulnerable pensioners will lose the payment despite being in need of it. “800,000 of these are people who are eligible for pension credit but not receiving it due to a lack of awareness, complexity or stigma”.”
In Cheshire East, 80,692 pensioners will lose their Winter Fuel Allowance. Of these, many are eligible for Pension Credit and this number has increased since the removal of the 10% Energy Cap on October 1st.
In stark contrast, the day after the CE Council meeting, Labour-led Cheshire West & Chester are also holding their full Council meeting and will be debating two NoM on Winter Fuel Payments, IN FULL!
The refusal to permit debate of this issue in Cheshire East, has the potential to send the wrong message to residents - that this Labour-led Council does not care.
However, Disability Rights UK (17.09.24) are clear;
“…the increased resulting risk of many more older people dying this winter is very real”. ”The Labour Party’s own research from 2017 reported that the then Conservative Government plans to scrap the WFP for “better-off pensioners” could lead to almost 4,000 additional deaths.”
Cllr Clowes affirmed;
“As temperatures fall, and vulnerable residents make desperate decisions to “heat or eat”, we ask councillors to set aside party politics to focus on concerted efforts to help those in fuel poverty to claim the benefits to which they are entitled.
This is far more important than slavish adherence to the Constitution or Party dogma, this is an urgent and fundamental duty of Council.”
11.10.2024
https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/a-chilling-effect
https://www.knutsfordguardian.co.uk/news/24646922.cheshire-east-refuses…
