AQW 20879/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 20/01/2025
Answered On Date: 03/02/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities for his assessment of the impact of the reduction of the Winter Fuel Payment for older people, particularly those already experiencing fuel poverty.

Answer:

An Equality Impact Assessment public consultation on the changes to the Winter Fuel Payments scheme in winter 2024/25 was launched by the department on 9 December 2024 and runs for 12 weeks until 2nd March 2025.

That consultation seeks the public views on the proposed preliminary recommendations with regards to measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of the policy changes. The department will respond to the public consultation after an analysis of the responses received.

In addition, I have proposed within the current draft Fuel Poverty Strategy consultation, which is also currently open, to analyse the impact of the removal of Winter Fuel Payments on pensioners who are above the threshold for Pension Credit to gain a better understanding of who may be at risk of fuel poverty because of the change.