When the Labour Government announced it was restricting Winter Fuel Payments last year, its advice to people who asked what support would be available to them over a cold winter was to apply for Pension Credit.
In response to a Written Question I submitted recently, the Government admitted that not only have processing times for Pension Credit applications increased far beyond the expected 50 working days – to an average of 87 working days in December – but that nearly half of everyone who applied for the extra support had their claim rejected.
I asked the Pensions Minister what support is available to the pensioners who need that extra help but are just over the threshold of the eligibility level for Pension credit. You can see his response here.
