Angry protesters call on Welsh government to soften the blow caused by reducing the number of people eligible for the allowance
PENSIONERS across Wales descended on the Senedd to call on the Welsh Government to soften the blow made by the cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance.
The protest, organised by Unite the Union, took place on Tuesday hours before Senedd members debated the £26 billion Wales budget plan for 2025-26.
More than 100 pensioners gathered on the steps of the Welsh Parliament to express their anger at the Welsh government’s failure to offer additional support after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that households in England and Wales would no longer be entitled to winter fuel payments unless they receive Pension Credit or certain means-tested benefits.
“Pensioners have come from across Wales today and have driven for four or five hours all the way from North West Wales because they are angry and they want to see action,” said Unite representative, Josh Berlyne.
Unite the Union is campaigning for the UK Government to scrap means testing for the allowance.
“We are in Cardiff today because Wales is the only devolved government not to announce any extra support for pensioners who have lost the winter fuel payment,” he said.
“We represent roughly 180,000 retired members. Most of them don’t qualify for the new payment. They are people who have worked all their lives, who have paid into the system and who were told to scrimp and save.
“And either because they have a modest works pension, or because they have managed to put together some savings that they are setting aside for funerals or social care if they need it, they are not eligible for these fuel payments.
“They are really being hit hard by it, and they feel betrayed by the party that they have voted for.”
Mr Berlyne is urging the Welsh Government to introduce its own scheme to support pensioners this winter or the next.
“Scotland has announced its own scheme of Winter Fuel Payment from next winter which will see most pensioners get £100 and those on pension credit will get £200 to £300. Northern Ireland has announced an extra £100 for pensioners this winter.
“We want to see the Welsh government announce something similar in Wales,” he said.
Unite member Diane Rogers was at the protest because she has family members affected by the cuts.
“My uncle has an electric heater in one room, but the rest of the house is freezing,” she said.
“He can only afford to put the heating on for one hour at night and once more during the day only when he is sitting for a long time. He worked hard, and now he is in his eighties – it’s just not acceptable.
“I mean, can you imagine? He is piled down with clothes, this little old man.”
Dave Warren, secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union’s associate and retired members section in Wales, wants to see the policy reversed.
“I am disgusted and angry. The people it most affects are those who have qualified for Pension Credit and haven’t claimed it, and those who narrowly miss out on being eligible for the allowance,” he said.
“But it goes further than that. It affects all pensioners, even those who are a bit better off, because it is effectively a cut in our annual income. I am a pensioner, and I would have been expecting £300 for me and my wife. It’s an absolute disgrace in my opinion.”
Cardiff resident and Unite member, Lee Dirkzwager, feels fortunate to receive her £200, but says many others aren’t as lucky.
We grew up in the cold.
Now we are back in the cold.
This is not life, it’s survival.”
Lee Dirkzwager
“I am disabled. I get my fuel allowance. I’m eligible. But my friend is only £1.34 above the threshold, and she doesn’t,” she said.
“She is cold, wrapped in a blanket, and most of the time can’t afford hot water. We grew up in the cold. Now we are back in the cold. This is not life, it’s survival.”
Unite activist Sally Heywood, from North West Wales, addressed protesters at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre after the demonstration.
“The cut to winter fuel payments left vulnerable pensioners in a desperate scramble to apply for Pension Credit as the only way to access the winter fuel payment,” she said.
“What is equally concerning for us is pensioners who are just above the threshold, even just by a pound or two, leaving them with having to make desperate choice between eating, heating and putting their health and wellbeing first.
“People are turning their heating off, they are not eating hot food, they are not using their boiler. They are living in cold houses. It is an act of bravery to go for a bath,” she added.
“That the Welsh government have done that, with no impact assessment, was one of the worst things that could have been done.”
Hannah Blythyn, Member of the Senedd for Delyn, encouraged pensioners at the event to keep pushing on to help make a difference across Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This year we are investing £30 million in our Warm Homes Nest scheme to tackle fuel poverty and recently provided an extra £700,000 to the Fuel Bank Foundation to help people who pre-pay for their fuel and are at risk of disconnection.
“This builds on the £5.6 million we have provided since 2022. Our discretionary assistance scheme can also help people in crisis with fuel costs.”
But a scrutiny report released in February by the Welsh Parliament Finance Committee on the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget 2025-26 raised concerns from Age Cymru, the Bevan Foundation and Citizens Advice Cymru.
“We understand that the decision to means test the Winter Fuel Payment was one made by UK Government. However, we want to see more focus on financial support in the Welsh Government budget for those older people missing out on the Winter Fuel Payment,” said Age Cymru, a Welsh charity dedicated to improving older people’s quality of life.
The Bevan Foundation said: “Pensioners tend to live in much less energy efficient homes than the rest of the population and are more likely not to have central heating and to be off the gas grid as well. So, we’ve got a toxic mix going on there.”
The Welsh think tank also said that, while the Warm Homes Programme was better designed than the previous iterations, not enough funding has been allocated to it to improve the insulation in homes on the scale that’s needed.
Unite is awaiting a decision from the High Court on whether its case for a Judicial Review over the UK Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments will be approved.
The union will continue to lobby Senedd members before the final vote on the budget on March 4 to consider implementing a scheme similar to those planned in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
