Political opinion with Cllr Duncan Crow: The government is failing our pensioners

The Labour Government has presided over a cruel set of circumstances for pensioners, and then made them worse. Energy bills rose 10% in October and then again by 1.2% in January. They have just gone up by a further 6% this month, meaning that home energy costs take up an ever-bigger chunk of the state pension. Compounded by Labour’s taking away of the Winter Fuel Allowance as well as rising inflation, pensioner poverty is growing.

Energy costs are one part of Labour’s cost-of-living crisis that are impacting many pensioners who only have the state pension or small additional private pensions. The freezing of tax allowances means more pensioners with small additional pensions will be paying income tax, despite still struggling on a low income.

The charity Age UK recently published a report on the cost of living and its findings make for grim reading. The report highlights that things have worsened for pensioners over the last year, including:

• 2.8 million pensioners report that their homes are colder than they would like most or all of the time, marking a 17% increase from the previous year.
• Groups, such as those with disabilities, low incomes, renters, women and people living alone, are disproportionately affected.
• Many on means-tested benefits also struggle, indicating that state support is insufficient. Additionally, one in three older people feel less financially secure in 2025 compared to 2024.
• 5.4 million are concerned about the impact of energy prices on their health, reflecting an 11% increase from last year.

These problems aren’t going away. What will help is a raising of the cut-off as to receives the Winter Fuel Allowance, so it is not only pensioners on pension credit. We also need a raising of the income tax allowance which will not only help pensioners, but it will also help all people and our economy.