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Applications for pension credit hit nearly 75,000 in the eight weeks since the new chancellor announced the winter fuel payment for pensioners would be means-tested for the first time.
Figures released on Friday by the Department for Work and Pensions figures showed there were around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29 July.
This is up from 29,500 claims in the eight weeks before the announcement.
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But in the seven days beginning on 16 September, the government received 11,800 claims – down from 13,400 the week before.
The new Labour government announced in July that only elderly people in receipt of benefits such as pension credit and universal credit would receive help worth up to £300 with their fuel bills over winter, whereas previously it was universal.
Labour has sought to justify its decision by saying it needs to stabilise the economy after the Tories left behind a £22bn financial “black hole”.
Ministers launched vast efforts to boost take-up of pension credit among eligible pensioners, with the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall saying “thousands” were missing out on the payment of an average of £3,900 per year.
The government has come under fire from all quarters for the cut, with Labour members at the party’s conference voting in favour of a motion calling for ministers to reverse their cut to the winter fuel allowance, in an embarrassing blow to the prime minister.
The motion was put forward by the…
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