Pensioners will have to answer 243 questions to claim £300 Winter Fuel Payment: 'Big mistake!'

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to reserve the energy bill benefit for those on Pension Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been declared Prime Minister Keir Starmer's "first big mistake".

In order to get this top-up payment, older Britons will need to complete a form which may be difficult for some households to complete in full, according to leading charities.

Charities are calling on the new Labour Government to reverse its decision to effectively axe the Winter Fuel Payment for 10 million older households.

Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive at Independent Age, said: "From our helpline, we already know that some older people are put off claiming due to the inaccessibility and length of the form.

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"Pension Credit is a lifeline to many of the older people who receive it."

Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK added: "The Pension Credit form has 243 boxes to navigate.

"It is not particularly long or complex as claim forms go, but completing it would still pose a challenge for many of us, including many older people with no one to help them."

"It’s clear ministers have not thought this through," Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition shared.

"When the Chancellor cruelly snatched away the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners, she promised to help households who are eligible to claim the benefit."

Earlier this week, Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey made the claim and asserted his party will attempt to block the proposal in Parliament.

Previously, the Winter Fuel Payment was universal and saw pensioners receive up to £300 during the winter months in energy bill support.

However, under Reeves' plans, claimants will now need to claim means-tested benefit payments from the DWP.

She has defended the move, stating "it's not a decision I wanted to make" and blamed the £22billion "black hole" in the public finances left under the last Conservative Government.

Despite this, the leader of the Lib Dems believes this policy proposal will receive some pushback from MPs despite Labour's landslide victory last month.

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Speaking to the BBC, Sir Ed said: "We haven’t had a vote. We haven’t had a proper debate. So what all the 72 Liberal Democrat MPs have done, we’re signing what’s called a prayer, which is a parliamentary process, to trigger a debate so we can represent people who have elected us.

"Liberal Democrats said, in the election, we’d fight for a fair deal for people, for our communities and I think the least the Parliament needs to do is have a debate, have a vote and hopefully reject this proposal.

"It looks like the Government’s first big mistake, and I think pensioners will be going into this winter, really worried if Parliament doesn’t stop the Government from doing this."

A DWP spokesperson told GB News: “There is no increase in Pension Credit processing time. We have surged additional staff to cover increasing Pension Credit calls and urge anyone who thinks they may be entitled to Pension Credit to check now.”