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Tens of thousands of Kent households, including some pensioners who just miss out on fuel payments, are being offered help to get them through the winter.
The Leader of Kent County Council, Roger Gough, has set out how KCC plan to use £1m of the authority’s Household Support fund from the government to help some of the county’s most vulnerable people through the next few months.
The government had said it will cut winter fuel payments to around 10 million pensioners in the UK, with only those eligible for Pension Credit continuing to get support with winter fuel costs meaning many pensioners in Kent were set to miss out this year. KCC has decided to use money from the Household Support Fund, issued by the Department of Work and Pensions, to provide targeted support to older people who are struggling financially, but who just miss out on qualifying to receive pension credit and the fuel allowance.
“This support is aimed at those who will experience real pressure throughout the winter and may have to make difficult decisions about energy or food.”
“We think it is really important to ensure that there is support for those people who are going to be really affected by what’s happened with the winter fuel allowance and who are not eligible for Pension Credit,”
“There are an awful lot of older people in Kent who don’t qualify for pension credit, but are just at that level above it. People for whom this winter could mean real hardship. This support is aimed at those who will experience real pressure throughout the winter and may have to make difficult decisions about energy or food. So the focus will very much be ensuring those older people can be in a much better situation than would otherwise have been the case.”
Said Roger Gough.
The support scheme will offer a public and professional referral pathway, allowing Kent residents to apply themselves, or a professional, friend or family member to apply on their behalf. The support will be provided in vouchers for either food or energy, depending on the most pressing need of each person. More details about the new scheme will be announced soon on KCC’s Kent Together page.
Roger Gough also continues to urge everyone who could be entitled to claim Pension Credit payments to make sure they are signed up as soon as possible.
There could be as much as £68 million going unclaimed in Kent, and it’s estimated that a third of those in the county who are eligible are not getting the help they can.
He added:
“It’s now more important than ever that pensioners get the support and help that they are entitled to, especially given the Chancellor’s announcement that from now on only older people on pension credit will receive the winter fuel allowance.
“We believe that there are some 18,000 households in Kent that are eligible for Pension Credit and not claiming. So, if there is someone you know who you think could be entitled to this, please support and guide them to find out whether they can apply.”