How many people will lose winter fuel payment in Herefordshire?

The full impact of the cut to winter fuel payments to pensioners in Herefordshire has been revealed.

New data from the Department for Work and Pensions show that last winter, 46,905 individuals in the county received the benefit, a quarter of Herefordshire’s total population of 188,700.

Of these, 42,145, or 91.4 per cent, will now lose the benefit, under the move announced in July by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The figure puts Herefordshire in the upper third of English and Welsh authorities, with share of those losing the benefit ranging from 54.9 per cent in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, to 94.5 per cent in the Isles of Scilly.

From this winter, only those entitled to Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits will receive the payment, meaning around 10 million pensioners will miss out.

Nearly 530,000 people have signed an Age UK petition opposing the cut. Herefordshire’s two MPs, Ellie Chowns of the Green Party and Jesse

Norman of the Conservatives, have also both voiced opposition to the move.

Winter fuel payments are made once each winter to the person claiming the benefit and are for the household. It was introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1997.

Cutting it is expected to save the government about £1.4 billion a year.