Response to the government’s spending review and the reinstatement of winter fuel payment
11 June 2025
Citizens Advice Ipswich welcomes the reinstatement of winter fuel payments to low-income pensioners as announced by the Government. The national charity continues to urge the government to reconsider proposals to cut disability benefits and make positive change by scrapping the two-child cap.
Chief Executive, Nicky Willshere said: “The winter fuel allowance really has made the difference for older people in the Ipswich area, meaning that they do not have to choose between heating or eating. We have seen a large increase in clients seeking support for emergency food parcels and access to benefits applications to stave off the cold. It is now just as important that the Government’s poverty strategy and benefits reform plans support households of all ages who are at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis.
“The elephant in the room however remains the looming cuts to support for disabled people, which threaten to increase poverty and will inevitably strain the very health services receiving additional funding announced today.
“From the beginning, this government has claimed it wants to boost living standards and tackle child poverty, but you can’t do that while choosing to slash support for those who need it most.
“We urge the government to reconsider proposals to cut disability benefits and make meaningful positive change by scrapping the two-child limit in the autumn Budget.
“All our advisers across our income maximisation, money advice, benefits advice and core teams continue to work hard to access all the support that is available to our clients and in the past year we have helped with income gain of over £2.5 million for our clients.”
Responding to the announcement Tom MacInnes, Director of Policy at Citizens Advice, said:
“It’s good news that the government is returning winter fuel payments to low-income pensioners, without needing to access Pension Credit first. This will provide straight-forward, vital support to nine million pensioners this winter.
“We’ve made the point repeatedly that additional support should be targeted at those who are struggling most with energy costs, like households with children – particularly single parent families – and disabled people. These groups will continue to face significant financial stress unless further action is taken.
“We hope the government will now take stock of its other proposals and rethink the huge cuts to disability benefits which will cause significant hardship for disabled people and have severe consequences for their children. We also strongly urge ministers to go further and lift more children out of poverty by scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap.”