Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP): consultation

This consultation is to gather evidence on people’s views of the current benefit, consider how we could improve the system already in place and ask if the policy intent set out will best meet the needs of those it aims to help.


Ministerial Foreword

I am pleased to be launching this consultation on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

This seeks your views on our proposed new Scottish benefit to replace the UK Government’s current Winter Fuel Payment scheme in winter 2024/25.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will seek to safely and securely transfer responsibility for the delivery of Winter Fuel Payment to the Scottish Government, ensuring that over a million pensioners currently eligible for Winter Fuel Payment continue to receive this support. This will be an investment of around £180 million in 2024/25 to help older people with the costs of heating their homes throughout the winter.

Working with individuals and organisations with experience of the benefits system is central to our approach to developing the devolved social security system in Scotland. We are now looking for your views through this consultation to finalise our policy on this benefit. I encourage you to respond to the consultation, and thank you in advance for taking the time to give us your views.

Shirley-Anne Somerville

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice

Contact

Email: winterbenefitspolicy@gov.scot

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