Pension Age Winter Heating Payment: FOI release

Information requested

You asked: “What was the saving to the Scottish Government for not paying Fuel Allowance for Financial Year 2024/2025?”

Response

When responding to your request, we interpreted ‘Fuel Allowance’ as being the Scottish Government’s Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

The Scottish Government receives funding in the form of a Block Grant Adjustment (BGA) for benefits which are devolved to Scotland. This includes a Block Grant Adjustment for Winter Fuel Payment (‘WFP’), which was devolved in 2024-25 and is delivered as a separate Scottish benefit, known as Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (‘PAWHP’).

The UK Government’s decision to reduce eligibility to the WFP in England and Wales led to a reduction in the WFP BGA to Scotland. The Scottish Fiscal Commission expects this reduction to be £148 million, as forecast at the time of the 2024-25 Scottish Budget. This reduces the expected BGA to £32 million. The Scottish Government’s decision to mirror the UK Government’s policy on eligibility for PAWHP is forecast to cost it £32 million. As a result, the saving to the Scottish Government is expected to be nil. Final outturn for PAWHP will be published as part of the Scottish Government’s annual accounts later this year.

More information can be found at: Scotland's Economic and Fiscal Forecasts (SEFF) - December 2024 (revised version 22 January 2025).

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.