Winter Heating Assistance (Pension Age) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025: Policy Note

Policy Objectives

Section 30 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 confers powers on the Scottish Ministers to make regulations prescribing the eligibility rules for assistance provided under section 24 of the 2018 Act to help an individual to meet, or help towards meeting, the individual’s heating costs during the winter months.

These amendment regulations will expand eligibility for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP) for winter 2025/2026 onwards. PAWHP will be a single annual payment of £203.40 per household for households in which all eligible individuals of pension age are below the age of 80, and £305.10 per household for pensioner households with an individual aged 80 and over. These payments will be made to all pensioners, and will be automatically recovered through taxation from those pensioners with a personal income of over £35,000 per year. This tax charge will be introduced through separate legislation brought forward by the UK Government.

The main objective of introducing extended eligibility to PAWHP is to provide older people with an income of £35,000 or less with financial support during winter, which will allow them to heat their homes for longer. Older people are targeted because they may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of cold weather during the winter months and are more likely to be on fixed incomes.

Evidence has shown that living in a cold home can have a negative impact on health, emotional wellbeing and resilience. Extending eligibility to PAWHP will not solely be a fuel poverty measure but will provide reassurance to older people on lower incomes that they can afford to keep warm in the winter months when heating bills are higher, supporting their overall wellbeing. This financial support is particularly important given the significant increase in cost of living.

The amendment regulations include details of eligibility rules for entitlement to PAWHP and the value of the payment, as well as provisions in relation to exportability, application window, opting out and opting in to PAWHP, determination without application whereby someone has received a backdated award of a relevant benefit and timescales for a client to request a re-determination.