What replaced the Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland?

Full answer

Winter Fuel Payment support for pensioners has diverged between Scotland and the rest of the UK following the devolution of some disability and older-age benefits to the Scottish Parliament. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Winter Fuel Payment remains a DWP benefit, and following the 2024 policy change it is now means-tested, generally available in full only to pensioner households receiving Pension Credit or certain other means-tested benefits, with a reduced or tapered position for others depending on income. Scotland has taken over responsibility for this area of support through Social Security Scotland, rebranding the equivalent benefit as the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment. The Scottish Government has broadly mirrored the means-tested eligibility approach used elsewhere in the UK -- primarily linked to Pension Credit receipt -- rather than restoring a universal payment for all pensioners, though the devolved system gives Holyrood the ability to set different eligibility rules or payment amounts from the rest of the UK in future if it chooses to. Pensioners in Scotland should check their eligibility and apply (or confirm automatic payment) through mygov.scot and Social Security Scotland, rather than through the DWP, since the two systems, while similar in structure, are now administratively and legally separate. Anyone who has moved between Scotland and the rest of the UK partway through a winter should check which body is responsible for their payment for that tax year.

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