The Winter Fuel Support Scheme payment in Wales will be doubled from £100 to £200, the Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt announced on 1 February 20221. The increase applies to new applicants and will be paid retrospectively to households that have already applied1. The payment forms part of the Welsh Government's £51m Household Support Fund1.
The scheme opened on 13 December 2021 with a one-off £100 payment for households in receipt of working age means-tested benefits3. To be eligible, one member of the household must be in receipt of certain welfare benefits, and further details are published on local authority websites, which are being updated to reflect the increased payment1. Councils have contacted people they believe are eligible, and applications can be submitted until 28 February1. Around 350,000 householders are eligible to apply, according to the written statement of 2 February 20222. People who have already received a £100 payment do not need to do anything and will receive a further £100 in the coming weeks1.
"We're increasing the £100 payment to £200 and this will be available to new applicants and retrospectively paid to those who have applied already."
The scheme is separate from the Winter Fuel Payment administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, and from the Warm Home Discount. Eligibility for the Welsh payment rests on receipt of specified welfare benefits rather than on age1. A later Welsh Government impact assessment records that the scheme closed on 28 February 2022 and that final payments were made on 30 April 2022, with 166,780 households successfully claiming at a cost of £35,455,9253. That document states the scheme offered one payment per household, to the person who pays the fuel bill, regardless of how many people in the household receive benefits3.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original payment | £100, launched December 20211 |
| Increased payment | £2001 |
| Application deadline | 28 February 20221 |
| Eligible householders | Around 350,0002 |
| Fund | £51m Household Support Fund1 |
Why it matters for households
For a household on a qualifying benefit, the increase is a one-off £100 addition to a payment already received or applied for, directed at energy costs during a period of rising bills1. The Welsh Government's own impact assessment later estimated that 45% of Welsh households could be in fuel poverty following the April 2022 price increase, against 12% in 20183. The payment is made once per household rather than once per claimant, so a property with several adults on qualifying benefits receives a single £2003. The impact assessment states that the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs approved the scheme as Local Welfare Provision, meaning it can be disregarded in the assessment of tax and any means-tested benefit received by the household3. That document also notes uncertainty over whether the treatment would continue if the scheme ran again, as it might then be viewed as an annual payment and treated as taxable income3.
What happens next
Applications close on 28 February 20221. Local authorities process new applications from eligible households1. Households that have already received £100 will receive a further £100 in the coming weeks without making a new application1. The impact assessment records that final payments under the 2021 to 2022 scheme were made on 30 April 20223.