Scottish Government delays Pension Age Winter Heating Payment to next year

The Scottish Government has delayed the launch of its Pension Age Winter Heating Payment until next year, the British Gas Energy Trust reported on 5 September 2024. The payment was intended to replace the Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland, and the delay follows the UK Government's decision to scale back eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment¹.

The Trust's report sets out the support still available in Scotland for the coming winter. Child Winter Heating Payment is £251.50, paid to parents and carers of disabled children and young people under 19 who receive a qualifying benefit. Warm Home Discount is £150 towards energy costs for people on certain benefits, with this year's scheme opening in October 2024. Winter Heating Payment is £58.75, given automatically to people receiving certain benefits, and paid from December 2024¹.

The report also describes rising energy debt in Scotland. Citizens Advice clients in Scotland have an average of £2,300 of energy arrears, a figure that rises to £3,000 in rural areas¹. Vadims Dzevaltovskis, Project Lead at Aberdeen Citizens Advice Bureau, said most clients the charity sees are in emergency credit and many are on prepayment meters, and that one person had their emergency credit extended to £50¹. Ewan Mansley, Energy Support Adviser at THAW Orkney, said genuine debts run up to £7,000, and described a client told they were over £12,000 in debt because of an incorrect meter reading when they were actually £500 in credit¹. THAW Orkney reports that one in six of its clients would need to spend all of their income on energy to heat their home adequately through winter, and that a third of the people it supports are in work¹.

"It has also delayed the launch of its new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment until next year, which will eventually replace the Winter Fuel Payment."

Why it matters for households

The Pension Age Winter Heating Payment was the planned Scottish replacement for the Winter Fuel Payment, so its delay leaves pensioner households in Scotland without that successor scheme for this winter. The payments that remain are smaller and tied to specific benefits: £58.75 through Winter Heating Payment and £150 through Warm Home Discount, against arrears that Citizens Advice puts at £2,300 on average and £3,000 in rural areas¹. For a household already carrying debt to a supplier, a delayed or reduced payment changes how much of the winter bill is covered directly, and how much has to come from income or from credit. The report notes that rural homes are more likely to be off the gas grid and to be less energy efficient, which affects both the size of the bill and the options for reducing it¹.

What happens next

The Warm Home Discount scheme opens in October 2024, and Winter Heating Payment is paid from December 2024¹. No date has been reported for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment beyond "next year".

Sources1 cited

1. Scotland experiences rising energy debt levels - British Gas Energy Trust, britishgasenergytrust.org.uk