Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments. (Ashfield and Eastwood Liberal Democrats)

Ashfield and Eastwood Liberal Democrats <info@ashfieldlibdems.org.uk>

Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments.

January 14, 2010 6:23 PM

Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments triggered by the recent weather, according to analysis of Government figures by the Liberal Democrats.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners.

According to the department for Works and Pensions an estimated 6550 Pensioners across Ashfield and Eastwood Constituency will miss out. They are part of a quarter of a million pensioners across the East Midlands who will not get their entitlement.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said:

"It is a scandal that pensioners on the breadline are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £42.5m.

"Fuel prices are at an all time high, making Cold Weather Payments all the more important to people already struggling on a poverty pension.

"Labour has failed pensioners by creating a complicated system that makes it difficult for them to get the help they desperately need.

"The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and get them this extra cash."

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Ashfield and Eastwood, Jason Zadrozny said, "During another terrible winter here many older residents of Ashfield, Eastwood and Brinsley are facing the tough choice between heating or eating. That's simply not good enough.

"We need an easy system in place that helps and supports those who are vulnerable, and which give back to those who have paid into the system all their lives. I will be fighting for a fairer system for all local residents.