Wokingham Council support for elderly residents amid winter fuel cuts

Councillor Pauline Jorgensen, leader of the conservatives in the council, has submitted a motion to be debated at an upcoming full council meeting on Thursday, September 19.

Across the Wokingham Borough, 16,500 elderly residents will no longer get support to pay their fuel bills. Only those on means-tested benefits will continue to receive the payment of between £200 to £300.

The motion argues that the annual payment ‘plays a significant role in helping older Wokingham Borough residents afford heating during the coldest months’.

If passed by councillors, the authority will lead an awareness campaign to alert those eligible for pension credit with local charities and organisations to help with access to the winter fuel payment.

Cllr Jorgensen also would like the leader of the council Stephen Conway to write to the chancellor urging a review of the decision.

A further demand to sign a petition run by charity Age UK as well as share the petition with members will be decided on. This comes after an effort to block the Labour government’s plans to scrap the annual payment  to millions of pensioners failed in Parliament.

Pauline Jorgensen (centre), who ran as parliamentary candidate Earley and Woodley (Image: Earley and Woodley Conservatives)

Conservative, Liberal Democrat, DUP and SNP MPs alike opposed the cuts, which were supported by all but one Labour MP – while a handful abstained.

The MP for Wokingham, Clive Jones, called the plans ‘simply immoral’ as energy bills are set to rise from October.

Cllr Jorgensen argues that concerns from charities such as Age UK and Countryside Alliance ‘highlights the social injustice, financial hardship and potential health risks posed by the sudden policy change’.

The conservative member further said that the decision will ‘impact some of the most vulnerable in society’ which is ‘unjustifiable’.

The cuts – which could save the government £1 billion this financial year – were proposed to address a £22 million ‘black hole’ in its finances.

The Labour government said this was left over by the conservatives, but Cllr Jorgensen said this was ‘widely contested’.

The only remaining Conservative MP for Berkshire, Jack Rankin in Windsor, made similar claims about the Chancellor’s decision.

All Labour MPs for the region voted to cut the winter fuel payments, in line with their party, including Bracknell’s Peter Swallow and Slough’s Tan Dhesi.

While Liberal Democrat’s Clive Jones for Wokingham and Maidenhead’s Joshua Reynolds voted against the cuts.

Cllr Jorgensen’s motion will be debated and voted on at the upcoming Wokingham Borough Council meeting on Thursday, September 19.