Adam Dance MP Fights to Protect Winter Fuel Payments for Yeovil Pensioners
Adam Dance, MP for Yeovil and South Somerset, has expressed deep concern after being contacted by numerous pensioners in his constituency who fear losing their winter fuel payments under new government plans.
The government recently announced a proposal that would see winter fuel payments, worth between £100 and £300 annually, restricted to only those pensioners receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits. This move has sparked widespread anxiety among pensioners who rely on the payments to help cover the cost of rising energy bills.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, representing Leeds West and Pudsey, has attributed the cuts to the Conservative Party’s previous management of public finances, citing a £22 billion "black hole" that the new Labour government inherited.
In response, Adam Dance, alongside all 72 other Liberal Democrat MPs, has pledged to oppose the government’s proposal. He is backing a motion in Parliament aimed at blocking the cuts to winter fuel payments.
“I’ve heard from countless pensioners across Yeovil and South Somerset who are worried about losing this vital support and how they will afford their energy bills this winter,” said Mr. Dance. “Stripping support from many of the poorest pensioners just as energy bills are set to rise again is simply wrong. It could force vulnerable elderly people in our community to choose between eating and heating this winter.”
He added, “That is why my fellow Liberal Democrat MPs and I will do everything we can to block these plans as soon as Parliament returns. I recognize that the new government faces difficult choices after the appalling mess left by the Conservatives, but a rethink is urgently needed so that poorer and vulnerable pensioners in our community continue to get the support they so desperately need.”
According to figures from the House of Commons Library, based on data from the Department for Work and Pensions, an estimated 22,021 pensioners in Yeovil and South Somerset are at risk of losing their winter fuel payments under the proposed changes.
The motion to block the government’s plans is expected to be tabled when Parliament reconvenes