DUMFRIES and Galloway Council will add its voice to the campaign to reverse the UK Government’s winter fuel payment cuts.
SNP, Conservatives, and Independent councillors joined forces in their opposition to the removal of the payments by the UK Labour Government, amid concerns of “grave implications” for the elderly in freezing winter temperatures.
Mid Galloway and West Councillor Katie Hagmann, who led on the issue at last week’s full council meeting, argued that pensioners are hit harder here than anywhere else in the UK.
“We have colder, wetter, and more severe weather in Scotland,” she said. “I checked last night and according to the Met Office at 8 pm the temperature was literally freezing in Scotland, with zero degrees in Edinburgh, zero degrees in my home village of Creetown, yet five degrees in Manchester and seven degrees in London.
“The simple truth is that this policy impact is going to be felt harder and deeper by pensioners and older people across Scotland and here in Dumfries and Galloway.”
Following on from the Labour cuts at Westminster, Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shirley Anne-Somerville recently announced that the Scottish Government will bring a universal winter fuel payment next year to mitigate the impact on 900,000 pensioners in Scotland.
Councillor Hagmann said: “It’s important to acknowledge that this only adds to the financial burden of policy mitigation that the Scottish Government are already doing.”
Her SNP colleague Stranraer and the Rhins Councillor Ben Dashper seconded the motion, saying: “It is something that affects lots of people in the region.”
However, it led to political clashes at the meeting as Labour councillors argued that winter fuel payments is a devolved issue – and that the Scottish Government has been gifted record funding from the UK Labour Government.
Annandale South Labour Councillor Sean Marshall said: “The winter fuel payment is now a fully devolved benefit and called the winter heating payment in Scotland.
“Therefore, any decision by the UK Government on what happens outwith Scotland would have no impact in Scotland.
“There was no reduction in funding to the Scottish Government. In fact, over the next two years there will be an increase in Barnett Consequentials of £5.2 billion to the Scottish devolved budget from the UK Government – taking it to the highest ever level of £48 billion.”
Councillor Marshall then tabled an amendment calling for the council to acknowledge the ongoing discussions within the Scottish Parliament on the winter fuel payment, and to welcome that the Scottish Government has received the largest ever block grant from Westminster.
Elected members voted 26-10 in favour of Councillor Hagmann’s motion, which will see the council write to the UK Government calling for the reversal of removing the winter fuel payments.
A letter will also be sent to the Scottish Government asking for details of how an additional £41m received from Westminster will be spent for tackling fuel poverty.
