I WOULD like to write directly to any pensioners who are experiencing anxiety over the upcoming budget and recent changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Allowance.

I hope to offer reassurance and explain what I am doing to tackle fuel poverty. I also want to encourage pensioners in the Bishop Auckland constituency who are not currently getting the pension credits to which they are entitled to claim as soon as possible.

I receive a lot of correspondence from pensioners who are worried that the budget on October 30 will include things like a pay-per-mile road tax and ending free bus passes.

So let me reassure you: these are not Labour policies. They never have been Labour policies and they will not be in the budget. These rumours are being dishonestly spread by Reform, the Conservative Party, and their friends in the media. It saddens me to see how much unnecessary anxiety this has caused people.

Ensuring a decent  retirement for pensioners is a core aim of the Labour movement.

It was a Labour government that introduced the Winter Fuel Allowance, free bus passes, free TV licences (cut back under the Conservatives), free prescriptions, free eye care, and pension credits to tackle pensioner poverty.

So let me offer a second guarantee: if pensioners all claim the support they are entitled to, every pensioner will be better off this winter compared to last. So, please  do not be afraid to put your heating on.

Even with the recent increase, average household energy bills will be £117 a year less this Christmas compared to last, and £783 less than in 2022.

Meanwhile, the basic state pension and new state pensions respectively increased £692 and £900 per person in April, which is significantly above the rate of inflation.

Furthermore, because the new government is committed to the triple lock (something else the Tories dishonestly claimed we would scrap) pensions will increase again by up to £460 per person in the spring, which is a £200 above inflation increase.

This is no small commitment. Approximately 60 per cent of welfare spending goes to pensioners while it is estimated that by  2025 the state pension will cost Britain more than education, policing, and defence combined.

I wish we could continue paying the Winter Fuel Allowance on top of this – even for those who don’t really need it, who give it to grandchildren, or spend it on a better Christmas – but with the state of public finances, the scale of child poverty (children are now more likely than pensioners to live in cold homes), and the need to rebuild the NHS and social care, we cannot justify paying it to all pensioners, regardless of their income.

However, because not all pensioners receive the full state pension – so not all will benefit from annual inflation-busting increases to their income  -the government will continue to pay the fuel allowance to those who receive pension credits.

It is vital, therefore, that we ensure the most  vulnerable pensioners — those not currently getting the payments they are entitled to — are supported to claim it.

The government is working hard to identify and  invite people to claim, and since the summer, uptake of Pension Credits has already increased substantially. I encourage anybody who wants advice or support claiming to get in touch.

Finally, I am mindful of people just above the pension credit threshold. Ours is a colder part of the country with a lot of badly insulated homes and higher bills. I met recently with the minister responsible for fuel poverty, and we discussed three measures to reduce energy bills for those people most in need.

Firstly, the government has committed half a billion pounds to the Household Support Fund this winter. This is there to support people in need, including those just above the pension credit threshold. So, nobody should sit in a cold house this winter.

Secondly, I am campaigning for an increase to the Warmer Homes Discount. This directly  reduces energy bills and has broader and better targeted eligibility criteria than the Winter Fuel Allowance (for example, a pensioner above the threshold for pension credit, but in receipt of housing benefit would receive it) and it takes account of home-type and the size of someone’s energy bill.

Finally, I am focussed on ensuring colder homes in areas like ours are given priority for the new  government’s plans to fully insulate five million homes over the next few years, reducing bills for good.  I was elected on a commitment to stabilise and grow the economy for the long-term, not use unsustainable borrowing to put sticking plasters over problems while the economy grows ever weaker.

I feel people’s anger now, but in time this government will deliver warmer homes, energy security, better living standards for everyone.

If you need support, write to me on Sam.Rushworth.MP@parliament.uk