State pensioners will be forced into poverty thanks to a “cruel double whammy” in Labour’s tax plans, it has been warned.
Thousands of pensioners living in the poorest areas of the country could see up to 85% of their monthly payment eaten up by soaring council tax and energy bills.
The state pension will rise by £472 a year from April but hefty council tax rises and the decision to means-test the winter fuel payment could leave many elderly Brits facing hardship.
Dennis Reed, of campaigning body Silver Voices, told The Telegraph, which carried out the analysis: “The triple lock increase coming this April did not take into account the loss of the winter fuel payment for the large majority of older people, nor did it anticipate this unprecedented hike in council taxes across the country.
“Older people on fixed incomes are facing a cruel double whammy, squeezing their living standards to the point of poverty.” He added: “The Telegraph research nails the lie that older people will be better off under Labour this year.”
Keir Starmer told voters in September pensioners would be “better off year-on-year” under Labour.
But analysis of every local authority region in England found pensioners in Bradford, where council tax is rising by 9.99%, will see the biggest chunk of their increase wiped out. They are followed by Birmingham, Somerset, Trafford and Windsor and Maidenhead.
Owners of a Band D property in Bradford will have to stump up an extra £170 this year. The average winter fuel allowance paid out to retirees by the council in 2023/24 was worth £230.
That means retirees who aren’t eligigle for winter fuel payments will lose £401. That leaves them with just £71 of the initial £472 state pension uplift. For those in Birmingham, 78% of the uplift will have to be used to cover the additional £134 to council tax bills and the loss of the average £233 allowance.
Residents of Somerset and Trafford will see 77% and 75.1% disappear respectively. All three local authorities have been given the green light to raise residents’ bills by around 7.5pc from April.
Pensioners in Wandsworth will see the smallest hit, with just 54.2% of the increase instantly eaten away. Last summer Rachel Reeves announced the winter fuel benefit of up to £300 would be removed for many people to save £1.4billion a year.
Previously all pensioners received a lump sum of between £200 and £300 to help with energy bills, but now the payment is available only to those on pension credit who have an income below £218.15 per week as a single person, or £332.95 as a couple. Since the announcement, applications for pension credit have increased by 145%.
The Chancellor was recently forced to amend her CV again after being accused of exaggerating the length of time she spent at the Bank of England. A BBC investigation revealed the Chancellor left the Bank of England nine months before her LinkedIn profile suggests.
A spokesman for Ms Reeves admitted the dates on her LinkedIn profile were inaccurate, claiming it was an administrative error by her team. She now admits to spending just over six years at Threadneedle Street, despite claiming in multiple interviews that she spent up to 10 years there.
The latest edit is the second by the Chancellor since entering government last year. She previously admitted to working in Halifax’s customer relations department, not the retail banking unit as she initially claimed.
The BBC has also published a lengthy investigation into the Chancellor’s time at HBOS after a former colleague’s claims about her expenses at the firm went viral. Former Halifax colleague Kev Gillett said on social media that Ms Reeves “nearly got sacked due to an expenses scandal where the three senior managers were all signing off each other’s expenses”.
Ms Reeves’s team has vigorously denied the allegations. The triple lock was introduced in 2010 and makes sure the state pension rises each year in line with either inflation, wage growth or 2.5pc. This year the uptick follows the 4.1pc wage growth.
Councils with adult social care responsibilities are only permitted to raise council tax by up to 4.99% without holding a referendum. For others, the limit is 2.99%.
This year, six councils were granted permission from the Government to increase council tax above the 4.99% cap. It came despite Labour’s pledge to freeze council tax in the election campaign.
A Government spokesman told the Telegraph: “Millions of pensioners will see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock, and financial support is available to help pensioners on low incomes with council tax bills.
“We have taken a stricter approach to council tax rises than the previous government, only agreeing to a limited number of increases for those in desperate need, and we expect that taxpayers in these areas will still pay less than the average compared to similar councils.”
