The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has responded to a question concerning resuming pensioners’ £300 Cost of Living allowances. The payments were implemented as part of a policy package by the previous Conservative Party government.
The package comprised up to £900 in cost-of-living payments for households receiving qualified means-tested benefits. Pensioner households received a separate £300 payment, while those receiving qualified disability payments received £150. In answer to a question from Liberal Democrat MP Clive Jones, Labour Party pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms stated: “The cost of living payments were meant to alleviate the immediate financial strains generated by the fast rise in the price of living.
The means-tested benefits Cost of Living Payments of up to £900 were provided in three installments to families receiving one of the specific benefits during the qualifying periods. This covers Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Pension Credit, according to BirminghamLive.
The Disability Cost of Living Payment was a £150 payment sent to those receiving one of the specific disability payments on the qualifying date. This covers Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Scottish Disability Benefits, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Constant Attendance Allowance, and War Pension Mobility Supplement. The Pensioner Cost of Living Payment of up to £300 was provided as an increase to the Winter Fuel Payment from 2023 to 2024. There are three payments to beneficiaries of means-tested benefits: £301 in spring 2023, £300 in autumn 2023, and £299 in spring 2024. The DWP made each payment to families receiving DWP-administered means-tested benefits, whereas HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) paid solely to households receiving tax credits.