Decision details

That this Council resolves to:

1.              Bring forward a Council-led local awareness campaign to ensure eligible Warwickshire residents are made aware of the availability and eligibility criteria of Pension Credit, including through the delivery of Council services and partnerships with the VCSE, to help ensure that all eligible pensioners in Warwickshire are supported in claiming their entitlement.

2.              Requests that the Leader of the Council write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ask for funding for a local advertising and outreach campaign to raise awareness about Pension Credit and other benefits, targeting pensioners who may be eligible but are not currently claiming.

3.              Request that the Leader of the Council write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, urging a review of the decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment and asking the Government to ensure that vulnerable pensioners, particularly those who do not claim Pension Credit, are protected from fuel poverty.

4.              Encourage all elected members to sign the ‘Save the Winter Fuel Payment for Struggling Pensioners’ petition being run by Age UK