Pension Age Winter Heating Payment: Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)

Executive Summary

1. This EQIA has considered the potential effects of the introduction of Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP) which replaces the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP’s) Winter Fuel Payment (WFP), and how the policy might impact people with protected characteristics as defined in Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010.^[2]

2. Research initially focused on the original policy of universal eligibility. On this basis, the findings here were based on desk research, feedback from people with lived experience of the current social security system,^[3] and the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment Consultation Analysis.^[4]

3. Additional consideration has been undertaken following the UK Government’s decision to introduce means testing to Winter Fuel Payment, and on the grounds that this means payments will be made on a more restricted basis.

4. The rationale for providing PAWHP is to provide people of pension age who are on low incomes with additional support to meet increased heating costs during the winter. Older people are likely to have a higher need to keep their home warm due to being less able than younger people to regulate their body temperature.^[5] and are more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, which can be particularly dangerous in cold weather. Older people are also more likely to live in ‘colder’ and ‘harder to heat homes’ and spend more time indoors according to a recent survey carried out by Age Scotland.^[6]

5. These aims have not changed following the decisions of the UK Government., which the Scottish Government has had to follow on grounds of affordability. The UK Government’s restricted eligibility rules mean that reliable financial support is targeted to individuals of pension age on low incomes.