Last year, 11.6 million pensioners received winter subsidies for heating oil

The number of people receiving the payment last winter was 214,000 more than the 11.4 million in 2022-23, and it has risen steadily since 11.1 million in 2020-21, according to statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The annual tax-free payment of between £100 and £300 was introduced in 1997 to help eligible pensioners cover the cost of heating their homes in winter.

The government is facing opposition to its decision to make the payments means-tested and deprive millions of pensioners of them.

Pensioners held a protest rally on Monday ahead of the Labour Party’s annual conference to criticise the plan.

A conference debate on the issue is expected on Wednesday, as Unite and the Communication Workers Union have tabled motions to debate the policy and call for it to be withdrawn.

Almost a quarter (23 percent) of respondents to a new YouGov poll said they expected Labour to do well but were disappointed. 28 percent of this group cited changes to winter heating allowances as the main reason for this assessment.

YouGov surveyed 2,389 adults between September 19 and 20.

Responding to the DWP statistics, Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling said: “Hundreds of thousands more pensioners will now lose these much-needed payments that save so many from having to choose between heating and eating.”

“Cutting these benefits for pensioners, who include millions of people who are just getting by and are now worried about how they will survive the winter, is completely wrong.

“It is not too late for the new government to change course and Liberal Democrat MPs will push them with all they have to reverse these cuts and protect vulnerable pensioners this winter.”