A former Conservative official says the UK government has manipulated the definition of “winter” in order to deprive expats of winter fuel payments.
Roger Boaden, 74, called it a “cruel” move. Boaden, now resident in France, formerly managed three election campaign tours for Margaret Thatcher during his 30 year career with the Conservative Party.
He used several freedom of information requests to discover that the UK government reclassified winter as being five months from November through March. The Met Office and Oxford English Dictionary definitions are three months from December to February.
In addition, he learned that the Met Office included French tropical administration regions such as French Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and La Reunion to come up with its temperature definition for France.
Mr Boaden said: "I wasn't surprised when I heard about this. The whole thing to me has been like an episode of Yes Minister, it really has."
Last year Chancellor George Osborne announced that a “temperature test” had been created by the Treasury with the help of the Met Office to see if average temperatures in seven countries were higher than Britain’s warmest region, the south west.
Mr Osborne said payments would cease in autumn 2015 to those in countries which failed the test – Spain, France, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Gibraltar and Cyprus.
An estimated 95,000 of the 139,000 expats who claim the allowance will be affected if the proposals are approved by MPs. At present, pensioners over 80 get £300 per year in winter fuel allowance, while under-80s get £200 tax-free.
A DWP spokesman said: "The average winter temperature period for winter fuel payments will be measured from November to March to provide consistency with the claim period for cold weather payments (1 November to 31 March).”
Extra payments for cold weather are automatically made to pensioners on benefits in the UK – but not expats – if the temperature drops below an average of 0C or less for seven consecutive days.
Concerning the tropical islands, the spokesman said: “The French state defines itself as the mainland and its overseas departments. It is not for the UK government to redefine the territory of another EEA member state.”
In 2013-14 total winter fuel allowance paid to expats was a record £22 million.
Comments
The point is that this benefit is not means tested, it is universal just like the basic state pension. It is the only benefit that is based on European geography as a ruse to deny those in need, and some of those not in need, their right to it as lifelong taxpayers.
If you live 20 miles south if Dover where weather conditions will be similar, you are 200 quid worse off than a fellow pensioner. If you live in southern Italy you still qualify for the payment.
There now is unfairness in a universal benefit and this is what the argumant is about.
Iain Duncan-Smith has behaved deviously over this matter with fiddled figures taking into account tropical French possessions to raise the average temperature in freezing France.
Expats are not the gin swilling, tax evading layabouts that he loves snidely to portray.
Most have dilligenly paid into the British National Insurance system all of their working lives and have chosen to retire abroad, hugely to the UK exchequer's benefit.
If they all returned to the UK one year, then he would see a problem with overloaded social services, housing, medical and transport systems all having to provided for free to British pensioners, inculding of course, the Winter Fuel Payment.
Are we counting in this the expat pensioner returning to their UK base for 6 months off and on through the year - so not technically resident in say Portugal, but who spends the winter months here ?
Perhaps renting out their UK home when not there so getting an income anyway? Or if uninhabited over the winter - why the payment? Just drain the water tank.
If the UK is strapped for cash like say Portugal - should not this money go to the more needy?
Like single young 'swarthy' lesbian mothers from elsewhere in the EU with 4 children from 4 different fathers ?