Overview

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to revisit the £11,500 Pension Credit threshold after local election setbacks blamed on the means-testing policy.
• Chancellor Rachel Reeves will detail proposed changes in the Spending Review on June 11, targeting broader support for winter heating costs.
• Options under consideration include a full restoration of payments at a £1.5 billion annual cost or extending eligibility to pensioners on disability benefits for around £500 million.
• Proposals to link entitlement to council tax bands A–C could add roughly 6.3 million households while still excluding the highest earners.
• Campaigners caution that any new system must simplify claims and address past administrative hurdles that left about 700,000 vulnerable pensioners without support.