Portsmouth Council provide support for elderly during cost-of-living crisis
With temperatures dropping to as low as -1 degrees Celsius in Portsmouth, pensioners are facing the ultimate question, should they put their heating on?
John Harris, 77, Portsmouth resident said: “I’ve worked all my life and don’t spend extravagantly. I know its cliche, but I’m now having to choose between eating and heating.
“I know there are lots of people financially worse off than me, so I really don’t know how they are coping.”
The government are hoping to tackle this problem, through a variety of schemes such as Pension Credit. Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with living costs if you are over State Pension age, as well as being on a low income.
In addition, the government have introduced the Energy Price Guarantee, which will see the energy price cap rise by 27% in October 2022 and remain no higher than this level for the next two years.
However, according to 2022 report from Age UK, despite these schemes, 770,000 pensioner households (34%) are entitled to, but not receiving Pension Credit. In addition, 220,000 pensioner households (16%) are entitled to, but not receiving Housing Benefit.
Overall, this equates to pensioners missing out on almost £2.4 billion a year from Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.
Councillor Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Social Care, believes pensioners are missing out on Pension Credit, because of “a lack of knowledge of its existence. In addition, to the fact that you have to apply for it rather than it being an automatic award.
“The system is complicated. A lot of people become eligible for pension credit after a change of circumstance, effectively when their assets have been depleted.
“A lot of people don’t know pension credit exists, they know about state pension, which everyone receives. This can be especially the case with single isolated pensioners, who automatically get their pension when they hit pension age and don’t have support around them, so they don’t know they could have eligibility for pension credit.”
The Age UK report also highlighted a variety of other reasons pensioners are missing out on Pension Credit, such as not knowing how to make a claim, reluctance to provide personal information and negative attitudes around receiving benefits.
Matthew believes the government “do not recognise that older people can have an awful amount of anxiety, especially as a result of Covid-19.
“You very rarely get the government sending out information paper form these days; they rely a lot on television and advertising. The message is quite one dimensional.”
Consequently, this makes it more difficult for pensioners and seniors to find out what benefits they can receive.
As a result, Matthew claims Portsmouth Council is taking a preventative measures approach, in order to support the elderly during the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “What we’ve been doing here in Portsmouth is looking at what gaps there are in provision, such as extra care accommodation.”
“By making sure all support care is covered in this way, when (pensioners) do need to spend on their energy bills, they’ve got the money to be able to do this.”
“It’s just having a clear think about how prevention is a positive thing for general financial outlay, rather than thinking bottom line we can’t afford to invest in this.”
Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: “We are targeting help at vulnerable families, so pensioners on pension credit will get additional money this winter.”
Portsmouth City Council has introduced a Pensioner Energy Costs payment. Any household in Portsmouth with someone aged over 66 on 30 September 2022 (or with a partner over 66), who was in receipt of pension credit or council tax support on 31 May, is eligible to receive a £100 payment from the council.
This is available through the Household Support Fund, which is a payment to help those considered most in need with the rising cost of food, energy and water bills. Each council can decide their own eligibility criteria; however, this money is specifically set-aside for older people.
In addition, Gerald claims: “We have found £250,000 to give to local foodbanks and pantries to make sure they have things on their shelves.”
The council is distributing money from the Household Support Fund to foodbanks, as well as working with a variety of local charities and organisations to help people struggling with the cost of food, energy and other essential bills.
Matthew says: “If you want face-to-face and more localised support, go to Advice Portsmouth. They can provide support over the phone, or you can attend in-person bookings.
“If you have more specific queries about your pension, we always say talk to the national pension service, especially if it is to do with a change of circumstance.”
However, ultimately, Matthew encourages those who are not turning on their heating, to “give our cost-of-living helpline a ring, get in contact. We will do whatever we can to help and support you and give you information about what you can get in terms of financial help.”
Although this additional support from local government is welcomed by vulnerable and isolated pensioners, for many a cold winter may still await.