“I cannot vote with the Labour Group. I have to vote with my constituents who have collectively been appalled by this decision”

A Labour councillor has spoken out against the Winter Fuel cut by the UK Labour Government, stating “..having a more professional bunch of people implementing austerity is not what was elected in the UK Labour government. It was elected for change.”

The comments came in a sometimes frosty debate in the Guildhall chamber where a motion put forward by Plaid Cymru called on the council to “condemn the recent decision by the UK Labour Government to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance” and “to halt the proposed cuts with a view to ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are not put at risk due to the loss of this critical payment.”

Plaid Cymru’s Cllr Carrie Harper presented the motion, “Over 9 million pensioners across the UK are going to be impacted by these cuts. Over 16,000 of those will be right here in Wrexham in our borough, and with energy price rises on the way as well. There are people that are pensioners in our communities this winter who are going to be forced to turn the heating down. We know that cold homes are directly linked to higher rates of strokes, heart attacks and respiratory diseases. So this cut is literally going to be a matter of life and death for some people in our area.

“I know in my ward, I’ve got people who are missing out by one or two pounds a month. It’s absolutely appalling. Means testing in the way that it’s being done means that many people living below the poverty line are being hit by this.

“Even worse, there are 1600 pensioners in Wrexham who are eligible but don’t claim so whatever you think about the principle of universality, it means that nobody is left behind. I think how we treat the most vulnerable in our society is a real test of our values.

“There are many, many people locally who are going to feel really let down by this cut.”

Cllr Harper rounded off her long speech by reiterating the motion, “These cuts are cruel and they are completely avoidable. I’m very happy to move this motion that the council condemns the recent decision by the UK Labour Government to cut the winter fuel allowance, and calls on the UK Labour Government to halt proposed cuts with a view to ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are not put at risk due to the loss of this critical payment”.

Labour Group Leader Cllr Dana Davies spoke next, “I understand the general sentiment behind the motion and why it’s important for it to be debated today.

“Where we as a Labour Group disagree is where all pensioners receive the winter fuel allowance, as not all are financially vulnerable, and in that context, many pensioners in this room this evening are telling me they don’t need it so.

“As we are acutely aware as local government, the pressure on public finances, because we are working through a budget process where we’ve got a shortfall of £28 million over the next two years. So there is that question of where we should be focusing and distributing and supporting people who were in need.

Cllr Davies tabled an amendment to the motion, copied to councillors and officers, “We note the decision made by central government to only give winter fuel payments to those in receipt of pension credit. We ask that:
1. this council resolves to write to the Chancellor to seek reassurance that
A. those pensioners who income falls close to the threshold for pension credit, but are not eligible, will receive support as needed through the coming winter period. B. the current threshold for low income households is reviewed and operated to enable those wider groups currently not eligible to access the financial support they desperately need.

2. This council welcomes the retention of the triple lock on pensions, which will see the basic state pension rise by 900 pounds this year and 460 pound next year

3. this council recognises that the pension credit is an underclaimed benefit, and that we commit to a local effort to encourage Wrexham residents to apply for this benefit and increase uptake. Claims can be made by the UK Government website, www.gov.uk or by telephone in the direct number or 0800 991234”

Cllr Davies explained why that was being put forward as an alternative, “There are those that are only a few pounds out with the threshold to be able to claim pension credit” and pointed to a recent councillor workshop that linked household income to child poverty, and noted, “… the current thresholds around low income are too low, and that’s because over the past 14 years that threshold for what is deemed to be the financial level of low income that’s recognised, that threshold over the last 14 years has only been inflated four times, so for 10 years, it’s been frozen, and that’s why we’ve got a number of disabled groups in Wrexham, our families, our single parents and our pensioners who are struggling with the cost of living crisis and more kids as a result, moving into poverty”.

Council Leader Mark Pritchard then spoke rejecting the Labour amendment, “I won’t support the alternative motion, because I think everybody in this room and across Wrexham and across the country must be unhappy with what’s happened. It is all about decision making, I understand that, and can agree with Cllr Davies on that subject. But, it’s all about making the right decision at the right time, and in my humble opinion, this is not the right decision to make. I think that when you get things wrong you have to hold your hands up and move away from it, and you can’t defend the undefendable.”

Cllr David A Bithell echoed the view, asking that Labour raised the points in their alternative motion at the next Cost of Living Working Group.

Cllr Robert Ian Williams voiced support for the amendment, criticising Cllr Harpers speech, “I was very unhappy how Carrie spoke and used expressions such as filthy rich. I don’t think that’s helpful, and it’s just politicking in this chamber.”

Cllr Ronnie Prince cited some research he had found noting “seven out of ten disabled pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments under cuts planned by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. People in my area have made me aware that they did vote Labour, a large number of them, and they feel let down by Labour because they believe Keir Starmer urged the opposition to rule out scrapping winter fuel payments before the election, and they’ve also seen him state on other occasions he was against cutting that. Alot of people feel let down by Labour.”

Several councillors mentioned or queried around declaring an interest due to the topic of debate, with Cllr Stella Matthews adding, “People are worrying about declaring an interest on this? I don’t think we’d find anyone in this council chamber with income at a level that you’d have to declare an interest on this particular debate”.

12 voted in favour for the amendment, and 29 against.

The debate then reverted back to the original motion.

Cllr Mark Pritchard requested that the word ‘condemned’ was reworked, so councillors would disagree with the UK Government decision instead. That was adopted.

Cllr Paul Roberts “I think we need to concentrate on a local level, not a national level. This decision was made at national government level, and whether people agree with it or not, I personally don’t agree with it because I’ve got constituents in my ward that are bitterly upset that they might not be able to keep warm during the winter months. But, like I say, everybody’s got their own perspective on this, and I think we need to construct our Wrexham Council and keep national decisions – unless they directly affect the council – out of the council chamber”.

At this point news of the non-binding vote at the Labour conference filtered through to the chamber, where unions called on the UK Government to reverse its cuts to winter fuel payments.

Coedpoeth’s Councillor Anthony Wedlake broke ranks and said he “had to vote with my constituents who have collectively been appalled by this decision”, adding
“I didn’t want to have to speak today, but I do so with the confidence that my own constituency Labour Party is opposed to the implementation of this cut, and that the highest policy making body of the Labour Party opposed it this morning.

“I also make the point that I might end up voting with people who have no right to condemn any decision that affect poor people because their parties implemented the bedroom tax, have taxed the poor more than they tax the rich, have taken 40% in real terms from public sector workers wages over the last 14 years. And, of course, I could go on with their friends who sold dodgy PPE during the pandemic.

“I also make the point to Cllr Harper, that I am assuming from the point that she made that Plaid Cymru MPs won’t be taking their heating allowance on their second homes either?

“I also have to say that we were told as a party that it was ‘country first and party second’, and its not in the interest of this country to take away the winter fuel allowance from pensioners.

“We collectively as a country, or as a consensus within this country, that over the last 10, if not 14 years austerity was a political choice, and having a more professional bunch of people implementing austerity too, is not what was elected in the UK Labour Government. It was elected for change.

“Universality means exactly that. If we champion free meals in primary schools because we want everybody to have the same opportunity, then it has to be the same with pensioners.

“If we’re going to make difficult decisions, we need to make those difficult decisions by looking at the £450 billion pound profit utility companies have made in the last five years, and take a small portion of that to pay for the approximate one and a half billion pounds that this allowance costs.

“We can look at the ten people in this country who own £500 billion, more than a quarter of the population of this country, and a simple wealth tax will pay for that and many more.

“On this basis, I cannot vote with the Labour Group. I have to vote with my constituents who have collectively been appalled by this decision.”

His speech got a round of applause in the chamber.

A vote was held on the motion, which passed, with the Mayoress announcing “We have 33 for, and 12 abstentions, and nobody against – so the motion is passed”.