More elderly people in Crawley received help to pay their heating bills last winter

A general view of a domestic radiator room thermostat. Families across Great Britain will find out on Friday how tough energy bills will be this winter but they may have to wait to discover what the Government will do to help Picture date: Thursday August 25, 2022.

More elderly people in Crawley received Government support to help heat their homes last winter, new figures show.

As the cold months are approaching, charities said the aid promised by the Government is inadequate and called for "further targeted energy bill support to protect households this winter".

The Winter Fuel Payments scheme is a tax-free annual benefit paid to people over pension credit age to help them with their bills as temperatures drop.

Department for Work and Pensions figures show 14,793 pensioners in Crawley received help in 2022-23 – up from 14,569 the year before.

Across Great Britain, just over 119,000 more people got a payment between £250 and £600 than during winter 2021-22.

However, Peter Smith, director of policy at National Energy Action, said the increase does not come as a surprise, since there was a significant decline in the number of recipients in the years during and after the pandemic.

"More people are becoming eligible for first time and fewer are passing into the higher payment rate category.

"For these reasons, more people are eligible but not receiving the higher payment," he said.

Most people who secured payments across Great Britain last year were aged over 80.

The same was true for pensioners from the same age group in Crawley, where they received 4,099 payments.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said: "The level of support promised so far by the Government for the cold months ahead is totally inadequate. As a result, pensioners - and many other vulnerable groups - will face the winter with uncertainty and dread."