Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said:  

"We're really pleased to see that the Chancellor will be restoring the Winter Fuel Payment to 9 million pensioners whose incomes are £35,000 or below. This will help thousands of older unpaid carers struggling with very high winter fuel bills, many of whom just missed out because they didn't get Pension Credit.  They were devastated to lose this help, so this is good news to hear on the first day of Carers Week 2025.  

"If only the Government had waited a little longer to work out a solution rather than making such unexpected cuts last year.  It's good that the Government has now listened.   

"A great deal of energy and drive has been put into ensuring that pensioners apply for Pension Credit if entitled to it and it's still really important that the Government continues this focus.  We know that 65,000 unpaid pensioner carers are missing out on Pension Credit and the vital extra income it can bring.  We will continue to push important take-up messages to ensure that older carers on low incomes claim Pension Credit.

"When making sure the poorest get their entitlements, there's a real opportunity for Government to take some of the frustration out of claiming for pensioner unpaid carers.  The system is ridiculously complex.  Carers have to apply for a benefit that they won't get in order to get an uplift to Pension Credit, called Carer Addition, if they are living on a very low income.  This puts pensioner carers off claiming, as they already have enough to do with providing unpaid care. It's very difficult for advice agencies to explain and is commonly misunderstood.  Our report, Pension Credit and Carer's Allowance, suggested a number of different ways the system could be simplified and we hope that the Government will take this forward.  "