Can’t just be me who is sick of the moaning about the private school VAT and winter fuel payments

Well said!

Totally this.
My mil used to split her £200 winter fuel allowance, between her 4 kids and give them £50 each at Christmas - we always told her we didn't want it

I agree OP, there is too much outcry. There are cuts which need to be made somewhere - the country has little money and no-one wants taxes to rise - and funds need to be raised.

Just to qualify - I am an about-to-be pensioner and the loss of winter fuel allowance will affect me too but no, I am not campaigning against it and think it is a good idea. If you check the figures, there are something like 12.8 million pensioners in the UK. Only 1.1 million will, like me, be relying on the state pension alone. The rest have more than enough to live on as they have their own home/private pensions/other savings and do not need the WFA. Those who are really hard hit can still apply for extra help.

I will be living on state pension alone plus I rent my property, with an extremely small amount of savings. I have done my budget calculations, my needs are simple and I haven't factored WFA in any of my calculations. I will have enough to live on, quite happily, without it.

As for the VAT on school fees, I have spent some years of my life involved in private education in various roles. Many independent schools have changed over the years, especially the larger ones - I am talking mainstream ones rather than those who cater for special needs though. The school I have just retired from, more than 80% of pupils are from overseas, children of rich Chinese, Middle Eastern or Russian parents, many European billionaires etc. There are fewer and fewer UK parents; those who struggle are offered bursaries or can apply for scholarships. Some of the larger schools are offering to cover the VAT increase themselves, and some are doing deals whereby some VAT can be reclaimed so that the overall percentage is around 8% rather than 20%. Independent schools are generally a choice, there are other choices if it doesn't suit your finances.

The main thing that posters aren’t talking about is that the government has to find savings, raise money using the most efficient methods they can. So removing the WFA won’t cost as implementing new means testing, imposing VAT on private school fees uniformly won’t cost as much as staggering its implementation based on school years etc.

To not be entitled to it - means you really do have a very comfortable income and can pay fuel costs like the rest of us

If you assume that all of them have their own homes and savings, yes. Despite popular belief, not all pensioners have these things. Plenty who are £3 above the cut off will be worse off because they don't qualify by a fair bit.

My mother in law keeps moaning about this but also has a nice private pension, doesn't need it and last year bragged about it and how she wished itd go to 'those struggling with young families', clearly a load of rubbish. It absolutely needed to be means tested but the cut off is way too low and people will undoubtedly suffer. That cannot be ok.

Private school fees I couldn't care less about. Can't afford then don't send your kid but stop moaning about it

Some pensioners will struggle (those just above the threshold), some won’t.

Some private school parents will struggle, some won’t.

It’s like any age group/circumstances - people are in variable situations.🤷‍♀️

So someone on £219 a week so not entitled to pension credit but not disabled has a very comfortable income?

It doesn't matter if you rent or not, housing benefit calculation is different to being eligible for PC, but you can have zero assets, be paying rent (albeit likely subsidised by HB) but still have just the basic state pension and be £3 over the threshold to get PC.

My mum isn’t happy about it but has over 70k in savings and hasn’t worked in 30yrs. Off on a nice cruise in a couple of months. No I don’t begrudge her that, but she doesn’t need the fuel payment. My ex MIL will get it as she’s on pension credit. Recently sold something of value in her home country and the 150k is in her son’s bank account plus other savings so she qualifies for the benefit. She doesn’t need the fuel payment as she can dip into her savings, but will get it.

I know a couple people on benefits (PIP etc) who have plenty of spare cash, they splash out a lot more than me who is a higher tax rate payer. Not saying all are in these circumstances but minimal outgoings so can save or splurge. There isn’t an endless pot of money and tough decisions need to be made. The VAT on school fees makes sense as there’s other options if parents genuinely can’t afford it. I suspect most will find the extra and cut back on one of their holidays per year.

My former mil is livid about it on social media but she uses the winter fuel payment to buy Xmas presents. I doubt she’ll be cold.

She’s also bankrolling her daughter who “has no money” because she’s out drinking every night.

I think you’ll find that the country has been left in shit financial position after 14 years of the Tories being in government.

What utter nonsense ! A pensioner on PIP or AA (£72.65 pw) and the basic state pension . (£221.20 pw) Living in their own mortgage free home could also have £20k in savings (16k. cut off doesn't apply for pension credit) and a small Occ Pen of £294 a month coming in ... and STILL get £0.27 p Guaranteed credit, £17 pw savings pension credit, £35 pw council tax discount .. that's an income of £413 per WEEK ! ... and STILL be entitled to WFA .

Pension Credit applicable amounts and savings tapering is extremely generous. The amount of allowable income can be really quite high. Especially if someone is in receipt of AA/DLA/PIP and or pays rent.

I would Urge all pensioners to put their details into the turn2us benefits calculator.

My own parents had £725 per week coming in (2x State Pension. 2 x low rate Attendance allowance, + 2 x Occupational Pensions) plus £20k in savings.
Became they were both disabled and were caring for each other.. they were still entitled to £5+ per week in Guaranteed Credit and 19 in savings credit. Which would mean (if they were still alive) they would get WFA

To not be entitled to it - means you really do have a very comfortable income and can pay fuel costs like the rest of us .

Pension credit only kicks in at £218 so someone could be on £11336 and not get pension credit if they own their own home and don’t have rent.

council tax for a band b property where we live with a 25% discount for living alone is £1354 so that already takes a big chunk away before paying for anything else

ODFOD ... My mum is just a few pounds over the limit. As if it's not bad enough losing the allowance and potentially having to choose between heat and food she's now got absolute tone deaf cretins like you calling her 'indulgent"

As it happens I've decided to give it to her myself. It will have an impact on me but not enough that I can possibly watch my own mother be cold because of Labours desire to punish anyone who's been successful in life

Let’s wait to see what Rachel Reeves has up her sleeve for the October budget.

It’ll be a nightmare.

Dont you just loathe the sneering from some
people..

Nasty at it’s finest.

Yes, someone on just state pension ie worked to pay their stamps but don't have much/any private pension as they weren't mandated and employers largely didn't pay until quite recently will be £3 over being able to qualify for pension credit. Someone who didn't get all of their stamps will be better off as they're eligible for other things too under PC. It's unfair, and although winter fuel shouldn't necessarily be available to all, having this low of a threshold is unfair.

I'm sure there are pensioners just above the cut off line but where do you draw the line? I think it costs more to means test than just to give the money to all pensioners. I think we should be turning our attention to making sure everyone who is eligible for pension credits applies for them.

If it's mean tested then your friend should be covered though?

It's just you! There are people who have lost the payment due to being a few pounds over or those who have savings. In many cases, their savings are for anything that goes wrong with their home.

"tone death"

😂

They don’t manage that’s the simple answer. If Sen needs are severe enough that the child can’t cope in the mainstream school they are allocated, parents don’t have the ability to fight and go to tribunal then very often the child ends up out of school completely which then limits their life chances. I had the ability to be able to out my own case together snd go to tribunal so my son is in a specialist school, I know of someone else who rather than fight the system paid to send their child to a small local private school with small classes and more individual attention. Someone else I know didn’t have the means or ability to do either of these their child is still on roll at the local mainstream but hasn’t attended since year 7 and he’s just going into year 11

I'm empathetic to both. School fees aren't just paid by the wealthy and many children with SEN are in private school. And many pensioners live just above the threshold for winter fuel payments. When it comes to things like this, critical thinking helps rather than just applying your opinions to your own very narrow experience of things.

My mum is impacted by it, not all pensioners are rich. She worked for the NHS for 45 years, retired at 70 when she was diagnosed with cancer. She is just over the limit for pension credits so she won't get the winter allowance and she really relied upon it. Before that she had budgeted £50 a week (after bills) for spending on frivilous things (coffee, seeing friends). She was a homeowner but at the time of separating with my dad she had a brain haemorrage. The family house was sold and we moved in with family whilst she recovered which took a very long time.
Alot of people will feel disgruntled about losing the allowance when the cost of living is so high, things are already tough.
Life is hard for lots peope OP, but maybe not the people you are friends with. I prefer to look at it with empathy, compassion and kindess.