Keir Starmer looks set to bow to pressure to ax winter fuel allowances amid Labor rebellion.
The previous government rejected calls from the Tories and Lib Dems to put the issue before the Commons.
However, ministers will push for the measure to try to gain benefits by using a so-called ‘negative’ statutory instrument.
However, senior sources now believe that the vote could take place from next week. There are doubts that the government can avoid a showdown, with the Conservatives able to use the opposition’s time to force a division.
The apparent change came as Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the winter fuel changes during a torrid question session in the chamber – insisting the elderly have enjoyed an increase in the state pension.
A clear shift emerged when Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the winter fuel switch during a heated question session in the chamber.
Ms Reeves was grilled by shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Commons today
He faced repeated warnings from MPs and his own opposition benches about the potential consequences of ending winter fuel payments for people in England and Wales who do not get Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits.
The policy is expected to exempt around 10 million pensioners from the £300 payment, saving around £1.4 billion this year.
Speaking on Treasury questions, Ms Reeves said she would not speculate on next month’s Budget after the Conservatives asked for assurances that they would not increase pension tax.
He told the Commons: ‘I know that members from across the House will have questions about the tax system for me today. I remind you that the tax announcement will be made in the Budget on 30 October, along with independent forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.’
The chancellor blamed the previous Conservative administration for leaving a ‘£22billion black hole’ due to ‘unfunded spending commitments’ by ‘not knowing how to pay.
He said: ‘When I became Chancellor, I immediately reviewed the spending situation to understand the scale of the challenge, and I made difficult decisions to stabilize public finances. They made difficult decisions, but they made the right decisions.
‘This includes the decision to make future fuel payments more targeted so that pensioners who need it the most will claim it alongside pension credits.’
Labor MP Rachael Maskell warned the average rent increase in York was 11.9 per cent outstripping the rise in the state pension by £380 this year.
He said: ‘With the loss of the cost of living payment and the winter fuel payment, the increase in the energy price cap and the cost of living, pensioners are scared of staying warm this winter – just like me. .’
The York Central MP asked Ms Reeves how she would protect pensioners who are above the Pension Credit threshold to ‘prevent cold, ill health or worse this winter’.
Ms Reeves replied: ‘The basic state pension cost £900 more than a year ago and it will go up again in April next year because of the triple lock, which we have committed to during this Parliament.’
He added that the Government is working with local authorities to raise Pension Credit.
The triple lock ensures that the state pension will rise by inflation, average wage growth or 2.5 percent.
Labor MP Paula Barker said the charity Age UK reported there were around one million pensioners who ‘just missed out’ on their winter fuel payments, noting: ‘These are people living on modest incomes at £50 below the poverty line, who will lose out. . due to the pensions of small workers – including many in Liverpool Wavertree.’
Labor MP Rachael Maskell has warned the average rent increase in York is 11.9 per cent more than the state pension increase of £380 this year
He asked if Pension Credit would be withdrawn, with Ms Reeves confirming it could take up to three months.
Former conservative minister Dame Harriett Baldwin said Ms Reeves had made ‘a heartbreaking political choice to balance the books of this country on our most fragile shoulders’.
Wendy Morton, another former Tory minister, said thousands of pensioners in her Aldridge-Brownhills constituency were ‘worried at the prospect’ of losing future fuel payments ‘that they depend on’.
He asked Ms Reeves: ‘Will he reconsider and reverse his decision?’
The chancellor added to the state pension, adding: ‘But it is important to ensure that the 800,000 people who missed out on Pension Credit under the previous Conservative government now have access to this support, because these are the poorest pensioners, and at the moment they are living in poverty because of the previous government fail to enter into Pension Credit.’
Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling previously said 21,000 pensioners would be affected by the cuts in his Torbay constituency.
