ABOUT 15,000 pensioners in Oxfordshire will be better off this winter following a change to the pension credit scheme, according to the Government.

On Monday, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced that the tax threshold on savings will be raised.

Pension credit tops up the weekly income of women aged 60 and over and men aged 65 and over to a maximum of £130 if they are single or £198.45 for couples.

Under existing rules, savings above £6,000 are taken into account when working out pension credit.

It is assumed that every £500 of savings a person has above that amount will produce £1 of income each week, so their pension credit is lowered accordingly.

Now, the threshold is being raised to £10,000, meaning people with savings above that could get an extra £8 a week.

The DWP estimates about 90 per cent of Oxfordshire’s 17,280 pensioners will benefit.

Paul Cann, chief executive of Age Concern Oxfordshire, said he was glad the change had been put in place in time for winter.

He added: “We really welcome this news, especially as older people will already be worrying about turning the heat up this winter.

“It is a time when it really becomes a choice between heating or eating.

“They don’t get a lot to live on and many don’t even claim what they’re entitled to, so this is great news.”

But pensioners’ rights champion Bill Jupp, 78, from Marston, said it was a ‘con’.

He said: “Anything that puts extra money on the table should be welcomed but this is a nonsense.

“If you think about inflation the £10,000 they’ve upped the bracket to only really equates to the £6,000 when the means testing was first introduced ten years ago.

“There should be a universal state pension given to all which people can build on should they wish.”

Shri Seetaram, service manager for the Oxfordshire Pension Centre, based in Abingdon, defended the scheme.

Mr Seetaram said: “We want everybody to claim what they are entitled to and these changes mean that more pensioners will receive pension credit.

“For people already claiming, this change will be calculated automatically, so there is no need to do anything.

“Some people think it’s difficult to claim or wrongly think its not for them. Even if you’ve applied for Pension Credit before, it would be worth checking again.”