Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the political comedy had "absolutely nothing to do with last week".

Every pensioner household in Scotland will receive a winter fuel payment next year, the Scottish government has announced. Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said those in receipt of qualifying benefits like Pension Credit would get £200 or £300 depending on their age, while all others would get £100.

She went on to add that the government has seen an increase in the number of people claiming Pension Credit, with a 152 percent rise in claims to enable pensioners to get their Winter Fuel Payment back, as well as ‘extra financial support’ with the £150 Warm Homes Discount.

Just 42,500 applications for pension credit have been approved over the past 16 weeks - less than 5% of the 880,000 people the Government said were missing out on the benefit in July

All pensioners in Scotland will receive a winter fuel payment once again from next year, the Scottish government has announced. The Westminster and Scottish governments earlier this year both scrapped the universal payment, making it means-tested instead, so only people on pension credit or similar benefits qualify.

The DWP said there had been a 145 per cent increase in the number of Pension Credit claims received in the past 16 weeks compared to the same timeframe before the Chancellor's ann

Thousands of people in West Yorkshire are at risk of missing out on winter fuel payments as they are not claiming pension credits, new figures suggest. With the 21 December deadline for applications looming,