Euro ruling brings fuel payment u-turn

The government was forced into a u-turn yesterday after the European court of justice ruled in favour of a retired postman who argued men were entitled to winter fuel payments at the same age as women.

The court agreed that 64-year-old John Taylor, from Norton, North Yorkshire, had been the victim of unlawful sex discrimination, as women are entitled to the payment at 60. The ruling will cost the government an extra £85m a year.

The court directed that the payment regulations, which exclude men below retirement age, breached a 1979 European Union directive prohibiting sex discrimination over social security benefits.

But Alistair Darling, the social security secretary, said the ruling did not necessarily set a precedent in other areas - such as bus passes and the state pension.

"It does not follow that if the court makes a ruling in one case that it necessarily makes it in another," he said yesterday.

"European law is quite complicated here.

"One of the things they took into account was that this is a new payment, and therefore we ought to have treated it differently." He said there were already plans for the state pension to be equalised in 2020. "When you are dealing with pensions, you need to give people plenty of time to plan ... You can't suddenly change people's pensions arrangements overnight."

Next year the government, which already pays £200m a year in winter fuel payments, will have to spend an extra £235m - made up of £85m to 1.5m men aged 60 and over, £125m in back payments to pensioners, and £25m in administration costs.

Mr Taylor, who brought the case with the support of the civil rights organisation Liberty, said: "I have been fighting for two years for this and I'm very pleased. All over-60s should receive winter fuel payments now.

"Although we've won the battle, we have not yet won the war. Our ultimate objective is to achieve equal state pension age for men and women."

The case was referred to the European court of justice by the high court, where Mr Taylor, whose fuel bill at his three-bedroom house is about £500 a year, had sought a judicial review so that he could claim the benefit, worth £100 per household.

Mr Taylor is a member of Parity, an organisation which campaigns for equal retirement ages. David Lindsay, the organisation's legal adviser, said: "We hope that the government will now give serious consideration to equalising the bus pass age."

Julie Mellor, chairwoman of the equal opportunities commission, said it was a further step towards the dismantling of discrimination within the social security system.

Di Luping, Mr Taylor's solicitor, said: "It is a milestone in the fight for true equality between men and women."

A DSS spokesman said: "This means an extra 1.5m people will benefit from the winter fuel payment."

An Age Concern spokeswoman welcomed the ruling, but pointed out that it would not have been necessary had the government introduced a higher state pension.