INVERCLYDE pensioners are set to lose out on winter fuel payments after the Scottish Government opted to fall in line with its counterpart in Westminster.
The new Labour government took the decision to make the payment a means-tested one, saying it needed to find ways to fill a £22bn funding gap.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said she had "no choice" after the announcement down south.
Authority over the winter fuel payment is set to be transferred from the UK Government to the Scottish Government next month and replaced with the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP).
Scottish ministers had previously said the benefit would not be means-tested, with universal entitlement based on reaching state pension age.
But the social justice secretary says that the decision by the UK government means that there will no longer be enough funding to continue the universal scheme.
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