Winter fuel payments are in the spotlight ahead of the government's plans to restrict them to pensioners on pension credit.The vast majority of pensioners will receive winter fuel payments again this year, the Treasury has confirmed.All those with an income of £35,000 or below will become eligible after a public backlash forced a major Labour U-turn.That means around nine million pensioners – just over three-quarters of the total – will now qualify for the payment, which is worth £200 a year, or £300 for those aged over 80.Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last July that, for the first time, the annual payments would become means-tested rather than given to all pensioners.She said only those receiving pension credit – meaning their income was £12,000 or less – would get it. In all, 10 million pensioners missed out last winter.Reeves said the policy would save the public purse £1.5 billion and help fill the £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances left by the Tories.