Downing Street today distanced itself from Iain Duncan Smith's suggestion that wealthy pensioners should give up some of their benefits, including cold weather payments, free bus passes and television licences.
The Work and Pensions Secretary revealed a helpline was available so wealthy OAPs can return their winter fuel allowance. He said those who could afford to should forego free state handouts.
But David Cameron has insisted he will stick to his promise not to cut them.
David Cameron, pictured today campaigning in Bridgwater, Somerset, has vowed to protect benefits for pensioners despite Iain Duncan Smith's suggestions that wealthy people should give them back
Number 10 insisted the Prime Minister remained committed to protecting the universal benefits for all pensioners.
Mr Duncan Smith sparked a Coalition row yesterday when he said those who could afford to should forego free state handouts.
Asked about the winter payment, worth up to £300 and costing taxpayers £2.2billion a year, Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘It is up to them if they don’t want it to hand it back. I would encourage everybody who doesn’t need it to hand it back.’
But the PM's official spokesman told journalists today: 'The Prime Minister's view on this is very simple. He made a promise, he made a commitment that we we would retain these benefits and that they would stay in place.
'That is in the coalition agreement. There are absolutely no plans to change that, that's very much his view on the matter.'
Mr Cameron promised ahead of the 2010 election that the winter fuel allowance, bus passes and TV licence for pensioners would not be cut
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also said it didn’t make sense to ‘give people benefits and then you say, “Oh, by the way, can you please give them back?”’.
The Lib Dem leader also denounced the Tories for blocking means-testing of free TV licences and winter fuel payments.
He said it was unreasonable to ask a working family who has had their child benefit taken away to ‘pay for the multi-millionaire pensioner next door for his TV licence or his winter fuel payment’.
‘I think we should grasp this nettle just as we have grasped other nettles in government,’ he added. ‘The Conservatives don’t want to do so.’
Department of Work and Pensions officials say that Mr Duncan Smith’s request for repayments of pensioner benefits is ‘not policy’ but revealed that 200 people have already contacted the department to hand back the money and ask that they are never paid again.
Mr Duncan Smith’s intervention makes it clear he thinks that the Government should revisit David Cameron’s commitment to protect the three pensioner benefits when the Tories write their next election manifesto.
Winter fuel allowance, worth £200 this winter, will be paid to those born on or before July 5, 1951.
Those aged over 80 get £300.
It is usually paid automatically to those who qualify who are claiming the state pension or another social security benefit.
THE HANDOUTS... AND HOW TO RETURN THEM
FREE BUS PASS
What is it? By law those over 62 get a free bus pass for off-peak travel, although the age will rise to 66 by 2020. Local authorities can extend it to others if they want to. The over-60s get one in London.
How can you hand it back? Those people who already have a bus pass receive the free one automatically when they reach the qualifying age. If they choose, they can simply stop using it because local councils are charged by transport companies based on a formula that calculates how much pensioners use their buses.
WINTER FUEL PAYMENT
What is it? Those born on or before July 5, 1951, are entitled to £200 when the cold weather sets in. Those over 80 receive £300. Most payments were made in November and December.
How can you hand it back? It is usually paid automatically to people claiming the state pension or other benefits. You can call the DWP hotline and ask to pay it back and be removed from the list. 200 people have asked never to receive it again.
FREE TV LICENCE
What is it? The over-75s are entitled to a free television licence worth £145.50 for a colour set and £49.00 for a black and white TV.
How can you hand it back? Unclear. Pensioners initially have to apply for the free licence online or at a post office. But once it has been set up the authorities keep handing out a free licence every three years to all recipients with a National Insurance number.
The Government also spends £1billion on free bus passes for the over-62s and £600million on free TV licences. But Mr Duncan Smith’s views sparked divisions in government.
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Fellow Tory Ken Clarke, minister without portfolio, also dismissed Mr Duncan Smith’s call, insisting it was impossible to hand the money back to the Government.
Mr Clarke, 72, refused to say whether he had returned the universal benefits he was entitled to, but said others could donate their benefits to a worthy cause.
‘When it comes to a bus pass and the winter fuel allowance all taxpayers should decide and recipients should decide what to do with it themselves,’ he said.
‘You can’t hand it back to the Government. I don’t think it is a system for doing that.
'Every pensioner and retired person like myself has to make up their own mind about whether they really need it and whether they are going to give it to some worthwhile cause.’
Two years ago Apprentice star Lord Sugar revealed he tried to pay back the money but civil servants insisted he keep it.
He said: ‘I tried to get the winter fuel allowance sent back when I first got it. After an hour on the phone to some civil servant in Newcastle I gave up.’
But a DWP spokesman insisted yesterday: ‘People can contact the DWP’s winter fuel payment hotline to discuss handing back or terminating their winter fuel payment should they wish to.’
Business Secretary Vince Cable was more conciliatory.
He said: ‘I think Iain Duncan Smith is acknowledging that there is an issue here, that relatively affluent people of pensionable age have done relatively well in very difficult times and it would be fair to acknowledge that.
‘Some people will give it back, some people will fund charities, others will do nothing.
Mr Duncan Smith said it was an 'anomaly' that all pensioners receive universal benefits (such as bus passes), no matter how wealthy they are
‘Relying on individual contributions obviously is not a systematic way of dealing with it but he’s flagging an important question and it’s important that he’s raised it.’
Mr Duncan Smith spoke out as the Government today launches its flagship welfare scheme, Universal Credit.
The first pilot project, which will see most out-of-work benefits scrapped and replaced with a single payment that ensures claimants will always be better off in work, will begin in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.
Mr Duncan Smith vowed to bring in ‘this radical and vital reform in a careful and controlled way’.
Universal Credit will replace income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, working tax credit, child tax credit, and housing benefit.