The information campaign is being launched by the council’s Money Matters Advice Service (MMAS) and local Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABs) and is aimed at those who are not yet claiming qualifying benefits such as Pension Credit.

It is estimated that this could be the case for as many as 880,000 older people across the UK, and now MMAS will work with CABs across South Lanarkshire to make local people aware.

Gerry Convery, Depute Leader of South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Due to financial pressures, the UK government has said that the Winter Fuel Payment will now have to be targeted at those older folk who need it most.

“As a council we will do everything we can to ensure that every older person who can still claim the payment, does – and that is what our new awareness campaign will seek to do.

“I would urge every older person – or their family and friends - to look into their eligibility, and if they can claim the payment they should do so. There should never be any embarrassment or reluctance about getting what they are due.”

Information leaflets and posters are being made available in public spaces across the area – council buildings and those operated by NHS Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, as well as in CABs and other places.

They will tell people that, to be eligible for fuel payments this Winter, applicants will need to have been born before 23 September 1958. They also will need to be in receipt of one of five benefits, including Pension Credit.

Those older people who already qualify in the week beginning 16 September will get their Winter Fuel Payment paid automatically.

But anyone who successfully applies for qualifying benefits can have them backdated by three months, and if that backdated period includes the week beginning 16 September, they can claim a Winter Fuel Payment up until the end of March 2025.

The other qualifying benefits are Universal Credit, Income Support, Income-Related  Employment and Support Allowance, and Income-Related Jobseekers Allowance.

The awareness campaign was launched today at South Lanarkshire’s latest Older People’s Assembly, where contributors also took part in discussions around co-producing the area’s Local Development Plan.

More information is available on the council website.