The Prime Minister said the Government had not carried out an impact assessment of cuts to winter fuel support for millions of pensioners in England and Wales.
Sir Keir Starmer said no informal analysis had been presented about the consequences of a decision to take benefits away from older people who do not receive pension credit.
His comments came after the Conservative Party called for any impact assessments to be published.
Sir Keir said: “There is no report on my desk that has somehow not been made public.”
Speaking to reporters on the flight to the United States, the prime minister added: “I know you think I have a report on my desk but there isn’t one.”
He said there was no legal requirement for a formal assessment of the plans beforehand.
Earlier, a Downing Street spokesman said: “There are clear rules on this and we are following them carefully.”
No 10 pointed to the fact that the mechanism the Government has chosen to make this change, known as a statutory instrument, only requires an impact assessment if the cost of legislation exceeds £10 million, which is not the case in this case.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak called on the government to publish an impact assessment of the measures and accused Sir Keir of “concealing” the analysis.
Chancellor Sir Keir said on Thursday that the decision to exempt millions of pensioners from winter fuel charges worth up to £300 a year was necessary to stabilise the economy and that the Government was providing “palliative care”.
“The impact will be mitigated by pension relief and housing benefit,” the Chancellor continued.
The government is encouraging pensioners to check whether they are eligible for pension relief and, if so, to apply, so that they can continue to receive their winter fuel payment.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library found that 10.8 million pensioners in England and Wales received Winter Fuel Allowance last winter, and 1.5 million will receive it this winter.
