"Double-whammy" of higher council tax bills and social services cuts

31/01/2008

Help the Aged in Wales are warning that many pensioners will be pushed to breaking point this year by rising council tax bills and social services spending cuts .  Their concerns come as local authorities across the Wales set their spending priorities for the next 12 months.
 
Help the Aged in Wales spokesperson Victoria Lloyd says: “Council tax has been penalising pensioners across Wales for years  and we are again faced with the very real threat of even higher council tax bills, yet older people’s incomes will not rise in line with this increase.
 
“Help the Aged in Wales is bitterly disappointed that despite the announcement in the One Wales Accord of concessions for older council tax payers, there is no money in the Assembly’s budget for the next 12 months. Cash-strapped pensioners will have to wait another year for this help.”
  
She went on to express concern that the financial settlements awarded to local authorities in this year’s Assembly budget will cause these authorities to make cuts to frontline services, such as social services.

“Home care services, which are provided by social services are particularly important to older people, allowing many of them to live at home independently, which promote choice and dignity, which encourages general wellbeing.

"In recent years older people have found it increasingly difficult to access these services, with eligibility criteria getting tighter and tighter. This double-whammy of higher bills and cuts to frontline services will leave many older people thinking ‘What are we getting out of this?’"