KENT COUNTY COUNCIL RETRACTS MISLEADING PRESS RELEASE

Kent County Council's usually slick propaganda machine has been forced to retract its Press Release 668/07 (entitled "Maintaining independence: changes to Kent's social care policy ensures support for wider group") because of a series of distortions and inaccuracies.

1. KCC Press Release 668/07 claimed that the Council's Cabinet Scrutiny Committee had "backed" the increased charges to the elderly and vulnerable. In fact the Committee allowed the decision to be taken but asked the Conservative Cabinet Member responsible, Kevin Lynes, to consider again the phasing in of the increases in order to reduce the impact on those most seriously affected.

2. It claimed that there had been "wide-ranging consultation with service users and client groups". In fact, the Scrutiny Committee found that disabled persons' groups were not involved in the planning of this consultation exercise, as would normally be the case. During the brief consultation period an extra public meeting had to be arranged, bringing the total up to three.

3. It made no mention of the fact that the Scrutiny Committee had asked that the impact of the increased charges be monitored by the appropriate Overview Committee.

4. The title of the Press Release states that a "wider group" will be supported. In fact there is no change to the criteria for eligibility.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says: "The Conservative Cabinet Member, Kevin Lynes, who is responsible for pushing out the work of fiction that wiser heads have withdrawn, has treated the Council, the press and the people of Kent with contempt. Over the years I have come to expect the Conservatives who currently run Kent to peddle misinformation but Kevin Lynes' behaviour over this issue has been breathtaking. It goes to show that no-one can rely on statements from KCC, whether they bear the Council's old brand or its new one. The one hopeful sign in all this is that there are at least some people in KCC with the integrity to withdraw a press release that is as grossly inaccurate as the one they produced on 1 October."