KCC TORY BUDGET – PENSIONERS HIT BY DOUBLE “WHAMMY”

At today’s meeting of Kent County Council the Tory majority forced through a Council Tax Increase of 4.95% (£45 per year). This compares with the Labour Group proposal which would have reduced the Council Tax to 3.6% (£33 per year), the same percentage increase as all pensioners and other benefit recipients will receive from April 2007. So once again Tory KCC is hitting the most vulnerable.

Even more cynical was the decision by Tory KCC to “save” £628,000 this year by increasing the charges for Domiciliary Care for the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable groups. Some 5,000 of the most vulnerable people in Kent will have their Domestic Care charges increased by up to £15 per week (£780 per year) from July this year. There will be more hikes in charges over the following two years.

Shadow Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Leslie Christie, Member for Northfleet and Gravesend West said:

“This outrageous decision means that many of the most vulnerable and deserving will be priced out of this service. They will not be able to afford help with getting out of bed; help with getting in and out of a bath; help with cooking when it is too dangerous for them to cook. Once again the burden will fall on the already over-stretched carers and relatives. What is worse is it could have been avoided. When we offered the choice of deferring or cancelling plans for a new KCC TV station, which does not yet exist and which will also cost some £600,000 the Tories chose to spend the money on self-promotion through the TV station. It is clear where the Tories priorities lie – in self-aggrandisement and self-publicity through an expensive TV station and not with the vulnerable and elderly.”

Contact : Leslie Christie – Spokesperson for Labour Group and member for Northfleet and Gravesend West

Telephone: 01474 361564