A feelgood budget
Feb 5 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
THOUSANDS of elderly people in Northumberland look set to get some good news this year after county council leaders unveiled surprise proposals for a feelgood farewell budget.
A month ago it looked as though pensioners and disabled people were going to be asked to pay the price for securing a below-inflation increase in council tax bills from Northumberland County Council for 2008/9.
But now – after managing to find cost-cutting measures elsewhere – council chiefs have scrapped plans to introduce charges for day care and increase the maximum weekly fee for home care from £60 to £120 over the next three years.
Ending free day care in favour of means-tested charges of £10 a day would have affected about 2,100 elderly and disabled people, while about 675 people pay the maximum weekly home care fee.
At the same time, Labour council leaders are still acting on their pledge to cut the controversial charge for post-16 transport paid by A-level and college students, which has led to the numbers using school buses plummeting from more than 2,000 to less than 600.
Consultations are to be carried out on reducing the current £360 annual charge – which went up by a massive 53% in 2006 – to £200.
The revised budget package – which is being recommended by the Labour executive and will be the last before the county council is abolished under the switch to unitary local government – would mean a 1% increase in council tax bills from April.
Yesterday Marie McWilliams, campaigns manager with Age Concern Northumberland, said: “This is excellent news and will make life less difficult for some of our most vulnerable older people.
“The proposed charge for day care and the increase in home care charges were very unpopular and we’re delighted that the council has been prepared to listen and act accordingly.”
Opposition Conservative and Independent group leader Sue Bolam, said: “I think this is obviously an electioneering budget, and they have made these changes to appease parents and elderly people. However, care charges and post-16 transport are two issues which we have taken up strongly, so we can’t be too critical.
“We believe our argument against the post-16 transport charges has been vindicated by these proposals, but we also feel an investigation is needed into the whole management of adult care services through the Care Trust.”
Last night council leader Peter Hillman described the proposals as a “people’s budget”, following three years of managing the authority’s finances carefully.
He said: “We propose setting a council tax increase of 1%. As most properties in Northumberland are in Bands A or B, this would mean a rise of no more than 17p a week for most people.
“People have told us they have real concerns about council tax going up, so we’ve decided we have to keep this year’s increase as low as possible. We have also listened to what people told us, in our consultation about this budget and about specific issues like adult care and post-16 transport.”
Final decisions on the 2008/9 budget will be taken at the full council meeting on February 13.
Last night Berwick Lib Dem MP Alan Beith said the revised budget plans still did not go far enough.
He said: “I believe the post-16 transport charge should not just be reduced but should be dropped completely. In addition, the county council has frightened elderly people and caused a great deal of anxiety with proposals for increased care charges which should not have been put forward in the first place.”
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Council tax rise trimmed down to just 1%
INITIAL budget proposals revealed by the county council a month ago were based on a council tax rise of 1.8% – but also included significant increases in care charges for the elderly and vulnerable.
They included plans to put up the maximum weekly charge for home care from £60 to £80 in April, with the fee rising to £120 by 2010. In addition, free day care would be ended with users facing means-tested charges of £10 per day.
Now the revised proposals would only mean a 1% increase in council tax bills, and have also done away with the planned rise in care fees.
The decisions on adult social care and post-16 transport charges would mean a reduction of about £800,000 in previously budgeted income for the council. Instead, extra savings will be made in central administration and back office costs, and the £5m earmarked for the transition process to unitary local government in 2009 will be trimmed.
For more Journal stories on this topic, see:
:: Old folk to pay price of council tax clamp
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