Concerns for elderly disabled; VIEWPOINTS.

THE following information is likely to leave many disabled, elderly infirm people feeling insecure and stressed, with the UK government proposing to change the way the Attendance Allowance is to be paid to claimants.

Rather than continue to pay claimants directly, it is proposed to pay the money directly as a grant to local authorities, which will allocate them.

At present these proposals are at the Green Paper stage, subject to consultation. The Welsh Assembly Government in due course will be publishing its own Green Paper on paying for care in Wales in the autumn, which will be in consultation for three months.

With concerns that the proposed changes could mean older people who are eligible for Attendance Allowance, but not social care, may miss out, an on-line petition has been set up calling for the plans to be abandoned.

Iwan Rhys Roberts of Age Concern Cymru and Help the Aged in Wales said: "Proposals to reform Attendance Allowance will be controversial ; this is a benefit older people value a great deal as it helps them cope with the costs of disability."

Although emphasised as just a proposal from the UK Government, with nothing yet decided, it leaves me asking to what extent family carers will be deprived of ready money to cover their costs after home care services contractors have failed to provide their clients with adequate reliable services.

Malcolm H Mort Cardiff Merchant Navy Association (Wales), Hon Welfare Officer