Crewe's OAPs want candidates to tackle their issues

9:55am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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CREWE pensioners are calling on candidates in the parliamentary by-election to pay more attention to the needs of older people.

Chairlady Leah Stephenson said the the parties have made little reference to the interests of older people.

She said: "We are the largest and most active voting group yet they are ignoring us."

The Crewe and District branch of the Northern Pensioners Association has drawn up a list of demands and are seeking responses from candidates.

Secretary Hugh Emerson outlined the points: "Council Tax is regressive and falls unfairly on older people whose incomes have generally dropped since they bought their house.

"We want it abolished and replaced by a system directly related to ability to pay.

"The cumbersome, expensive and inefficient pension credit system could then be scrapped.

"The inbuilt means testing' of income tax would then apply to the better off as state pension is taxable income. All the major parties are currently obsessed with basic rate of income tax.

"On state pensions we want the link to earnings restored immediately and the level raised for everyone to at least £134 per week - the poverty level.

"This can easily be afforded.

"The NI Pension Fund surplus is currently at £43billion and rising.

"The treasury is also diverting some £3billion per annum from the NI Pension Fund under the guise of environmental taxes. We want that stopped.

"Tax relief on pension contributions favours the better off.

"Every £1.00 paid into a pension fund by a 40% tax payer actually costs them 60p whereas for a standard rate tax payer it costs 80p. We think that is unfair and tax relief should be limited to 20% for everyone.

"With regard to care for the elderly, charges should be set at affordable levels.

"There should be consistent levels of service nationally.

"We beieve care should be free a the point of delivery but if some level of means testing might be necessary but it should be based on income not capital.

"No one should be forced to sell their own home to pay for care.

We want concessionary travel extended to all forms of local travel such as underground, trams etc. And this should include travel across the whole of the UK. The Rail Card should be free to all over 60s.

"We want an immediate halt to the post office closure program and a reappraisal of their value in the community.

"We want an end to the posturing of MPs who voted through the program but then pretend to be outraged when the inevitable happens in their own constituency.

"We also want a five-year moratorium on structural changes to the NHS to allow all the recent upheavals to be absorbed and assessed.

"And we want the practice of subsiding services by excessive car park charges to be banned.

"Direct debit discounts are penalising the poor who cannot get bank accounts or if they can are not allowed to have direct debits.

"We want all companies providing utility series to quote the same headline prices for all and they should be forced to offer the same discount to cash customers who pay promptly.

"Uneven pavements are a direct and major cause of death in the over 70s.

"We want legislation to force councils to reduce the acceptable deflection from the current 25mm to 10 mm. There are more admissions to A and E form falls than road accidents."