Star date: 22nd October 2018

CALLOUS COUNCIL TAX LETTER SCARES ELDERLY 

Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of letters have been sent by Salford City Council to elderly people threatening them with the loss of their single person Council Tax discount as it states 'Records show that multiple adults are living at your address', even though they are widows and widowers. The letter tells them to fill in an online form 'within the next 14 days' or the discount will be cancelled.

"It's not fair to be treating your senior citizens in this way, it's just callous" says Jill Royle, whose 92 year old non-computer literate mother became totally agitated on receiving the letter "Salford Council needs to know how much anguish it's caused."

Full details here...

When Jill Royle popped into her 92 year old mum's for a cup of tea, she found her worried and anxious about a letter she had received from Salford City Council over her Council Tax Single Person Discount.

The second line of the letter read that 'Records show that multiple adults are living at your address'. The letter told her that she must complete an online form 'within the next 14 days' or her single person discount would be cancelled. The letter ends with the threat of a fine for 'any person who knowingly supplies false information'...

"She was already in a state over this letter when I walked through the door, it was the first thing she said to me" recalls Jill "I could tell she'd been ruminating over it and getting herself into a state, no matter how much I tried to reassure her.

"That letter for my mum's generation is like they've already committed a crime" she adds "If I got a red bill it was water off a duck's back but for my mum it would be shameful, it would be like painting a big red cross on the front door because that is how they were brought up. She's never missed a bill, she's never defrauded anyone; she would never do that. And my mum wouldn't have a clue about computers; it's just absolutely ridiculous.

"I thought 'I've got to go in person and sort this out and get some sort of peace for her', because these little things, when people get older, become massive in their minds" she explains.

Jill went to the Civic Centre, where she was re-directed to one of the Gateways – but not before the woman on the desk told her that she'd had the same thing with her father-in-law who had also received one of the letters. Apparently, his wife had died the previous year and the letter brought back all the pain.

When Jill got to the Gateway, the manageress, who was totally sympathetic, said they had been getting complaints all day about the letter, looked into her mother's file and discovered that she had been recorded as 'Mrs V Royle' and 'Ms V Royle', as two separate people...

"I would love to get hold of the person who presented the template of this letter; you can't say it's a computer error because someone has to sit there and put this information into the computer" says Jill "It's not fair to be treating your senior citizens in this way, it's just callous."

The blameless manageress at the Gateway phoned her mum and finally put her mind at rest, apologising, but Jill is still furious with the Council...

"I think everybody who claims the single person discount would have got one because the Council clearly hasn't got a clue who lives where, even though they've got the electoral roll and everything else" says Jill, who also received the threatening letter "They don't care...but they need to know how much anguish they've caused."

Meanwhile the granddad of another resident, Bryan Blears, also got the same letter...

"It states there are multiple people at his address, which there haven't been in years, and he needs to respond online within 14 days or it will be cancelled" says Bryan "It is very concerning that single widowed OAPs are being given this deadline to respond online.

"It shouldn't be for elderly people to continually prove their circumstances to the Council in order to be eligible for the single-person discount which they are fully entitled to" he adds "Many people may be in hospital or otherwise unable to respond within 14 days and therefore may be placed into greater financial difficulty as a result of this move.

"Salford City Council should be looking at reducing its £17.5million loan interest rather than trying to take back money from people whose only crime is to live on their own" he concludes.

So is Salford City Council going to make a mass public apology? Is Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett going to issue a statement saying 'sorry' for the anguish and anxiety the letter has caused, scaring old ladies and gentlemen?

Watch this space...but don't hold yer breath...