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Video: Furious pensioners protesting about plans to hike day care service charges for vulnerable adults outside Peterborough Town Hall on Monday, 1 December. Video: Rowland Hobson
FURIOUS pensioners chanted in protest outside Peterborough Town Hall yesterday (1 December), to show their anger at plans to hike day care service charges for vulnerable adults by 150 per cent.
Concern was first raised when the scheme to increase day care charges from the current £2 to £5 from April next year was revealed during Peterborough City Council's health and adult social care scrutiny panel meeting last week.
Spokeswoman for the Peterborough Pensioners Association Mary Cooke staged the protest and said the group would fight the plans every step of the way.
Mrs Cooke (70) said: "Members of the public kept coming up to us asking what we're doing and when we told them they agreed with us.
"We'll carry on fighting for as long as we need to."
NHS Peterborough provides day care services on behalf of Peterborough City Council.
The increase has been proposed because of a shortfall in cash generated by the charges. Some £60,000 was expected to be generated but current figures indicate only a quarter of that figure will be raised due to a higher than expected number of service-users assessed as not needing to pay.
A group of pensioners protest against the rise in adult social day care service charges outside the Town Hall,in Peterborough. Pictured left is Mary Cooke. (8GM1201018) Picture: GEORGI MABEE
The full article contains 200 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
