Source: Daily Mail
Tens of thousands of elderly people in care homes are to be given a spending money increase of just 75p a week. They will have no more than £21.90 a week to pay for everything from clothes to toothpaste, books and phone calls.
The below-inflation rise was condemned as 'Scrooge-worthy' and 'an insult'. It means vulnerable elderly people will have less spending money than prisoners in jail. The spending limit applies to all care home residents whose bills are being paid by the state.
Any income they receive - normally a state or private pension - must be handed over to help fund their care. The spending allowance is the only part of their own money they can keep.
At present it is £21.15 a week but Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced an increase to £21.90 from April. That is a rise of 3.5 per cent - with inflation running at 4.1 per cent on the Government's favoured Consumer Prices Index.
By contrast, prisoners can spend £33 a week of their own money on products available in jail, which include food, cigarettes and toiletries.
Age Concern director Gordon Lishman attacked the Health Department for slipping the news out during the Christmas-New Year holiday. He said: 'This Scrooge-worthy increase is barely enough to buy a packet of biscuits. It is an insult to the vulnerable care home residents who rely on it. It is humiliating for them to have to go with a begging bowl to family or friends just to buy essentials. Ministers should be ashamed of themselves.'