Community Care Directors: No Change To Community Care Household Cost Allowance
The Directors of Community Care have issued a statement confirming that there will be “no change whatsoever in respect of the Community Care Household Cost Allowance for residents.” However, the statement sets out changes to the separate Community Officers scheme.
A full statement follows below:
“There seems to be a public misunderstanding on the question of the Household Cost Allowance. There has been no change to the Household Cost Allowance and none is envisaged. Neither are the directors considering changing the eligibility of access to Household Cost Allowance in any way, as some appear to have been speculating in a manner that has caused public concern. The public can rest assured that there has been and there will be no change whatsoever in respect of the Community Care Household Cost Allowance for residents. Community Care payments are more secure than ever. There is absolutely no need to worry about that, whatever anybody may be saying on social media. Cheques will continue to be paid in the usual way and new applicants will be judged on the same basis as to eligibility. There is therefore no change at all here to be concerned about in any way.
“Additionally, there has been public comment on changes being made by the directors of Gibraltar Community Care Ltd (GCC) in relation to the community officers scheme exclusively for male Gibraltar residents aged between the ages of 60 and 65.
“The changes result from a study that the board of GCC is undertaking of the fair application of payments being made by GCC in keeping with its Charitable objectives.
“Although Community Care was set up to deal with the needs of pensioners resident in Gibraltar over the ages of 65 by payment of the Household Cost Allowance (HCA), initially there was also a scheme for community officers from the age of 60 to 65 catering for Gibraltar resident who were unemployed, had exhausted unemployment benefit and had difficulty finding alternative employment because of their age. Such individuals received a payment in exchange for a maximum of 80 hours of volunteering for the charity per month. This was subsequently extended for a number of years to those male residents of Gibraltar between the ages of 60 and 65 who earned less than £15,000 per annum from employment (with reduced provision for those who earned between £15,000 and £21,800 and no provision for those who earned more). Pension income was not included in the calculation, meaning that males with even up to six figure pensions were eligible for the full amount of the benefit. “Additionally, the requirement for 80 hours of volunteering per month was subsequently dropped to 8 hours per month, given the number of men volunteering meant that the charity has not been able to find them work.
“On reviewing the fairness of these payments – which are now amounting to an unjustifiable £50 per hour of volunteering which are now being paid to male resident pensioners some of whom may be on six figure pensions - the directors felt that the present system for community officers has become unfair and is a discrimination on the grounds of sex which the directors consider should not continue as it is.
“The directors have therefore decided to revert to the original scheme for community officers whilst it considers the need of others in our community who genuinely require the assistance of the charity.
“The charity will make announcements in the near future on whether it will propose to change the threshold of £15,000 for eligibility for the payments, what hours of volunteering it will require and what other terms for eligibility it may introduce to ensure absolute fairness in respect of the Community Officer Scheme.”
