ELDERLY people using council daycare will see their daily charge rise by nearly 700 per cent under new proposals.

Swindon Council officers say the current charge of 65p is out of date and the new price would help to make up a £100,000 shortfall in the Social Services care budget.

The officers say increasing the charge to £5 for the 856 users would bring in an extra £59,000 a year.

Although the extra payments would amount to an increase of 670 per cent, they would merely bring Swindon into line with neighbouring authorities.

And, as payments are means tested, senior citizens unable to meet a £5 daily bill would only have to pay what they could afford.

Coun Ian Dobie (Con, Haydon Wick), the lead member for Social Services, said: "These charges relate to centres which are attended by elderly people.

"Daycare includes games, exercises, a meal, the chance to socialise and various other activities.

"Many clients are very elderly people who would otherwise spend all day at home, perhaps not socialising with anybody apart from their home help.

"In Swindon the charge for all this is 65p per day, and it currently costs us more than 65p per day to collect it."

Coun Dobie said he realised the increase was a substantial one, but that daycare users in Swindon would still be paying less than users under other local authorities.

South Gloucestershire, for example, charges users £10 a day, while Bournemouth charges £7.50 a day.

West Berkshire charges £3 a day, but has higher charges than Swindon for such things as transport for elderly people and meals on wheels.

Currently, elderly users of Swindon Council's specialist services are charged based on an assessment of 80 per cent of their disposable income.

Under the new proposals, this would be increased to 90 per cent.

This would bring Swindon into line with West Berkshire but the borough would still be behind Bournemouth and South Gloucestershire, which both assess charges based on 100 per cent of disposable income.

Coun Dobie added: "At the end of the day, what we are trying to do will provide a better service for those who really, really need it."

At Age Concern Swindon, director Jo Osorio said the increased charges would make a substantial dent in the budgets of some elderly people.

He conceded that the payments would be means tested in order not to penalise those most in need,

But he pointed out that the new system would require a means assessment of all users a complicated undertaking.

The cabinet meeting will be held on Wednesday from 6pm at the Civic Offices, in Euclid Street and members of the public are welcome to attend.

Barrie Hudson