UNDER proposals due to take place in 2003, the Government plans to close benefit offices to pensioners and replace them with 25 new location offices around the country.
These will be run by a new organisation which will be part of the Department for Work and Pensions (formerly DSS).
Under these proposals, pensioners will no longer be able to drop in to their local office any more, but will have to phone or use the internet to seek advice, and only ten percent of us can use the internet.
A home visit will only be made in exceptional circumstances. Not only will these proposals make life very difficult for pensioners, eg if a bereavement takes place, or an order book gets lost, but it is also unlikely to encourage taking up benefits, which was supposed to be the Government's real objective, or is it?
Patrick Shea
41 Herons Brook
Okehampton