IT has taken years for this PM to outline his "prepared" plan to fix social care, which now turns out to account to not much more than another broken manifesto promise and a rip-off of the people who can least afford to shoulder the burden of social care.

Social care is in desperate need of funding reform, but any plan to increase national insurance payments will disproportionately hit millions of younger, lower income people and small businesses trying to get back on their feet.

Putting the burden on the same people who have been hardest hit by the pandemic is simply regressive and unfair.

Some 11,610 families in York will now face the "double whammy" of a National Insurance rise and a cut in Universal Credit payments following the scrapping of the £20 uplift.

The system is in urgent need of a cash influx and an overhaul of the current ineffective funding arrangements, relying on council tax increases.

Social care needs funding now. Despite this, under the Government's new plan, the money raised will be targeted initially at the NHS then will switch to social care.

Waiting for years for a small funding boost is not good enough for a service which has given so much during the pandemic and has been stretched to the limit.

Social care needs to be funded in a fair and sustainable way, addressing the staffing crisis in care homes and giving unpaid carers the recognition they deserve.

Under these new plans a care worker earning the minimum wage won't get a pay rise, but a tax rise.

This plan lacks urgency, fairness and any direct actions which would ensure the unsustainable sector's staffing and spiralling cost issues get resolved.

Cllr Carol Runciman

Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care

Liberal Democrats

Earswick,

York

Some thoughts on renewable energy

MR Vassie claims solar panels at the new hyper hub contribute to the power supply. Correct, enough to justify naming it the Diddly Squat Solar Farm. Here’s how it works Christian, people pay money to a renewable company not to generate their electricity, another non-renewable company steps up to compensate, that’s your carbon reduction up in smoke, and the cost of production for both sky rockets.

Many will notice when the next bill arrives and as always, the poor suffer most.

You can fudge the economics of it all you want, but that’s the bottom line.

Forget coal by the way, oil, gas and nuclear are the backbone of our power supply, don’t break it else blackouts are inevitable.

I do understand renewable energy, I happen to work in a research group specialising in silicon wafers and next generation battery design.

Perhaps Mr Vassie would like to host our next conference and tell us all how we grossly underestimate our own genius?

Alternatively, allow us to do our work and when we really have solved the energy crisis, we’ll be sure to let you all know.

Dr Scott Marmion,

Woodthorpe, York

Riding bicycles on pavements is an accident waiting to happen

RECENTLY there are increasing numbers of cyclists on the pavements with no regard for pedestrians.

My husband unfortunately was knocked over by a cyclist on the path on Boroughbridge Road.

It is even more dangerous when there are more than one cyclist.

I wish the police would give the cyclists a heavy fine

Elizabeth Addison,

Plantation Drive,

York

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