Campaigners handed out small packets of peanuts to Department of Health staff and passers-by to underline the message that the Personal Expenses Allowance is so low that it denies people their dignity

The charity is accusing the Government minister for care‚ Phil Hope MP‚ of turning a blind eye to the issue and refusing to consult with the people dependent on this stingy £21.15 per week personal expenses allowance (PEA).

The Minister has betrayed 250‚000 vulnerable care home residents by rubber-stamping a miserly 75p rise to the allowance for buying day-to-day essentials‚ repeatedly dismissing calls for an increase of any reasonable amount.

Soon after taking up his post‚ the minister blocked a long overdue public consultation on how much PEA should be‚ despite his predecessor Ivan Lewis MP making promises to Parliament that this would happen in 2008 ^[2].

This decision was made without meaningful discussions with the people forced to live on the measly allowance. Answers given to Parliament show that he has visited just one care home in the past six months ^[3].

Today Phil Hope turned down the opportunity to meet the protestors in person or to collect 3‚000 postcard petitions gathered by Age Concern.

Age Concern along with other organisations ^[4] has repeatedly urged the minister to increase the PEA and to stick to his predecessor’s promises. The charity is calling for the allowance to be upped to £40 per week.

This move is being supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in a report published last week ^[5]. Using detailed research evidence the think-tank identified doubling the PEA to £43 as an essential way of giving people more personal dignity and as the minimum amount someone would need to achieve an acceptable standard of living.

Those who cannot afford to pay for their care must surrender all their income‚ leaving them with a pittance to buy clothes‚ personal goods and services as well as on social activities.

Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern said:

“There is much talk about dignity in care‚ but as it stands‚ this paltry allowance denies thousand of care home residents that right.

“What could give older people more independence‚ choice and control‚ than to have a decent amount of money to spend on their living expenses? Instead‚ vulnerable care home residents have to go cap in hand to family or friends just to buy essentials.

“It is a disgrace that Mr Hope does not seem to want to talk to the people affected by the miserly increase he was waved through.”

This week Paul Burstow MP (Lib Dem) will also present a public petition to the House of Commons which calls on the Government to increase the personal expenses allowance.

More than 3‚000 older people have contacted Age Concern to show their support for the campaign to explain why the personal allowance is not enough.

Lesley Smith*‚ wrote to Age Concern about the PEA‚ saying: “If I was still at home I would … have more freedom to make decisions about what I would spend one month or save another month‚ or what I would cut down on or spend my money on - I would decide‚ not the Council! I need to get out and about and do the same things as everyone else. I am lucky to have a daughter who doesn’t mind using her own money to help me get all the things to make my life worth living…”

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