Tullichewan Tenants & Residents Association plea for the elderly

By Bill Heaney

So much dross comes pouring out of West Dunbartonshire Council that one member of Tullichewan Tenants & Residents Association has decided to sum the council’s latest attempt to communicate with residents in just one word – BUNKUM!

The Council don’t like me writing stories like this and this week they the Provost confirmed that I am banned from speaking to their public relations official aka spin doctors personally. Here’s what they wrote to the caring residents of Tullichewan, as ever putting the poor mouth on their situation while drawing first class salaries for providing second rate services.

WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL BUDGET 2025/26 – CORRESPONDENCE TO TULLICHEWAN TRA SENT BY GAIL MACFARLANE, WDC CHIEF OFFICER – ROADS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD AND LAURENCE SLAVIN, WDC CHIEF OFFICER -RESOURCES

Dear Community Group Member,

I have written to you previously to explain the difficult financial climate our Council is operating in, with a wide range of external factors putting pressure on our budgets. That remains our situation and despite taking measures to balance the budget in recent years there continues to be new and ongoing burdens squeezing our resources.

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The income we receive – including funding from the Scottish Government – is significantly lower than the cost of delivering the services our residents rely on. While some savings and adjustments were agreed by elected members at a Council meeting in December, currently around £7million (plus around £4million for services provided for the Council by West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership) is required for the Council to deliver a balanced budget for 2025/26. Elected members will meet again next month to consider further proposals to help

close this gap.

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One of the options which will be considered at that meeting is to either cease payment of the £15 Elderly Welfare Grant or reduce the funding and redirect the monies to an external body which supports charities focusing on supporting the elderly.

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Another option is to cease the care of gardens scheme with users having to source and pay for their own gardener to undertake this work.

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I am writing to you as a community group which supports the elderly to share this information with anybody that might not have access to social media. We value the older citizens in our community but the financial position I have outlined above means it is impossible for us to maintain all funding at current levels.

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The elderly welfare grant in particular has significant challenges in its distribution as we require recipients to keep their details updated on an annual basis. The care of garden scheme costs the Council £143,000 and, with consideration being given to

savings on essential services like education and roads, it is difficult to justify this spend.

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Further detail on the proposals, and others being considered, will be made available on or around Thursday 20 February when the Council committee papers are published on the Council website Meetings and Events.

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I recognise this will be difficult news to receive. Please be assured that no decision on this will be made until the Council meeting on Wednesday 5 March and I will keep you informed of the outcome of the meeting including any further support we can signpost you to.

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If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me using this email address or the address details at the bottom of this letter.

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Yours sincerely,

Gail Macfarlane

(gail.macfarlane@west-dunbarton.gov.uk)

and

Laurence Slavin

(Laurence.slavin@west-dunbarton.gov.uk

What the community think of that is contained in the COMMENTS submitted in reply to the WDC communication:

George Macfarlane, who has fought the good fight for tenants in Vale of Leven for many years, wrote just one word in response – Bunkum!

Tracey Frances told them: “Instead of ‘out sourcing’ which will cost more in the long run, why not pass it onto community payback?”

Jordan Lee asked: “Why punish the elderly? Take your savings from those who defraud the benefit system, businesses who avoid taxes, trim the fat from the top earners (where the Job doesn’t justify the wage/BONUS.”