YOUR report on fees for care on February 25 has a nice picture of me, but omits the main point of my three-minute speech to the county council cabinet the previous day.

This was the figures laid down by Whitehall for a disabled person’s savings, i.e. upper limit £23,250 (less than £14,250 is disregarded) are used in an unreasonable manner to calculate the person’s ability to pay for care. I quote from S27 of annexe B ‘Treatment of capital’: “... the local authority MUST apply tariff income.

This assumes that for every £250 of capital... a person can afford to contribute £1 per week...”.

Simple arithmetic shows that this is a notional rate of interest 20.8 per cent per annum! Incredible!

Ridiculous!

Of course, the council openly admits in S65 of the 90-page report agreed on February 24 that “... the individual can contribute from capital”. Yes, indeed they will have to, unless they have a very large income from pensions.

In real life, the disabled person pays the cost, which may well be over £100 per week, from income and capital until the latter is reduced to £14,250. If they pay the maximum £36 per week from capital it will get down to £14,250 in roughly four years and 10 months. Then, if their income is low enough, the council will pay for the whole of their care. I hope to get the weekly income figures from the council shortly.

As you reported, what I ask for is transparency. We may all become disabled one day. We need to know the likely cost.

MICHAEL HUGH-JONES Headley Way Oxford