Sir – You reported (July 14) that Oxfordshire County Council hopes to save £300,000 pa by charging for stair lift maintentance — hitherto free to 800 disabled residents in the county, some of whom cannot afford to pay much towards the costs.
Lateral thinking is not a strong point of the present county administration, but if the county employed, say, three lift engineers at a gross cost of approximately £150,000 pa plus a spares cost of £50,000 pa, then three visits a day [for maintenance or repair] by each engineer for 40 weeks a year, would cost £260 for each of the users — say £300 allowing for those who cannot pay.
If users who can pay half of that cost as an insurance premium, the county would save over £200,000 pa — perhaps a reasonable compromise figure that would raise far less objections.
As in the library saga, the county has to be pushed and shoved to avoid the easy solution of “slash , slash, slash” and think of other more palatable alternatives.
Mike Gotch, City councillor, Wolvercote
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