Tenants' rent debts plight

Sep 10 2007 By Paul Bradley, Birmingham Mail

HUNDREDS of council house tenants in Redditch are more than three weeks behind in their rent payments, councillors claimed today.

Nearly 1,000 residents in the town are struggling to meet their monthly payments with eight percent more failing to pay their debts within seven weeks.

The news comes just days after top bosses at the hub of the town met for crisis talks as they tried to save more than £250,000 in the annual budget.

Cost cutting plans could see three of the town's One Stop Shops, where tenants pay their council bills, closed for good.

Coun Carole Gandy (Headless Cross and Oakenshaw), leader of Redditch Conservatives, claimed the move was false economy and would leave hundreds of elderly people struggling to pay their bills.

Coun Gandy said: "The plans to close the One Stop Shops are poorly thought out and nobody has come up with an alternative way to pay for people who rely on the service.

"Why would you decide to close something without having already considered what to put in its place?

"The council wants to save £180,000 by closing the shops but it won't take long to lose that money again if people cannot pay their bills.

"The elderly will have to catch a bus into the town centre and walk along way to the town hall to pay. People in arrears will be further discouraged from paying as they no longer have the service on their doorstep."

Batchley councillor, Betty Passingham (Lab), admitted that the only reason the One Stop Shops were closing was to save money but said there would be other ways for people to pay bills.

Coun Passingham said: "I'm very sad about the situation and we would not have to bring in these measures if finances were not such a problem.

"Elderly people have free bus passes to get to the town centre to pay and there is always the Credit Union for people who have real trouble with debt."

Plans for One Stop Shops in Batchley, Winyates, and Woodrow will go before the full Redditch Borough Council on September 17.