Madam,

It was with a feeling of ever-increasing despair and frustration that I read your copy of Cambrian News of 31 March. I was first staggered to read that Ceredigion County Council had employed the services of Pricewaterhouse Coopers to ‘devise’ means by which they can further betray the elderly and disabled by degrading yet again the cover provided in domiciliary care. How can that ‘esteemed’ organisation centred in London even comprehend the needs of the elderly in Wales or how best to deliver it? They can have little perception of the demographics of Ceredigion, the isolation of some residents who will only have contact with their domiciliary care workers from one week to the next. Indifference to their isolation and loneliness by reduction of provided care will certainly save money and provide yet another revenue stream for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Easy money; I could have told them that a degradation of service will save money, at least then the PwC share of the pot would have remained in the fund for ‘care for the elderly’. It may also be pertinent to ask what our elected representatives actually do if they find themselves incapable of managing their own fiscal responsibilities. There is obviously a conscious initiative to distance themselves from all aspects of social care, one only has to look at the fiasco generated over Bodlondeb to appreciate the depths to which they are prepared to bury their collec-tive heads in the sand. But where does such a betrayal of the elderly and vulnerable by Ceredigion County Council leave its commitment to NHS Cymru and its collaborative initiative with the health authorities focusing on the primacy of ‘third sector’ involvement in providing a rounded and improved service within the community. Such a diminution in domicili-ary care provision makes nonsense of the entire NHS Cymru initiative on re-focusing and improving healthcare in Wales.Re the police and crime commissioner. The Centralised Police Air Service is yet another disaster. It may be cheaper, but I am sure that the majority of the Ceredigion community would share my conviction that an effective police force is far more desirable that a cheap one. Finally, there’s the deplorable and arbitrary decision by the Minister for Natural Resources to resume scallop dredging in Cardigan Bay and, even more reprehensible, denying lobbyists the courtesy of a meeting to put forward their objections. I can only assume that the natural resources and economic sustainability of west Wales is of less significance that the obvious financial advantages presented to the Assembly Government by the resumption of such a disastrous and damaging practice.

Yours etc

Allan Phillips

New Quay.