Response to Statements by Directors of Community Care

Unfairly describing recipients as “Abusers to the System”

Together Gibraltar is outraged by the exercise of cynicism and avoidance of responsibility of Community Care Ltd Directors and, by extension, by Government, who ultimately provide for this scheme.

Recipients of the CC Officer Scheme should not be branded “abusers” of the system. These are citizens who played by the rules dictated and designed by those in charge of the scheme. They received this aid for years, fulfilling their responsibilities, and they cannot be scapegoated in response to the failings of the system.

If the system has structural problems that require fundamental alterations, it is perfectly logical for these to take place. If it is not sustainable and suffers from funding issues, people have a right to know the detail of these problems. Regardless of what the problem is, the changes should be explained thoroughly, executed competently, and, as suggested in our previous press release, Government should have sought a mandate to what is tantamount to a substantial change in pension policy. 

Crucially, those responsible for devising a flawed and unsustainable system should step up, take their blame and stop branding citizens as “abusers” for their own shortcomings.

This change has been incompetently carried out and ill-communicated. We urge both the Directors of the Trust and Government to be more forthcoming about changes such as these, that may impact on the livelihoods and welfare of many citizens, put an end to this accusatory tone, and stop avoiding their responsibilities.