GSLP LIBERALS SUPPORT GIBRALTAR COMMUNITY CARE - and ask the public to await the outcome of the review

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 Thursday, February 27, 2020 - 13:50

The GSLP Liberals say they have noted the comments made in respect of Gibraltar Community Care Ltd by the trustees and directors of that charity and its underlying company and the statements by the GSD.

The GSLP Liberals remind the GSD that in 1996 Gibraltar Community Care held £60m in reserves and that by the time the GSD left office in 2011 the reserves of the charity had been reduced to ZERO. 

RESERVES MUCH STRONGER

A statement adds: The reserves of the charity are clearly therefore now much stronger than they ever have been and stronger, more solid and reliable than at any time during the years in which the GSD were in office.

It is therefore plainly now ridiculous for the GSD to suggest that the trustees of the charity may be having any liquidity problems when their reserves considerably exceed the amounts that they have had in the past.

The directors of the charity have rightly identified what is a potential unfairness in the manner in which the means test is being applied to a small, defined class of persons, men aged 60 to 65, are registering to receive Community Officer payments.

The GSLP Liberals therefore fully support the directors in their decision to review the way the Community Officer scheme is working and in finding a new and more equitable way in which to assess eligibility to claim these benefits. We support them in ensuring that they are able to continue to discharge their obligations as trustees of this important independent charity and as directors of its underlying operating company in a manner that does not lead to an unfairness which clearly defeats the charitable purpose of Gibraltar Community Care and the objects for which it was established.

AWAIT OUTCOME

The GSLP Liberals call on people to await the outcome of the trustees and directors review and to support the charity in the important work it does in continuing to contribute the Household Cost Allowance to resident pensioners and the continued payments to Community Officers as they have now set out.

The GSLP Liberals also remind the public that Gibraltar Community Care is an independent charitable trust and that any expectations of it must be calibrated and tempered in that way.

27-02-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR