I did wonder that too, but the title (“Older people 'penalised' by cheaper online council bills, warns peer”) suggests it is council services, as does this extract from the article:

Baroness Bakewell, a Labour peer, said more and more councils were "going online" at the expense of their older residents.

"In fact, they are offering a bribe—a reduction for people who pay their bills online—thus penalising the millions of older people who are not willing or able to go online themselves," she said.

It’s the bit where she says councils are ‘offering a bribe’ that gets me…if it is utility companies offering a discount, surely that has nothing to do with councils and therefore cannot be described as councils ‘offering a bribe’. Or am I completely mis-reading this?

Ian Clark

Library Systems Officer,

Augustine House,

Canterbury Christ Church University

Tel: 01227 767700 ext 3141

From: Mobeena Khan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 18 July 2013 11:01
To: Clark, Ian ([log in to unmask]); [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: Council services cheaper online...

I think this might be more in reference to utiltiy companies charging extra if you pay in cash at the Post Office or send a cheque in rather than doing it online or by DD. Could that be the case rather than discounted services?

Mobeena

Mobeena Khan

Stock and Reader Development Librarian

West Area, Watford Central Library

Libraries, Culture and Learning

Health and Community Services

Hertfordshire County Council

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From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clark, Ian ([log in to unmask])
Sent: 18 July 2013 09:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Council services cheaper online...

Hi,

This might not be quite the place for this, but it does touch on an area that affects public libraries so thought I’d post it here.

I noticed a report on publicservice.co.uk quoting Baroness Bakewell as saying that councils are…

“offering a bribe—a reduction for people who pay their bills online—thus penalising the millions of older people who are not willing or able to go online themselves."

[Source: http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=23467]

Is anyone aware of councils offering discounts if people pay for council services online? If they are, I wonder where this leaves those who do not have internet access, particularly if their local library is closed…

Thanks,

Ian Clark

Library Systems Officer,

Augustine House,

Canterbury Christ Church University

Tel: 01227 767700 ext 3141

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