Elderly want council tax review

Pensioners are to lobby county councillors in Shropshire over the level of council tax bills next year.

Community representatives will go to a workshop to discuss the issues at Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, on Monday evening.

Bill Harris, from Shrewsbury Senior Citizens' Forum, has demanded a review of policy on the tax for the age group.

The county council said it is planning a budget for "excellent services" at sustainable levels of council tax.

'Bottom end'

Mr Harris said: "God only knows where we'll be in five years.

"I'm not talking about everybody - there are of course some pensioners who are well off.

"But it's the people at the bottom end that we're concerned about."

Council leader, Malcolm Pate, said the aim of the meeting is to help with the planning of the budget.

He added: "We've got an ambitious efficiency savings target and we want to share our proposals with people at this meeting and hear their comments."

The final budget for 2007/08 will be set next February.

The public meeting is the fourth in a series of seven across the county and the only one at Shirehall.

Everyone will work in groups to develop their own budget plans to understand the challenges the council faces.

Senior finance officers will also be at the meeting, which is between 1800 and 2000 GMT.