Dependency Law “frozen” by PP

Garau said that this refusal to help those who can't help themselves means that the Dependency Law which has already been passed by Parliament is not being correctly applied.

The Socialists claim that the Partido Popular are continuing their campaign of funding cuts which most affect the weakest in society. Garau said that the result of the policy is simply that there are more people in need of government assistance placing a strain on Social Services. The spokesman said that “within a year-and-a-half of the Partido Popular being in control on the Council of Majorca, there are now 287 less people with the right to claim dependency on the regional government and 496 people who were previously entitled to benefit under the previous Socialist coalition government but who are no longer receiving it. According to the PSOE, the downturn in the number of people dependent on the government is due to what Garau described as “negligence” on the part of the Partido Popular in both the Central and Balearic governments. Allegedly, the PP has “put a hold” on applications for State aid under the Dependency Law.

Another “very worrying” statistic, said the Socialists yesterday was the significant reduction in the number of family members who are registered as official carers of those who can no longer look after themselves, apparently down from 7'475 last year to 6'807 in 2012. Allegedly, Central Government has reduced carers' pay by 15%.