By Aileen Robertson

PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown launched an attack on Fife Council yesterday when he said he was “shocked” at the local authority’s review of home care charges.

He was later accused of hypocrisy by the SNP, who said Labour-led local authorities in the west of Scotland were charging more than Fife.

Mr Brown was at Bowhill War Memorial Club in Cardenden to meet undecided voters, some of whom had backed the SNP last year.

They had been invited to attend by Labour after being visited by door- to-door campaigners for Labour candidate Lindsay Roy.

“I’m shocked to be honest about what’s happening to the home health service under the council here,” said Mr Brown after speaking to guests.

“There used to be a charge of £4 a week and now for many people it’s a charge of £11 an hour. And we know that there are 400 families already affected by that and there are many more to come.

“We were also talking about alarm systems. If you had previously—and you had to qualify for it by being infirm or sick or housebound—an alarm system that was free, now you have to pay £51 per year for it.

“In some cases, pensioners will not have something that they desperately need,” he added.

“These are charges that have been put in by the Scottish National Party.

“Elderly people need our support when they’ve served the community all their lives. That certainly is my priority and that is Lindsay’s priority. We’ll do everything we can to fight these charges.”

Also high on the agenda was anti-social behaviour, which is first on Mr Roy’s four-point action plan for Fife.

Opportunities for young people, transport and “helping families through tough times” are the other main issues he has pledged to tackle in the action plan.

Mr Brown added, “Lindsay has been headmaster of Kirkcaldy High School, the school that I went to, and he’s sorted it out with discipline now greater than ever before.

“One of the first things he did was for people trying to sell drugs, he chased them away. He took them on personally and that is what we need.”

He praised the work of local organisations such as Kelty Boxing Club and Kirkcaldy’s midnight football schemes for offering young people “useful” activities.

“We’ve been talking about all the big issues, starting with young people.

“A lot of people are talking about anti-social behaviour and what we can do about it.

“I was speaking to people at Kelty Boxing Club a few weeks ago. I had these young guys sitting around the table who were starting to learn how to box.”

“It makes a huge difference to get young people doing useful activities. Where there is anti-social behaviour, we’ve got to clamp down on it very hard and that’s the first point of Lindsay’s manifesto.”

SNP MSP for Central Fife Tricia Marwick bit back at Mr Brown’s comments, saying, “Labour hypocrisy knows no bounds. Gordon Brown criticises Fife Council, yet hammers people for home care services where Labour are in power.

“Ten Labour-controlled councils across Scotland charge often considerably more than in Fife,” she added.

“A thousand local people who had to pay for home care services under Labour now pay nothing. The SNP-led council has managed to tackle the inefficiency, overspending, budget deficit legacy of Labour and leave more vulnerable people better placed.

“Under the SNP, Fife council is now providing more hours of care and more community alarms than under the previous Labour administration.”

Mr Brown praised the work of local organisations such as Kelty Boxing Club and Kirkcaldy’s midnight football schemes for offering young people “useful” activities.

He said, “We’ve been talking about all the big issues, starting with young people. A lot of people are talking about anti-social behaviour and what we can do about it.

“Where there is anti-social behaviour, we’ve got to clamp down on it very hard and that’s the first point of Lindsay’s manifesto.”

SNP MSP for Central Fife Tricia Marwick bit back at Mr Brown’s comments, saying, “Labour hypocrisy knows no bounds. Gordon Brown criticises Fife Council, yet hammers people for home care services where Labour are in power.

“A thousand local people who had to pay for home care services under Labour now pay nothing. The SNP-led council has managed to tackle the inefficiency, overspending, budget deficit legacy of Labour and leave more vulnerable people better placed.

“Gordon Brown may want to talk to his colleagues in Glasgow who charge 30% more than Fife for homecare and North Ayrshire who charge three times as much for community alarms before he continues his scaremongering in Fife.”