The cost of collecting fees for council services from elderly residents may be up to £21 million a year, according to campaigners.

The sum for is four times as high as the council tax and more than 18 times those of income tax, according to campaigners.

The money charged to disabled and elderly residents for services such as help getting up, preparing or getting out of the house have been increased in many local authorities

However, a coalition of 16 disabled charities say they amount to an additional tax on the disabled, and are money down the drain because councils spend so much collecting them.

It has assembled the new figures ahead of a hearing at the Scottish Parliament's Petition Committee tomorrow, (tue) calling for the abolition of the tax.

Scotland Against The Care Tax argues that while charges for non-personal care at home raise only fuve per cent of the £2.93bn spent on care in Scotland, they can mean disabled people have to choose between care and paying for food.

Writing in the Herald today, Jim Elder Woodward, chair of the Scottish Independent Living Coalition, says charging people for help preparing meals, getting dressed or going out for a walk was iniquitous. He writes: "Not only are care taxes going up but the criteria for care are narrowing to such an extent that only those in dire need are legible.

"The care tax is being used to maintain the poverty and dependency of disabled and elderly people in the community and to deny them their right to participate as equal citizens."

Ahead of the petitions committee hearing Scotland against the Care Tax has sent every MSP a Valentine's Day card outlining concerns about the cost of charging for care.

They point to figures from England which show that between 20 and 40per cent of income from charges is spent on administration costs.

FOI figures suggest around 35per cent of care income in Scotland is lost to collection charges, SACT says, a figure of £17.2m which rises to nearly £21m when the cost of pursuing debts is added in.

The campaign is comparing this to the cost of collecting income tax, or council tax, which official figures show are 0.83per cent and 4per cent respectively.

The figures are disputed and a Scottish Government SPICe briefing document queried the campaigners' evidence, suggesting the true cost of collecting care is 10per cent-20per cent. The Scottish Government itself has suggested it is around 15per cent.

Ian Hood of the Learning Disability Alliance conceded the campaign's figures were an estimate but even by the Government's calculations, the charges were 18 times less efficient than income tax, with millions of pounds squandered on administration, he said.

x Ref agenda