AS public protest is ignored and councils close old folk's homes by the dozen, the 'better' way forward, we are told, is for the elderly to stay in their own homes with back-up care to help them cope and retain their independence.

Yet have we not these past few days seen a couple of illuminating instances of how social services pass the buck for their being looked after back to the old folk themselves?

See, for instance, the scheme devised by that arch shutter of care homes, Lancashire County Council, for housebound old folk to shop for their necessities by computer on the Internet.

More time

The high-minded idea is to free home helps from the chore of traipsing to and from the shops to do their clients' shopping, so giving them more time for personal care.

Fine. Don't get me wrong, many of today's oldies are bright as buttons. But how many of them want to shop on line, have the credit facilities to do so or would be prepared to have a supermarket making its deliveries at bedtime, as they are wont to do?

But if such a not-thought-through scheme smacks of official naivety -- or, perhaps, wonders cynical me, of an attempt to control home help numbers and costs -- does not the shocking case of 81-year-old disabled Blackburn war hero Thomas Bywater, priced out of buying home help care, throw a worrying light on things to come when so many more old folk will have to rely on care in their homes?

Folk offer help

Old Tom had to stop his home help's twice-weekly visits when Blackburn with Darwen Council, slavishly following the government's sardonically-named 'Fairer Charging' guidelines, more than trebled his charges.

Luckily for him, kind folk in the community came to his rescue.

The council went on the defensive amid the flak thrown up by the case. "We have worked together with a number of user groups to help us decide on the best way forward. As result, our own research shows that up to half of the people currently receiving services will be paying less," said social services supremo Councillor Sue Reid.

According to her, then, the best way forward amounts to more than half the people needing help to carry on at home paying the same or more than before.

But what if they cannot afford the charges? Well, look at the department's response to an angry reader in our Letter Page tonight to see where the buck is passed in that event -- to the means-tested benefits system and even to charity.

Is this the best way forward, then... if you can't afford the new Fairer Charges for a home help, then beg?