WITH reference to the article in the February 4 edition of the Droitwich Spa Advertiser titled “Council Plans £6m online service shift”.

While celebrating the fact that online access to services will help to generate £1m in savings for Worcestershire County Council and at the same time improve access to services for a large proportion of the population, there is and will always remain a sector of our community who do not have or are unable to access services online.

At Age UK Droitwich Spa we appreciate the concerns expressed by Councillor Banks and his colleagues that some residents are at risk of being left behind. As an organisation that works with older people, we are acutely aware of the difficulties experienced by large numbers of older residents in using online services. Very often this is at a time of life when they need to access to council services the most.

We are developing our services to help older people build the digital skills they need to access online services independently, or where this is not possible, to provide practical assistance to access online services.

We were fortunate in September 2014 receive a grant from the energy provider e.on for a period of six months, to fund a pilot helping clients to complete blue badge applications online.

To date 31 people who would otherwise have been unable to use the online service have been helped to successfully apply for a blue badge.

We ask councillors to ensure that in providing alternative ways to access council services the alternatives include provision for face to face local support that is flexible and responsive to the needs service users.

Jan Phillips Chief executive, Age UK Droitwich Spa