April 12th The Seniors Big Debate

Albert Halls, Stirling. Music from Sheena Wellington. Organised by West of Scotland Seniors Forum.

Chaired by Lesley Riddoch, the second Votepod Debate took place in the Albert Halls, Stirling this afternoon. The politicians are keen to court Scotland's 700,000 pensioners and today they were put through their paces by 250 seniors anxious to get their views across.

We have broken the debate down into managable sections that you can listen and view directly on this page. You can also view videos on the Scottish VotePod Channel on You Tube, subscribe to the audio podcasts on iTunes or directly download the audio files. Our audio clips allow you to listen to the discussion in detail, while the video clips will feature shorter highlight clips.

Section 1 - The event started off with an extended discussion on Council Tax and whether or not it should be replaced by a local income tax. In the first excerpt each of the party representatives outline their position on an issue of great importance to senior citizens.

You can listen here

Section 2 - The discussion continues with comments on the efficiency of local government. It then tackles the important subject for many pensioners, the provision of community care.

You can listen here

Section 3 - This section of the Big Seniors Debate deals with how well older peoples views are represented and tackles the difficult subject of pensioners having to sell their homes to fund their care.

You can listen here

Section 4 - In the final part of the debate, we hear calls for a Pensioners Parliament, discussion over pension credits, concerns over transport provision and the closure of rural post offices.

You can listen here