The Labour Party’s spokesman on social solidarity said yesterday it was a disgrace that seven months after the introduction of the surcharge on water and electricity, the government had done nothing to study its social impact, even though it had promised to do so.

Marie Louis Coleiro said Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had both said that they would look into the impact of the surcharge and that the government would look at the possibility of increasing the number of families which would be exempted from paying it.

Mrs Coleiro gave three examples during a press conference yesterday.

The first involved a family with an 18-year-old disabled youth who needs an air-conditioned environment night and day and who need to use the washing machine on a regular basis because a member of the family has an incontinence problem. This family paid a surcharge of Lm73.41.

She also mentioned a couple of pensioners with an income of Lm66 per week who had two 40 year-old sons who are unemployed. These pensioners pay Lm33.75 as surcharge.

The third case involves a widow with an 11-year-old child, who has to support her separated daughter who, in turn, has two children of her own. This woman pays a surcharge of Lm40.

She said the government was not taking the matter seriously and, to make it worse, the government had decided to reduce the number of families exempted from paying the surcharge by 2,300 to 10,700.

She called on the government to carry out a study into the social impact of the surcharge.