Northumberland County Council's cabinet has agreed to increase the weekly charge for its telecare service by £2, bringing the cost to £8.50 per week. The service, which provides personal alarms and monitoring equipment to help older and disabled residents live safely and independently at home, will also see the scrapping of a warden service available only to users in the former Blyth Valley area.
Changes to make service cost neutral
The council said the changes were needed to make the service cost neutral rather than requiring subsidy, and to make it consistent across the county. The warden element dates back to local government reorganisation in 2009, when former district councils were merged into the current county council.
Councillors said the changes would make the system fairer and more sustainable. The council recently consulted on the proposed changes to charges.
Councillor highlights inequality
Speaking at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, portfolio holder for adult social care Eve Chicken said: "The system is unequal across the county. In a small part, there's a free warden system. The rest of the county doesn't have that. Charging is also unequal - 9% don't pay anything, others have a range of different charges. We're proposing a cost increase of about £2 a week to £8.50."
She added: "The consultation showed that 67% of people said they would pay the £2 charge to make sure they get a service from the council, because they know us and they trust us. We did have some people who want the warden system to be extended, but it is not a system that we would be able to roll out - it would unfortunately be completely unaffordable. The way we have to make it fair is to remove the warden system, which is only used by a small number of people and isn't well-used by them."
Service costs and usage
Just under 3,000 residents are currently signed up to the service. The scheme currently costs the council £586,000 more than it brings in through income. Charges have been unchanged for almost a decade, with seven different structures in different parts of the county.
According to the council's website, sensors are installed which can indicate if users are in danger. The signals go to the community alarm 'lifeline unit' which is connected by a conventional phone socket to a call centre where a trained operator receives the signal.
The operator knows whose home the signal is from and can speak to the user. They also know the telephone numbers of carers, relatives, GPs and emergency services. They will take appropriate action and stay on the line to offer reassuring advice until help arrives.
Council leader defends decision
Council leader Glen Sanderson added: "The telecare service has been costing us quite a lot of money. We are effectively running a business on behalf of the taxpayer and we have got to make sure we do the very best by being efficient but not putting lives at risk or taking away crucial services. We're not doing that. At the end of the day it is not reasonable or fair for one part of Northumberland to have a service that others don't."
He said: "We must consider this to make the service more efficient, to save money and to make sure all people who want to be on the service get the same level of service. It is very important that we treat the whole county in a fair way."
