A £20 increase in fees charged for a vital support line for vulnerable residents to summon help to their home has been defended.
The increase for the Torfaen Lifeline service, which supplies eligible residents with a pendant to contact a call centre should they fall at home, has taken the annual cost up to £150. There is also a £65 installation fee required in the first year.
Councillor Janet Jones told Torfaen Borough Council’s May 26 meeting she feared the increase could result in residents no longer paying for the service which also provides other assistive technology to help people remain living independently at home.
The independent councillor for Blaenavon said she accepted Torfaen has the “lowest cost in Wales” for the service but said: “There are still concerns for those already facing increases in energy and food prices. I am afraid that while we are trying to keep residents living independently with this provision, I fear that to some this will be an increase too much and they will refrain from the service and put their lives at risk.”
She asked for the council’s “rationale” for the increase and why it is across the board without financial support for those on benefits.
Councillor David Daniels, the council’s cabinet member for adult services, said the service has cost the council £180,000 to run and in the last year it also secured £50,000 in grant funding “to keep the costs as low as possible”.
But the Pontnewydd Labour councillor said as a “non-statutory service” the council has to ask residents to contribute towards it but said it has also taken a decision for a “flat rate” charge regardless of the amount of equipment a resident requires.
“Some may receive well over and above the cost of the service and they benefit from the flat rate and we don’t offer, as some local authorities do, a gold or silver service.”
Cllr Daniels said the council has sought for to keep the service “one of the most affordable and best value in Wales” but the increase is to avoid the “risk of the service becoming unsustainable.”
The council also offers monthly payments, at no extra costs, and Cllr Daniels said Torfaen’s £150 charge compares favourably with the £308 fee in Caerphilly, the £261 for the combined service in Monmouthshire and Newport, while Cardiff, Powys and Pembrokeshire all charge between £252 and £254 annually.