Bedford Borough Council will be keeping Telecare, a vital emergency service, free for our most vulnerable residents, despite significant financial pressures across the Council.

Telecare devices will be shifting from analogue to digital devices, in preparation for the phased shift to the new digital telephone network which is expected by the end of 2025.

The shift to digital will place incredible financial pressure on the Council, at approximately £446k for the switch, as digital units are significantly more expensive than the analogue units. However, this upgrade is something that Councils across the UK will have to do, in order to safeguard their communities. Analogue Telecare systems that are not upgraded may fail to connect to their monitoring centre, putting our most vulnerable residents at risk, a risk we are not prepared to accept in Bedford Borough.

There is no extra funding provided by Government to mitigate the financial impact. Historic overspends and financial mismanagement from the previous Liberal Democrat administration left Bedford Borough with an unprecedented £2.3m deficit. No provision or preparedness was put in place for this change, which has been known about for some years, and as a result the Council has been forced to implement a £4.50 weekly charge for the service to some residents. Service users who benefit from Care Packages won’t have to pay this charge, and those suffering from either a disability or long term chronic illness are exempt from the VAT element, making the cost a reduced £3.75/week.

The charge is well below the average rate implemented by 32 comparative local Councils, and lower than our direct neighbours in Milton Keynes and Central Bedfordshire Councils.

Despite the significant £446k financial pressure of the switch to a digital service, the Conservative Council will be keeping Telecare free for Bedford Borough’s most vulnerable residents, those who have Care Act eligible needs.

Portfolio Holder for Adult Services, Councillor Robert Rigby commented:

“We have worked very hard to put together a scheme which offers our users really good value for money, it is not something I wanted to introduce at all, but is a decision we have been forced to make, due to the lack of preparedness of the previous Lib Dem Mayor, for the switch to digital.

The service will be kept under constant review to ensure we offer the very best service and value to our Service Users.

Portfolio Holder for Finance & Risk Commented:

“Inadequate stewardship of the Borough's finances and poor Budget planning, by the previous Lib Dem administration, left us with an unprecedented £2.3m deficit, with significant overspends across the board. In addition, their failure to properly plan for the switch to digital, which they have known about for years, has landed us with an additional £446k bill. 

This has left us with little choice but to look at other ways of meeting the serious financial pressures of switching the Telecare service from analogue to digital, something the Council is obliged to do.

The proposed charge is nearly 30% lower than the comparative (Benchmarked by the Council) Liberal Democrat run Councils some of which charge up to £8.45 per week, viciously targeting elderly and vulnerable people with grossly excessive charges.

The Conservative Council is proposing a very modest £4.50 and, if introduced, we will continue to allocate funding and subsidise the service keeping it free for our most vulnerable residents.”