To safeguard the long-term future of its Telecare service and address rising service costs, Bedford Borough Council is proposing a modest charge for those most able to afford it. The majority of users will still receive the Telecare service at no personal cost.
Telecare is an important service that offers reassurance, safety, and independence to many of Bedford’s most vulnerable residents. While councils across the Country have already introduced charges for similar preventative services, Bedford had to date held out and continued to provide Telecare at no cost to users.
However, costs have recently ballooned to nearly £450,000 per year - an unsustainable position.
With no additional funding from Central Government and 14 years of Liberal Democrat financial recklessness, the Council has been left in a vulnerable position, forced to take difficult but necessary steps to protect and preserve this essential service with a small charge of £4 per week, just 57p a day.
Service users who benefit from Care Packages won’t have to pay this charge and no one will be charged more than the cost of delivering the service. The charge itself is well below the average rate implemented by 32 comparative local Councils, and lower than our direct neighbours in Milton Keynes (£6.27 per week) and Central Bedfordshire Council (£6.60 per week).
Portfolio Holder for Adults Services, Councillor Robert Rigby commented,
“It is not something I wanted to introduce at all, but is a decision we have been forced to make.
We have priced this realistically to protect the service and its users, but if we do nothing the service itself will disappear under the weight of its own cost – I will not allow that to happen.”
Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Marc Frost commented,
“The tough decisions we are taking today are the direct result of nearly 14 years of financial drift and unsustainable spending by the former Liberal Democrat Mayor.
This is a necessary step to protect a valued service and bring its finances back onto a sustainable footing.”
