Cumbria council defends its Careline funding axe
Last updated at 12:03, Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Cumbria County Council has defended its decision to axe funding for community alarm systems provided by social landlords such as Riverside in Carlisle.
Related: North Cumbrian elderly facing charge for Careline emergency service
The housing association has told 1,100 of its tenants in the city who get free use of the Careline system that they will have to pay a weekly charge of £6.25 if they want to continue using it.
Considered a lifeline by the vulnerable people who use it, Careline works by giving tenants 24-hour access to professional emergency help.
Riverside says it will have to charge because the council has axed £3m funding for such services in Cumbria over the next three years.
But county council officials said that they have found a big variation in the cost of the community alarm systems being run by social landlords across the county.
A Cumbria wide review of all the schemes found that weekly charges ranged from 89p to more than £7.00.
A spokesman said: “It is our responsibility to ensure that we commission services that are fit for purpose, achieve value for money, that are of a good standard and are affordable for people who have a support need.”
As a result of the review, the authority is standardising the service while trying to meet the needs of those people most in need, he said.
Funding for the ‘Supporting People’ alarm schemes needs to but cut by £744,000 over the next 18 months. But the county council is investing £1m in “telecare services,” an alarm linked to a resident’s telephone which can also act as a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector, and movement detector, he said.
Every tenant who gets free Careline services is being reassessed. Some may be eligible for support through adult social care and some will still be eligible for a subsidy through Supporting People funding.
Individuals can also get financial advice through a service delivered by Age UK to maximise their income to help self fund alarm services, for example those in receipt of attendance allowance.
The spokesperson added: “Cumbria County Council is committed to providing care services which enable people to stay in their homes for as long as possible.
“Whilst Supporting People funding is reducing, people may be eligible for support through other avenues of adult social care. We are investing £1m in Telecare services this year which underlines our commitment to these alternative services. “
The Support People Budget for Cumbria is being cut from £10 million to £7 million over the next three years.
Eden Housing is also introducing charges for around 250 tenants who use a community alarm. The charge will range from £2.50 to £3.50 per week.
First published at 11:26, Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
Someone said it is worth its weight in gold and it has to be paid for somehow. The last govenment cocked up the economy big style and the current one is trying to fix it. Be thankful you have had it free for so long and lets not forget those peopel who are working paying tax so that you could get these free 'to you' services in the first place.
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I think pauls comment is a load of rubbish, these people have paid tax and even fought in the 2nd world war. The very least this country can do is to look after and respect their elderly. Most elderley can hardly afford to look after themselves as it is.This axing of funding of the elderly and people with serious health issues( may i add saves the goverment millions to keep them out of hospitals and care homes) is a breach of their human rights to live in their own home.
Bankers are payed millions of pounds for a bad job, we are spending millions on wars that don't have anything to do with us. We bail out other countries debts so how can we be in such a financial state. THIS IS CRIMINAL WHAT THE GOVERNMENT AND OUR SO CALLED LOCAL COUNCILORS ARE DOING.This bunch of people who have decided to attack the most vulnerable in society should be ashamed.
Another point to raise is the pathetic response from the council who say the cost vary a lot over the county ( a typical political point to try to defend such actions)the cost from 70p refers to a comnpany down liver pool who will answer a call for 70 p with no response and pas and problems on to the emergency services such as ambulance and police costing the tax payer a lot of money and putting real emergency situations at serious risk.
Posted by allan on 31 January 2012 at 08:47