Lancashire residents who use Telecare thanked for their views on proposed new charges

The consultation will close on Monday 8 August.

The consultation was launched to give people the opportunity to share their views on proposed changes to the service. However, the consultation and proposals will now be reviewed following initial feedback.

Carers, people who work in social care and the public were all invited to have their say.

Lancashire County Council's Telecare service is run by Progress Lifeline and helps people who may need support to live safely and independently at home.

Digital devices enable people to call for assistance when they have a problem. Some devices can generate automatic alerts in certain situations; for example, if a person has a fall or there is a gas leak.

These alerts are passed straight through to a call monitoring centre, where trained staff can talk to telecare clients and establish what support is needed. If assistance is needed, the monitoring centre will contact a family member or send the mobile response team to the person's home to check on their wellbeing.

The county council is proposing to introduce charges ranging from £4 to £9 a week so it can afford to pay the increasing costs of running the service.

Officers are now set to review the responses received before considering a further consultation. The results of a further consultation will be considered by the council's Cabinet, which will take all responses into account before any decision is made.

County Councillor Graham Gooch, cabinet member for adult social care, said: "I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to give their views following the launch of this current consultation.

"The responses indicate that it would be useful to review our questions to ensure the consultation is as meaningful as possible.

"For that reason, we have decided to bring the current consultation to an early close, with a view to launching a further consultation in the coming weeks.

"We are facing increasing running costs as the number of people using Telecare has grown and expect further increases due to the telephone service digital switchover.

"We are also aware of other similar technology, which people can use for free or at a lower cost.

"We have been keen to learn from what other authorities are doing and have researched similar schemes before putting forward these proposals. 

“Currently, Lancashire County Council is the only authority in the North West that does not charge any residents for a telecare and mobile response service. The average charge for this service in other local authorities is £5.51 a week."

Customers will be contacted with the details of any further consultation shortly.