A senior Bedford Borough councillor has welcomed new telecare measures for vulnerable people proposed by the Labour government.
An agreement between telecom companies and the government will see vulnerable people, including the elderly, who rely on personal alarms to call for help “better protected” as telecare switches from analogue to digital landlines.
Following incidents last year, Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant called on telecoms companies to complete a “strict checklist of safeguards” before transferring customers to avoid the risk of them being disconnected during the migration.
In a statement, the minister said: “While this migration is necessary, it is vital the industry gets it right, and makes sure the most vulnerable are protected.
“This has kept me up at night and a priority that I have put at the forefront of my work since stepping into office.
“I am pleased telecoms [sic] companies, central government, and local authorities are working in lockstep to achieve customer safety.”
Telecom providers agreed that non-voluntary upgrades would start on a smaller scale before rolling out more widely, reducing accidental loss of phone services for those most likely to come to harm if their telephone line is discontinued.
Cllr Robert Rigby (Conservative), portfolio holder for valuing families: adult services said: “We welcome the new measures that will help to safeguard vulnerable individuals relying on telecare devices during the transition to digital landlines.
“Council officers will also be delving further into the partnership to ensure we fully understand its impact on Bedford borough residents.”
Telecare companies will make sure users will not be migrated to digital landline services without the communication provider, the customer, or the telecare service provider confirming that the user has a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.
These actions will be outlined in the first Telecare National Action Plan, which the government will publish before the end of the year.
The digital telephone switchover is taking place as the old copper analogue landline network is, “increasingly unreliable with higher incidences of customer-impacting faults”.
Telecare funding
Despite the cllr’s praise for the Government’s agreement with telecom companies, he’s recently used the Government as an excuse for a u-turn on his plans to charge vulnerable Bedfordians for using telecare.
Amongst widespread criticism of the Conservative plans and a campaign led by Bedford’s Liberal Democrats, Cllr Rigby dropped his proposal in October citing Labour’s scrapping of the winter fuel allowance as the reason.
In an explanation as to why he changed his mind to charge for the service, Cllr Robert Rigby said: “I have tried very hard to protect the old, the poor and the needy in my role and this cut in Winter Fuel allowance truly appals me.
“The Labour Government really should be ashamed of what they have done. I call upon our Labour MP to join us to lobby the Labour Government to reconsider this policy.”
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
Additional Reporting by
Paul Hutchinson, Bedford Independent
