Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is monitoring how many retrospective checks have been conducted on forcibly migrated households to investigate if they had telecare devices.

It is the Government’s utmost priority that vulnerable people and telecare users are protected throughout the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration. In December 2023, the UK’s major Communication Providers agreed to sign a PSTN Charter, committing to improve protections for vulnerable customers. The Charter can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-switched-telephone-network-charter/public-switched-telephone-network-charter

As set out in the PSTN Charter, Communication Providers have agreed to conduct additional checks on customers who have already been forcibly migrated. This is with a view to ensuring that the customers do not have telecare devices that providers were unaware of, and if they do, to ensure that the correct support is provided to them.

The Government will be monitoring the Communication Providers’ adherence to the Charter through bilateral meetings and through asking the companies for written updates on their approach to the migration.