Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the reliability of personal alarms for elderly people in the event that they are unable to afford (a) a landline or (b) credit on their mobile telephone.

Telecare services are provided by local authorities, housing associations, the third sector and commercial organisations, which determine the charges for these services and any additional financial support offered.

Local authorities may provide personal alarms at no cost to the person using the service after a care assessment or a subsequent means test. If a service user does not have a landline, global system for mobile communications telecare alarm equipment with a roaming SIM card is an alternative way of providing this service. These are being provided at no cost by some telecare services, although due to additional connection charges these alarms can be more expensive for a person meeting the cost of the service themselves.

Service providers can also directly help with landline affordability, with some using an 0300 number to minimise call charges when a telecare device makes an alarm call. A personal mobile telephone not being in credit should not impact on the reliability of an alarm as they are not typically used to provide personal alarm services.