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Response by the Cabinet Member: Dear Councillor Gareth Thank you for your query via Questions to portfolio Holders of 11th April and I hope you can accept my apologies for the long delay in replying to you. I know that you were informed of my annual leave earlier this month but the deadline for responding to you had elapsed several days before my leave and we should have replied to you by then. I offer my unqualified apology for that, and I hope that the detail provided below is at the level you require. I set the information out question by question. Question: What steps has the council taken to ensure home care call systems remain operational during power cuts? As at the end of February this year, Adult Services is supporting 635 residents in Powys with a telecare service. The service comprises a Tunstall Lifeline unit, through which the resident can raise an alarm in the event of an emergency, or a sensor located at the address can raise an alert (a smoke detector, for example). (Please let me know if you would like me to send you the current figures once they’ve been updated.) All systems are monitored by an external 24/7 monitoring centre. The external monitoring centre’s platform is fully digital, with back-up facilities included in their disaster recovery plan. For those residents still on the analogue telephony system, measures to keep the system operational in the event of a power cut comprise an in-built battery back-up in the lifeline unit, and a small power supply in the analogue line that enables any alert to be communicated to the monitoring centre. The battery back-up typically lasts for 24 hours and the unit sends an alert to the monitoring centre to notify that it has entered battery back-up mode. We are assured by the manufacturer of the Lifeline that the units we have supplied to date are digitally compatible and will continue to work when residents switch from the analogue system to a digital line. However, unlike the current analogue system, the digital cabling does not contain power, so in the event of a power cut any telecare systems connected via a router will be unable to send through an alert. Residents whose telecare system works via a router will be required to arrange a separate battery back-up unit for the router to enable it to continue to operate during a power outage. The responsibility for the provision of the back-up unit lies with the resident’s telephony / internet service provider; the provider is duty-bound to identify that a customer is vulnerable and to supply the separate battery back-up unit for the router free of charge. For new telecare installations we now provide a new lifeline digital unit which has an in-built battery back-up that will typically last more than 24 hours. This digital unit will also send alerts to the monitoring centre whilst in battery back-up mode. These units have the additional inclusion of a sim card so that alerts can also go through the mobile phone network. The new digital lifeline unit is being provided for all new installations where there is adequate mobile coverage, and since their introduction in November 2023 we have supplied 63 units. Question: How will the council address potential disruptions in home care services caused by digital outages? Communication and updates from telephone providers have been limited. However, analysis and testing have been taking place with a range of digital care alarm systems, those used currently and others, to assess their suitability, connectivity and compatibility, to prepare for and support alarm use or replacement as appropriate following the Digital Switchover, and to ascertain the ability of alarms to be utilised by customers throughout periods of disruption to power. Testing has enabled us to establish the digital technology on which the alarms can be based (SIM back-ups, for example) and how that affects cover and costs. The variety of communication providers providing telephone services through the Public Services Telephone Network to care alarms customers means variety also in the range of communication models and solutions being implemented by providers. For example, BT will provide care alarm users a battery pack to ensure home-based routers continue to function. Some telephone providers haven’t provided any indication of their solutions as yet. The Council is not able to determine which telephone provider any given customer now uses, since the customer may have switched providers since applying for the alarm, but it has entered into an information-sharing agreement with BT to enable identification of those customers who are using alarm systems through the Council to ensure that those customers, irrespective of the communication supplier used by them, are not switched over until the end of the digital switchover period (unless a customer specifically requests earlier transfer). Question 3: Are there backup systems or contingency plans to maintain communication and support for individuals relying on home care services during unforeseen circumstances? The Council updates its Careline Customers as information comes to us from alarm providers and communication providers. Delta, with whom the Council contracts to deliver its care alarm monitoring service, utilises a digital cloud-based monitoring platform, so if one of the two sites becomes unusable staff can easily switch to the second site to answer calls. There is site-generated power at both sites to allow the sites to continue functioning in the event of a power cut. The Council has access to the original application forms submitted by customers, which hold details of users’ listed responders, next of kin and key safe numbers, which can be utilised by Council services in the event of an emergency. A detailed plan will be developed to capture the above and future actions required over the next few years. Contingency plans for individual customers should be identified as part of their care and support plans, and a reminder of this will be issued to all teams. Last week BT announced a revised date of 31st January 2027 for the switching-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network, allowing communication providers more time to migrate their customers. Additionally, BT are looking to work with communication providers to implement a ‘pre-digital phone line’, an analogue type of service, as a temporary solution (until 2030) for customers who don’t have broadband and/or whose systems can’t support digital switchover due to requiring specific legacy equipment. A new “Prove Telecare” service will provide engineers to support vulnerable customers throughout switchover, with a commitment to ensuring that customers’ telecare devices work before engineers leave their properties. Notwithstanding the measures outlined above, it is recognised that work must continue at pace to ensure care alarm systems continue to maintain customer safety. Thank you for seeking information for the reassurance of residents, especially vulnerable customers of telecare services, as the switchover to digital provision progresses. I imagine your concerns are shared by other councillors and I will send this information as a briefing to all of them via our group email list. Before I do that, let me know if you think the answers to any of your questions are incomplete, or raise further questions, so that we can ensure that the briefing is comprehensive when I send it. With thanks and best wishes,
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