Rothercare 'bungalow tax': Half of paying households do not receive emergency alarm service

Wearing the pendants allows elderly or vulnerable residents to live at home safely and independently but call for help quickly when needed.

But the £3.50-a-week charge is mandatory for many council tenancies, which led to it being dubbed the “bungalow tax” in Advertiser coverage last year.

Essentially, the cash from those paying but not receiving the emergency alarm currently subsidises the price to those who rely on it.

Cllr Michael Bennett-Sylvester said: “I have a concern that the mandatory part of this is providing generated cash income for the service, and that’s the priority. I would like to be proved wrong.

“Can’t we just treat people as adults when they are taking a bungalow and give them a choice of whether or not they pay for Rothercare?

“That would save some pensioners £150 a year if they are not getting it. A lot of the time they feel they have no choice in accepting a bungalow but end up having to pay this charge whether or not they need it, whether or not they have it.

“That, I’m afraid, doesn’t cut the mustard.”

Cllr David Roche, cabinet member for adult social care and health, responded at last week’s full council meeting.

He said: “The good news is that we are in the process of reviewing the whole of the Rothercare service. Level of charges, how we apply it, is all being looked at.”

Afterwards, he added: “Part of the problem is that if we were to make the system optional under the current system it would mean the cost to those actually using Rothercare would go up a great deal.

“It is made clear to tenants when they sign up what the Rothercare system is and that it is mandatory.

“It is too early for me to speculate as to what might be in the review but the plan is to take it to cabinet in October.”

Rothercare dealt with 348,000 calls in 2021 — meaning an average of more than 950 a day.

RMBC responded to our Freedom of Information Act request last year to say the authority had no figures on how many of the 8,228 Rothercare properties were paying for the service but not actually receiving the emergency cover, after which it said efforts were being made to compile the data.