Changes to alarm services charges in Flintshire

Flintshire Council provides a range of services to residents, the community and visitors to Flintshire, some of which fees or charges are applied which generate income accordingly.

The Community Based Accommodation Support Service (CBASS) provides a tenure neutral service for any older person in Flintshire who may need housing related support.

Within the Council’s housing stock (HRA) there are over 2500 sheltered housing accommodation units where the CBASS provides a response service for alarm activations in addition to housing related support. For HRA residents this is a 24-hour service, operating an out of hours service from within the team for outside office hours (evenings, nights and weekends). For those residents who use the alarm service, this is charged for.

The Council aims to maximise income generation wherever possible to contribute towards the delivery of key frontline services. Achieving full cost recovery for discretionary services, where the Council has a power, but not a duty to provide the service, is a necessity to enable them to sustain the service for its residents.

Currently the service charge applied to the alarm service, £2.20 per week (50 rent weeks), does not cover the cost of this service. To ensure this valued service can continue to be provided, a proposal to raise the service charge by £0.98 is to be made, taking the weekly cost to £3.18.

This will achieve full cost recovery from 2024/2025 and the charge will be reviewed annually as part of the HRA business planning process.

Vicky Clark – Chief Officer, Housing & Communities said:

“We know how valued this service is for our sheltered housing residents and the Council will do everything in its power to ensure that we can continue to provide the level of service that is expected.

It is never an easy decision to increase service charges like these, but to safeguard the provision of it, it is necessary to do so at this time.”

Cllr Sean Bibby – Cabinet Member, Housing & Regeneration said:

“Not only is this service valued by the service users, but their friends and families too, giving them peace of mind that their loved ones have support at hand, 24/7, and allows individuals to live independently within our communities.”