Following last week’s Full Council meeting, the Conservative administration at North Warwickshire Borough Council announced that they would consult with Borough Care customers about the future of the service.
This comes at the end of a long review process started in 2013. The review made a recommendation to impose a charge. Due to the forthcoming election in 2015 this decision was never ratified by the Labour administration and the project was shelved.
The service has been free for residents over 62 years old for over 25 years with a charge made for younger customers. This policy is not fair because it does not provide equal access for all residents and the purpose of the consultation is to look into ways to rectify this issue.
Councillor David Humphreys, Leader of North Warwickshire Borough Council said “This Conservative administration is consulting on implementing a charge, we are being honest with the users of the service. Everyone should be aware of the financial position; we need to save £1.73m up to 2019.”
“Consultation gives us the opportunity to review and investigate improvement. Charging for our Borough Care service will help us not only meet these savings but more importantly protect and improve the service and grow the number of users.”
“Without modernisation the service will decline. Although highly valued by users, the service cannot continue as it is. I urge all users to engage in the consultation and let us have your feedback on how you would like to see the service improved.”