Meals on wheels service set for changes after being saved from axe

A council’s meals on wheels service could be set for changes this spring, months after it was saved from the axe.

The council had proposed shutting down Meals Direct in 2024 as part of wider cost-cutting measures, but was persuaded in September to keep the service running, following criticism from residents and backbench councillors.

Options

At the time, cabinet members agreed to retain the service for the time being “but ask officers to develop a range of further options to make the delivery of Meals Direct sustainable over the long-term”.

Caerphilly County Borough Council was spending £444,000 on running the service and the local authority’s staff restaurant, The Hive, at its headquarters in Tredomen.

The Hive was not spared when the cabinet agreed to save Meals Direct last September.

At a council meeting, on Thursday February 27, Cllr Jill Winslade asked for an update on developments.
Cllr Elaine Forehead, the cabinet member for social care, said council officers were working on a “phased approach to look at a full cost-recovery model, which will ultimately depend on demand going forward”.

She said a council scrutiny committee will receive a report, in April, which will set out the options available.

Those options will “align to the responses received through the consultation, and will seek members’ views prior to a report being presented to cabinet”, added Cllr Forehead.