Meals on wheels service to continue as council seeks to cut rising care costs

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

A meals on wheels service will continue for residents of a south Wales council, but it does want to find ways of reducing costs. 

Monmouthshire County Council’s meals on wheels service will see more electric vehicles, which will also have drivers using a plug-in electric ‘hot box’ rather than diesel ovens within some of the existing fleet to heat dinners. 

A ‘first phase’ review of the service was carried out by the council this summer after Ian Chandler, the cabinet member for social care, said the cost of subsidising the one hot meal a day delivered to 226 service users was identified as one of the budget pressures on adult social care. 

‘Considered review’

“It was the type of service we didn’t want to take a knee jerk reaction to and wanted a more considered review,” said Cllr Chandler. 

The Green Party member of the Labour-led cabinet said: “The conclusion is we are keeping the service in house and will modernise and improve and look to make it more efficient and reduce the subsidy.” 

Users currently have to be assessed to qualify for a meal they pay £6.50 for, leaving the council putting in £4.91 towards every meal that has a total cost of £11.41.  

The total number of hot and packed lunch meals delivered in 2024/25 was 62,444 and is expected to be 69,547 in 2025 and the council expects the subsidy to cost it £341,147 this year. 

Meals are currently purchased from a large national supplier of frozen plated meals but Naomi Lovesay, the council’s direct care services manager, told members of its people scrutiny committee it is “really keen” during the second phase review to look at locally sourced food. 

She said providing meals from a scratch kitchen was previously discounted as unsustainable but said that could be considered as part of the review. 

It will also consider if the council can accept self referrals and how community wheels can be part of a preventive service that stops people from becoming “deconditioned and lose their independence”, said Ms Lovesay. 

Domiciliary care

Councillors were also told if the service was stopped it could potentially cost the council more in providing additional domiciliary care visits. 

Of the 226 users there are currently 71 who only receive a meal with no other formal care and support but if the meal was replaced with a 30-minute domiciliary care call it could cost £2240,000 more than the subsidy currently provided for meals on wheels if all of those 71 required a visit. 

Costs have been benchmarked against other local authorities and Ms Lovesay said Torfaen is delivering its service at a third of the cost of Monmouthshire and using the hot box system.  

In response to a question from independent councillor for Llanelly Hill, Simon Howarth, Jane Rogers head of social services said further cost comparisons including with other councils with a more comparable geography would be undertaken. 

‘Superb’

Conservative Penny Jones said the council had previously prepared its own meals and said: “Councillors used to have tasting sessions and it was absolutely superb.” 

The Raglan councillor said she was “so pleased” Monmouthshire would remain one of just, 29 per cent of councils across the UK that continues to provide meals on wheels. 

Labour councillor for Caldicot Cross ward Jackie Strong said: “It isn’t just about the meal but the relationship with the person delivering the meal who could be the only person they see that day.” 

Jan Butler, Conservative councillor for Goytre, said she had been recently widowed, and has friends in similar circumstances, and said: “I have two sons living with me but it can be very, very easy to think I can’t be bothered to make a meal or have something unhealthy from wherever.” 

Ms Lovesay said 90 per cent of service users said they wanted to continue to receive a lunchtime, rather than evening, meal and most wanted to continue to receive a hot meal.