A meal delivery service providing support to elderly and vulnerable residents across the Caerphilly county borough is set to continue, following a decision by the council’s Cabinet this week.
The future of the Meals Direct service was under review as part of the council’s efforts to plug a £45million hole in its budget over the next 2 years. Services which receive the highest level of subsidy are under review, with the Meals Direct service receiving a £444k subsidy each year.
Residents and service users had the chance to have their say about the proposal during a major consultation exercise held over recent months.
The council’s Cabinet met this week to consider the feedback and agreed to continue providing the service, while developing a range of further options to make the delivery of Meals Direct sustainable over the long-term.
A decision was also made to close the Hive Café, which is a service for council staff and elected members, located within Penallta House.
Cllr Sean Morgan, Leader of Council said, “I’m sure residents and service users will welcome this decision, which clearly shows we have listened to the feedback from the community and responded accordingly.”
“We will now work closely with the Meals Direct team to review and reconfigure the service in future, so that it does not require the current high level of subsidy. We will, of course, keep service users informed and updated throughout this process.”
“Whilst many will welcome this news, it is important to note that we still have an unprecedented savings target to meet and we will now have to consider other options to deliver savings. Unfortunately, there are still further difficult decisions ahead,” he added.
At the same meeting, the Cabinet agreed to mothball Llancaiach Fawr Manor House at the end of December this year and explore options for the facility to be run in a different way in the future.
Cllr Sean Morgan said, “We appreciate many will be disappointed by this decision, but the current subsidy of £485,000 to run the site is unsustainable in the current financial climate. A similar decision was made earlier this year to close Coffi Vista in Caerphilly and we are now looking forward to the building reopening with an exciting new future, without requiring a council subsidy. This is what we hope to replicate at Llancaiach Fawr.”