Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact on residents of privately-managed leasehold retirement housing of the requirement to upgrade communal telecare alarm systems to digital infrastructure ahead of the Public Switched Telephone Network switch-off on 31 January 2027; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure those costs do not fall solely on elderly residents on fixed or low incomes.

Switching a landline from the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) should not increase costs for the end customer.

However, independent businesses, including privately managed retirement housing who require telecare systems, remain responsible for ensuring the equipment is digitally compatible and fit for purpose for their residents. The PSTN migration was announced in 2017 to give businesses and residents time to upgrade as part of the normal maintenance and product replacement cycle. The Pre-Digital Phone Line is a transitional product that can, where needed, provide an extension in many cases for analogue devices until 2030, including for customers who cannot yet migrate to VoIP.