Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in ensuring that analogue telecare devices continue to work safely after the digital switchover in 2025.

Following a Ministerial meeting on 7 September on the telecommunications industry led digital switchover, on 24 November we wrote to telecare service providers and telecare device manufacturers to request the results of tests undertaken and recent alarm call data history, to understand the reliability of analogue telecare devices on digital telephone lines. This was supported by the Tech Enabled Care Services Association, the Local Government Association, the Housing Learning and Improvement Network, TEC Cymru, the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and Digital Health and Care Northern Ireland. Initial data will be analysed and will be available by early February 2023. We have also agreed a Telecare Stakeholder Action Plan to encourage further testing of analogue devices, which will be published shortly.