Elderly denied meals on wheels ‘lifeline’ after council cutbacks

THE slow death of meals on wheels is revealed today as figures show half of councils no longer provide the service for pensioners.

Analysis by The Daily Telegraph reveals 77 out of 147 councils across the UK do not provide the service at all.

Campaigners fear the move is isolating the elderly. The collapse in meals on wheels services have taken place at some of the UK’S biggest local authorities, including Birmingham and Manchester, which ended provision in 2012.

In all 400,000 fewer meals are being distributed annually compared with five years ago, when councils delivered nearly three million meals.

Figures obtained by The Telegraph show 45 councils have cut their provision from 2015 to 2019, while just six councils have increased meals on wheels provision.

Three councils – Plymouth, Nottingham

and Leicestershire – have more than doubled their prices, to £6.50, £5.40 and £9.60 a meal respectively, between 2011 and 2020.

Kent County Council cut its meals on wheels from more than 88,000 a year in 2015 to just under 7,000 in 2019. Ealing cut its annual provision from 5,200 meals a year in 2015 to zero in 2019. In Coventry the number of meals on wheels services provided annually halved from more than 26,000 meals in 2015-16. In Scotland meals on wheels were cut to zero from more than 2,500 a year in Argyll & Bute. Cuts were also in Wales, with annual meals on wheels services falling from 45,000 in Carmarthenshire before the service was shut in 2018.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Meals on wheels is an absolute lifeline for many older people, not just making sure they have a regular meal but providing social contact too. For older people who are isolated or living alone a brief friendly chat with the person delivering their meal will often be the only conversation they have and this is hugely valuable.”

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, added: “We have long warned that the services which older and vulnerable people rely on, including meals on wheels, are coming under increasing pressure due to the underfunding of adult social care.”

A Government spokesman said: “We have provided councils with access to an additional £1.5billion for adults and children’s social care this financial year.”