Caerphilly Observer
Member Sign in Manage Membership
Become a Member - no ads
Menu
  • News
    • Senedd
    • Business
    • Newport
    • Opinion
  • Sport
    • Rugby union
    • Football
  • Membership & Subscriptions
  • Notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Sponsored Content
Menu

Meals on wheels customers could face 64% fee hike after service saved from axe

News | Nicholas Thomas - Local Democracy Reporting Service | Published: 13:10, Tuesday April 15th, 2025.
Last updated: 13:10, Tuesday April 15th, 2025

Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

A Caerphilly County Borough Council Meals Direct van
A Caerphilly County Borough Council Meals Direct van

Fees for Caerphilly Council’s “lifeline” meals on wheels service could go up by more than £2.50 a day for the majority of users.

The proposal is the local authority’s latest attempt to reform what it calls a “financially unsustainable” subsidised Meals Direct service, which was saved from the axe in 2024 following a public backlash.

Cabinet members at the cash-strapped council instead instructed officers to find alternative ways to save money – and a new report shows a mooted fee rise is “the first stage in making Meals Direct a sustainable service”.

If approved, the hike would likely affect around four in five of the roughly 300 recipients of daily meals.

Currently, the council operates a two-tier pricing system for Meals Direct – most people (79%), who have been referred to the scheme by social services, pay the lower £4.18 each day for a daily main meal and dessert on weekdays

The remainder, who have joined the scheme at their own or their family’s request, pay a higher £6.89 for the same offer.

The proposal is for Caerphilly Council to remove the lower rate and charge all Meals Direct recipients £6.89 a day for the full service – a fee increase of 64% for the majority of users.

Critics rail against ‘shameful’ plan to axe meals on wheels service

In the new report, the council argues there is “no legal requirement for local authorities to subsidise food” and claims it is the only one in Wales to operate a two-tier system.

Caerphilly Council has also frequently stated it must save millions of pounds over the next three years, to plug a budget gap.

A scrutiny committee will discuss the new proposal at a meeting next week (Tuesday April 22), before cabinet members will likely be asked “to consider removal of the lower rate as the first step towards the service becoming financially sustainable, by ultimately charging the full economic cost of the service”.

The future of Meals Direct proved to be an emotional subject when the council proposed shutting the scheme down last year, as part of wider cost-cutting measures.

In September, there were trade union protests outside the council’s headquarters, and an impassioned speech in the chamber from the daughter of a Meals Direct recipient – who called it a “lifeline” for users. Backbench councillors then backed saving the scheme and making it “sustainable over the long-term”.

‘Lifeline’ meals on wheels service saved after widespread opposition to closure

Sign-up to our daily newsletter


Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts.

Become a member today

CCBC

Latest News

  • Lindsay Whittle: Plaid Cymru’s candidate for the Caerphilly Senedd by-electionTuesday, September 9, 2025
  • Gwent Police ran a summer tennis scheme for children in Rhymney during the school holidays
    More than 90 children take part in police summer tennis schemeTuesday, September 9, 2025
  • The car park at Blackwood High Street
    Fears car park tariff changes could put people off visiting town centresTuesday, September 9, 2025
  • 1,500 runners expected to take part in Castle 2 Castle run for VelindreTuesday, September 9, 2025
  • The entrance to Dyffryn Business Park
    Council reveals location for new waste depot as part of push to improve recycling ratesTuesday, September 9, 2025
  • Ten libraries are at risk of closure
    Court orders council to keep at-risk libraries open while legal challenge is heardTuesday, September 9, 2025

Find out how the communities of Caerphilly County Borough get their names

Caerphilly

Legal & Public Notices

  • Caerphilly County Borough Council public noticesThursday, September 4, 2025
  • Notice of application for a variation of a premises licence: St Cenydd Road, TrecenyddTuesday, September 2, 2025
  • Notice of application for a variation of a premises licence: Heol Aneurin, PenyrheolTuesday, September 2, 2025
  • Notice of application for a premises licence: Tredegar Street, RiscaSaturday, August 16, 2025
© 2009-2024 Caerphilly Media Ltd, Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community Watford Road Caerphilly, CF83 1BJ. Incorporated in Wales No. 07604006.