A councillor is worried about the impact that a proposed price hike for nappy collection caddies might have on vulnerable families in Vale of Glamorgan. The council has proposed an increase to the cost of purchasing hygiene caddies by 400%. This means that the cost of purchasing a hygiene caddy, which is used to dispose of nappies, incontinence pads and sanitary towels, will go up from £2 to £10 if the proposal is approved.
Speaking at a Vale of Glamorgan Council healthy living and social care scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, February 7, Councillor Marianne Cowpe called the proposed rise enormous and said it will affect the most vulnerable families in the county. She added: "It does state that this rise is only to cover the cost to the Vale, but in conjunction with this, if we do move to a three weekly collection then three caddies are likely to be needed and that would cost each family £30.
"I am really concerned about that rise and I am wondering what we can do to source a cheaper or larger caddy so that families don't have to have the three caddies." The council has proposed to move to one black bin bag collection every three weeks in a bid to encourage more recycling and save money.
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Cllr Cowpe was told that her concern should be addressed to the environment and regeneration scrutiny committee. However, it does say on a council report on the proposed charges and fees for 2023-24 that the increase which is being looked at "reflects the actual cost of the hygiene container which has been subsidised until now".
The report adds that the proposed increase is also intended to "help recover the costs of providing this service which was underwritten within the Covid epidemic". Another change which the council is proposing, and which the scrutiny committee looked at during their meeting, is an increased charge for social services day service fees to meet expected levels of inflation.
The council is proposing that charges for their internal day services which cater for people with learning disabilities, go up by more than £10, from £110 per day to £121.77 per day. Day service charges for older people could go from £64.70 per day to £71.62 per day, and for people with a physical disability it could go up from £61.50 to £68.08.
At Tuesday's scrutiny meeting, Councillor Neil Thomas said: "It is sad that we have to put prices up, but it is gratifying to see that many of those prices are staying well lower than the increase in inflation that have been caused by various circumstances which we in this council have no control over but we are subject to."
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