Telecare Service

​​​Request 841176667​

Dear FOI Officer,​​​

This request relates to the Jersey Telecare service, currently delivered in partnership with Airtel-Vodafone (now Sure) using The Access Group's Access Assure platform.

Please provide the following information:

1. The total annual expenditure by the Government of Jersey (including Health and Community Services / HCS24) on the Telecare service in each of the last three financial years.

2. The contract value(s) for the current Telecare service agreement with Airtel-Vodafone (or any other supplier party), including the initial contract term, commencement date, and any renewal or extension dates.

3. The per-user cost paid by the Government to the supplier, broken down where possible between (a) hardware, (b) connectivity / SIM, and (c) monitoring and response services.

4. The unit cost or list price paid by the Government, or by Airtel-Vodafone on behalf of the Government, for the following items of equipment:

a. The Access Assure Home Hub

b. Associated pendants

c. Any add-on sensors routinely installed (e.g. fall, motion, door, smoke)

5. The number of active Telecare service users in each of the last three financial years.

6. Details of the procurement process by which the current contract was awarded (e.g. competitive tender, framework, single-source justification).

7. Confirmation of whether the hardware deployed in service users' homes is owned by the Government of Jersey, by Airtel-Vodafone, or by The Access Group, and on what basis it is recovered when a service ends.

Response

1

 
The HCS24 budget for 2026 is £1,240,847, which includes staffing and non-staffing costs relating to the provision of Telecare services within the wider HCS24 service provision.

2 to 4

The current Telecare contract is provided by Sure Telecom (previously Airtel Vodafone) as a managed service.

The initial contract was for a three year term commencing on 01 July 2022. In line with the terms of the contract, a 12-month extension was agreed, effective from 01 July 2025 and expiring on 30 June 2026. The contract value is considered to be commercially sensitive, and Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Per-user costs are not available as the managed service charges are for a whole service provision. Additionally, individual equipment requirements and associated costs will vary. Unit costs are considered to be commercially sensitive, and Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

The Government of Jersey currently pay £21 per user for the basic hub and pendant package, as detailed on the Digital Telecare webpage.

5

* Current numbers for active Telecare service users in 2026 are correct at the time of reporting; these are subject to change based on service growth fluctuation.

6

The Telecare service procurement was conducted as an Open Tender, beginning in August 2021 with the publication of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) and supporting documentation via the Channel Islands Tendering Portal.

A briefing session was held to support suppliers who formally expressed an interest. While many organisations could deliver individual components of the requirement, few could provide the full end-to-end solution independently. Collaborative bidding models were encouraged. The bids received reflected this, with all submissions adopting partnership-based approaches to satisfy the full scope of requirements.

Final tender submissions were received in late September 2021; three compliant bids were received. All three submissions successfully passed the compliance assessment to ensure that each proposed partnership arrangement met the necessary procurement and governance requirements, confirming that the consortium structures were acceptable and aligned with the conditions set out in the ITT.

Following compliance validation, the appointed Project Team Evaluation Panel conducted a structured review of each submission against the defined evaluation criteria. This was followed by a moderation stage, where scores and feedback were reviewed to confirm alignment and robustness in the evaluation outcomes.

7

The current service is provided to the Government of Jersey as a managed service agreement through Airtel Vodafone (Sure). The hardware contract is held between Airtel-Vodafone (Sure) and the suppliers; this information is not available to the Government of Jersey. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Articles applied

Article 3  Meaning of “information held by a public authority"

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if:

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 33 Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if:

(a)     it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b)     its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Prejudice and Public Interest​ Te​​​st

Article 33(b) is a prejudice-based qualified exemption. In considering the application of this exemption, Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) conducted a prejudice test and a subsequent public interest test as required by law

When responding to requests of this nature, HCJ has to balance the public interest with the impact that disclosing the requested information would, or would be likely to, have upon the organisation and / or third parties. Whilst it may be in the public interest to understand the costs of contracting services, protecting the commercial interests of HCJ is an essential component in controlling public finances, which in itself is in the public interest

It has been concluded that disclosing details of the contractual service arrangements - including itemised unit costs and contract values - is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HCJ and / or the provider.

Additionally, the service contract is currently out for tender, and any such disclosure could prejudice the tender process and have a detrimental effect on contract negotiations.

When considering the application of this exemption, HCJ has determined that whilst it is in the public interest to disclose information, this is outweighed by the necessity to limit any impact on the commercial interests of HCJ and third parties in future contract negotiations, and as such, Article 33(b) has been applied.​