Woman fined for Nuisance Calls, Adult Social Care Consultation

A woman has been fined after bombarding the Staffordshire force control room with nuisance calls.
The 21-year-old from Longton appeared at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Thursday 30 November and pleaded guilty to abusing the 101 service.
She was arrested on Wednesday 29 November after 72 calls were received from her over a period of 48 hours. The calls were answered by triage officers and 101 call takers and lasted just over three hours in total.
Following her arrest, she was charged with persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience, or anxiety. After pleading guilty, she was fined £120 and ordered to pay £135 court costs.
Chief Superintendent Paul Talbot, head of contact and response, said: “The actions taken took valuable time away from our call takers and their ability to serve the public by helping people experiencing genuine emergencies  and I hope this outcome sends out a clear message that making nuisance calls to emergency control rooms will not be tolerated.”

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Stoke on Trent Residents are being asked to give their views on three policy proposals for users of adult social care services across the city.

The City Council has formally launched a consultation for residents to give their views on a non-residential charging policy, a social care transport policy and a residential care transport policy.

The residential charging policy is intended to assist council officers involved in carrying out social care need assessments and financial assessments. It also includes officers carrying out reassessments, reviews, support planning, or who are otherwise involved in the arrangement and administration of services for clients with assessed eligible care needs.

Cllr Duncan Walker, cabinet member for adult services said:

“This consultation is the opportunity for people being cared for or someone representing them, to provide their views on these crucial policy proposals.

“The proposals are regarding a fairer charging system, which looks at the circumstances of each case individually”

“I would encourage all residents who could be affected by the proposals to share their views, as this will shape our policies going forward.”

Residents can supply their views in a number of ways, including an online form here – https://www.stoke.gov.uk/adultsocialcarecharges, a paper form available from the six library sites across the city, plus the reception area at the Civic Centre in Stoke.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks and close on Friday 6 April 2024.

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