Issue - meetings

The Board received a report of the Executive Director – Adults, which presented the results of the benchmarking exercise of current practice against the new Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) Guidance.

The DFG was established 34 years ago and were mandatory capital grants that were available from local authorities, to pay for essential housing adaptations to help disabled people live an independent life and stay in their own homes.  It was available to owner occupiers, private sector tenants and housing association tenants.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) issued new DFG Guidance (part of the National Disability Strategy) in 2022, to advise local authorities how they could effectively and efficiently deliver the DFG funded adaptations.  This brought together existing policy frameworks, legislative duties and powers, and recommended best practice to help local authorities best serve disabled tenants and residents in their area.

The report set out the current issues faced in Halton relating to the demand for the service and described the benchmarking exercise carried out.  This had provided assurance that current DFG practice was working well for the people of Halton however, a further review of the policy and processes were still required, in light of the published DFG Guidance.  A steering group would be established to explore these options and the item would return to the Board at a future date.

Further to Members’ questions on the results of the exercise, the following additional information was provided:

·         There were two options available for residents who were awarded funding for adaptations – the Council would carry out the ‘best value’ exercise and invite tenders for the work from 3 providers; or,  the private route, whereby the resident arranges their own work and the money is provided to them;

·         Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) were already building new houses that were adapted for people with disabilities;

·         In cases where older/traditional homes could not be adapted, the resident would be moved to a suitable home; and

·         The length of time a grant application took varied due to the specific requirements of the resident, eg a house extension would take longer than someone who required minor adaptations.

It was noted that the steering group would be inclusive and groups such as the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND), who had submitted the public question today, would be invited to join.

RESOLVED:  That the Board note the contents of the report.