Agenda item

To provide an overview of the current end to end time for the delivery of disabled facility grants (DFG) to residents of the district, in comparison to the previous year. In addition to provide the current arrangements and future proposed changes to continually improve the delivery of DFGs and decrease end to end times of the process.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which provided an overview of the current end to end time for the delivery of disabled facility grants (DFG) to residents of the District, in comparison to the previous year. The Council were given £975,000 per year of Government funding from the ‘Better Care Fund.’ This fund was utilised to make agreed adaptations in homes in the private sector to assist people in having the best quality of life whilst remaining in their own homes.

Main points of the report included:

·       For 2023/24 year, the Council received £1,060,000 allocation for DFG’s.

·       The reserve based on previous years underspend was £2,000,000 at the start of 2023/24.

·       In 2022/23 the Council spent £666,799 from £975,000 allocation.

A query was raised on what happened to the funding provided if was not spent and how the budget was maintained.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning confirmed that the funding not spent would be carried over to the following financial year. 

Clarification was sought on whether the Council shared Occupational Therapist services with Lincolnshire County Council, and whether this was the reason for delays in assessments taking place.

Occupational health assessments were undertaken by Lincolnshire County Council. The delays in assessments had been overcome on their side as their waiting lists had reduced. The assessments were crucial to ensure the right adaptations are put into place.

One Member noted that the report provided figures on enquiries sent out and received back to applications not returned back. It was queried whether the applications not returned back were chased up by the team.

In some cases, the applicant may have passed, moved property or may no longer require adaptations.

The Head of Service – Public Protection confirmed that there were designated Officer’s in place that would chase up applications that were not returned.

It was noted that table 2 included a large number of days between enquiry received and the application being set out to the client. Clarification over the process of stage one of the process that increased the amount of days between the enquiry being received and the application being set out in regard to the Occupational Therapist and the Surveyor.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning highlighted a section of the report that stated 117 days from enquiry received and the application being sent out. This process had now reduced to 44 days.

The Head of Service – Public Protection clarified that the days had fallen due to an apprentice working for the Council and assisting with the applications received and the administration behind them. There was also an additional interim surveyor in post that assisted with the process. A full-time Team Leader was in position and further mechanisms to support the team were being explored. The Occupational Therapist referrals timeframe was out of the Council’s control.

It was queried as to whether the £308,000 underspend in reserves from last years budget would be ringfenced for Disabled Facility Grants only, and could not be utilised for other spends.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing confirmed that at the beginning of 2023, the Council had approximately £2.1 million carried over from previous years. The funding was tied to be utilised on Disabled Facility Grants only.

The Deputy Chief Executive (S151 Officer) informed the Committee that the Council had previously agreed to store previous funding away in various reserves of the Council. There was still some legacy underspend from previous years, however, it was getting to a level that was unsustainable.

ACTION: For the Deputy Chief Executive (S151 Officer) to provide the Committee with a full visibility of what had been previously agreed in terms of Disability Facility Grant funding.

It was queried as to whether Officer’s had managed to identify the main problem in regard to the delivery time of 10 months. Further concern was raised on the amount of surveys being completed a month, it was queried as to whether every property had to be surveyed.

The Head of Service – Public Protection clarified that the majority of properties were surveyed depending on the adaptations required.

Occupational Health provided a recommendation as to the need of the client which was processed by Officer’s, then a surveyor would visit the property to collate a report. The problem previously was due to staffing in terms of administration staff on dealing with applications received. Previously there was only one surveyor, the new additional interim surveyor position was hoped to be made a full time post.  

One Member requested that an update on the Disabled Facility Grants be brought back to the Committee in 3-4 months’ time.

The underspend was noted, it was queried as to whether promotion had taken place of the funding for residents.

Most of the works were allocated, working through and completing the caseload, would mean an underspend would be lost. The promotion of the funding was on the Council’s website and a Lincolnshire Working Group were working on further promotion of the funding via communications to residents.

It was queried as to how many cases had been solved within the 2023/24 financial year out of the 262 applications received.

It was confirmed that current information was not yet available, however, would be available for a later meeting where a full update would be provided.

One Member queried as to whether any data was available on which parts of the District required adaptations or were receiving adaptations.

The Head of Service – Public Protection informed the Committee that the geographical information was unknown at present.

ACTION: For the Head of Service – Public Protection to provide the Committee with geographical data on parts of the District requiring adaptations or receiving adaptations.

A query was raised on whether the grant could be utilised for hard standing or vehicle adaptations.

Officers process recommendations received from the Occupational Therapist which may include dropped kerbs. The type of adaptation requests were mostly stairlifts, ramps, extensions. The policy on discretionary grants was being revisited in the future, as the amount of money was currently capped. The query around hardstanding adaptations would be provided back to the Committee once known.

It was clarified that the Occupational Therapists recommendations could not be overseen by the Council. The importance of the surveys was emphaised due to the recommendation not always being appropriate in regard to the suitability of the property.

That the Committee:

1.    Notes the current end to end times for delivery of the disabled facility grants.

2.    Notes the current and proposed improvements to continue to enable the quicker delivery of disabled facility grants.