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13.
July
2018.
Ashford Council initiative slashes waiting times for Disabled Facility Grants

Council initiative slashes waiting times for Disabled Facility Grants assessments in Ashford

Media release

13 July 18

Nine months ago, Ashford Borough Council took steps to tackle the waiting times for Disabled Facilities Grants assessments in a determined bid to improve the quality of life for disabled and vulnerable people.

As a result, the waiting list for the grants has been hugely reduced and the council's Cabinet voted to go one step further by changing the means test formula and by introducing a system of discretionary grants aimed at reaching even more people in need of help.

Disabled Facility Grants (or DFG) are used to pay for essential adaptations to allow disabled people to continue to live within their own homes and to achieve as independent a life as possible.

Local authorities have a statutory duty in relation to mandatory DFGs. The maximum mandatory grant is set at £30,000, which is decided by a means test based on income and capital. Using money allocated by Government and also using their own funds, councils administer the grant, ensuring that the applicant qualifies for assistance.

In October 2017, Ashford Borough Council signalled its determination to slash waiting times for mandatory grants by approving a one-off additional capital funding contribution of £200,000 for the financial year 2018-19.

Ashford also agreed to jointly fund the appointment of a dedicated occupational therapist for the borough in partnership with Kent County Council for an initial six months, with the expectation that the post be extended up to 18 months. The Cabinet has now agreed to this 12 month extension.

The therapist makes recommendations to identify whether adaptations are necessary and appropriate to meet the disabled person's needs. The therapist has a vital role in speeding up the grants process.

As a result of this twin-pronged initiative, the waiting time for Disabled Facility Grants assessments in Ashford has been abolished - down from around 80 cases nine months ago to a position where no-one was waiting to be assessed by the occupational therapist at the time of writing. Key achievements include:

  • 56 mandatory DFGs were completed
  • The value of the grants approved was £822,504, with completed grants spent at £651,621
  • The average duration time from referral was slashed from 18-24 months to 6-12 months, depending on the complexity of the case
  • There was an underspend of £108,653 which has been carried over to the 2018-19 budget - among the reasons is a halving of the average grant from £12,000 to £6,000, plus repayments of £43,000 from previous recipients (the grant is repaid if the property is sold within 10 years)
  • ABC now has no waiting list - everyone is within the DFG process, either waiting for a means test or waiting for works to start or be completed.

The Cabinet heard that the performance has been ‘unprecedented' and within a relatively short period, there has been a ‘massive' turnaround in waiting times and predicted spends.

Keen to build on this success, councillors last night agreed to make changes to the means testing element of the mandatory DFGs after they heard that every year people are turned away from applying because of their income and savings. The decision means that £10,000 will be disregarded before a person's income and savings are calculated through the means testing system.

Ashford Borough Council will now be able to assist those whose income would just take them over the limit for assistance. Based on last year's DFGs, out of the 15 people who were turned down, 12 would have gone ahead if the council had disregarded the first £10,000 of their income.

In a further move to expand its help to as many disabled people as possible, the council will also allocate around £90,000 to pay for discretionary grants in the coming months, subject to the budget being available.

Cllr Gerald White, Ashford Borough Council's portfolio holder for housing, said: "I'm very pleased to see the significant improvements in waiting times over the past year brought about by the council's private sector housing team's joint work with the occupational health team.

"The co-location of an occupational therapist within the housing service has proved to be invaluable. It is important that we ensure that disabled residents in our borough are provided with adaptations they need to be able to remain at home.

"Offering discretionary grants and funding an OT will seek to use existing funding more effectively by ensuring a fairer system and help reduce hospital admissions, such as bed blocking."

ENDS

Editors notes

The Cabinet also approved a series of other measures designed to help more disabled and elderly Ashford residents to remain independent in their own homes, reduce fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. These include discretionary grants towards the cost of installing an urgent stair lift in a disabled person's home in cases of delayed discharge from hospital. Winter warmth loans and a contribution towards the provision of a hospital discharge service at the William Harvey hospital were also approved.

For more information contact:

Darren Laws
Public relations
01634 671167
Darren.laws@zesttheagency.com