Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health introduced a report on the potential introduction of a scheme whereby a legal charge would, in certain circumstances, be placed on a property that had undergone adaptations funded from the Council’s Disabled Facilities Grant scheme.

The Cabinet Member advised on the key provisions within the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 that enabled local authorities to recover Disabled Facilities Grant award monies, which were:

·  The grant application exceeded £5,000 and the recipient of the grant had a financial interest in the whole or part of the property to which the adaptation was being made;

·  The Council could recover from a minimum of £5,000 up to a maximum of £10,000;

·  The recovery of the grant was up to a period of 10 years after the grant had been awarded and only after the Council had satisfied itself that:

o  The recovery of the debt would not lead to financial hardship of the individual, and /or

o  The disposal of the property by the disabled person or applicant had not occurred as a result of the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the recipient of the grant, the disabled occupant of the property or the need to care for another disabled person.

The Cabinet Member explained that the introduction of a legal charging mechanism would assist the Council in meeting the increasing demand for grants under the scheme, as funding recovered through a legal charge would be returned to the Disabled Facilities Grants budget.  It was noted that a number of neighbouring Councils had already implemented legal charges.

In response to a question relating to whether the maximum claw-back of £10,000 would influence future decisions on the amount of grant to be awarded, the Cabinet Member confirmed that would not be the case and added that she would welcome an increase to the £10,000 maximum as that figure had not increased since the introduction of the legislation and was, therefore, out of line with the current costs associated with major adaptation works.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree that the Council consults on the proposed introduction of arrangements whereby some or all of a Disabled Facilities Grant may be recoverable via the placing of a local land charge where a person in receipt of a grant has a financial interest in the property, in line with the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, in order to regularise the position and to support the growth of the scheme; and

(ii)  Note that a further report shall be presented to the Cabinet in February 2016 advising on the outcome of the public consultation and, if appropriate, presenting a draft policy for approval.