The Cabinet Member for Childrenh and Adult Services presented a report on the proposed future strategy for adaptations to disabled and older people’s homes.
The Cabinet Member advised that opportunities under the new Housing Revenue Account (HRA) self financing scheme from April 2012 and a review of the delivery of private sector adaptations, via a direct payment grant scheme, would enable basic adaptations to be available to larger numbers of older and disabled people across all housing tenures. It was noted that relatively inexpensive one-off spend on major adaptations was proven to reduce incidents of hospitalisation due to falls and postpone the need for high-cost residential services. Adaptations were also a major cause for complaint to the Council as demand continued to outstrip the available resources.
Cabinet agreed:-
(i) To fully fund all adaptations to Council properties via the HRA self financing scheme;
(ii) That all housing associations and private landlords be asked to fund adaptations for their tenants;
(iii) To the development of a preventative direct payment grant scheme for people who are not eligible for help via other schemes, as set out in the report; and
(iv) To note the decision to delay re-tendering the administration of Disabled Facilities Grants, in order to ensure that ongoing arrangements would fit with other schemes.