The Strategic Director, Planning Housing and Economy and officers from Housing Services will be present at the meeting.
This is an opportunity for the Board to find out more about Disabled Facilities Grants and to question officers on the Council’s Disabled Facilities Grants service.
The Board will wish to reflect on the presentation and evidence and if there are any issues that they wish to explore further, these should be added to the 2010/11 Work Programme.
Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed the Head of Housing Services and the Housing Grants Team Leader to the meeting.
The Chairman explained that this was an opportunity for the Board to learn more about Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) which had been considered by one of the budget scrutiny working groups as part of the 2010/11 budget scrutiny process. The topic has also been raised by Board Members as a potential topic for scrutiny in 2010/11. Following the discussion the Board would reflect on the evidence presented and if there were any issues that they wished to explore further, these should be added to the 2010/11 Work Programme.
The Head of Housing Services began by explaining that Disabled Facilities Grants are mandatory and as the as the housing authority Cherwell District Council has to meet its statutory duty to respond. The delivery of DFGs is also enshrined in the Councils priorities, including the Sustainable Communities Strategy, the Cherwell Housing Strategy 2005-11 and the Private Sector Housing Strategy which was adopted in March 2010. The Head of Housing Services highlighted that to address one of the Strategy’s four priorities ‘Support vulnerable people so that they can remain living in their own homes, and improve their health outcomes’ a number of actions linked to DFGs had been developed. These included the need for a DFG policy to address prioritisation and allocation of resources and the development of practices and procedures to improve the efficiency and value for money for the DFG service.
The Housing Grants Team Leader advised the Board that applications were processed as they were received from the Oxfordshire County Council Occupational Therapists. The government’s test of “fairness” applied to the assessment of need which is the responsibility of the Occupational Therapists and not a matter for the Housing team. Cherwell District Council cannot select or reject applications. All applications are capped at £30K and all are means tested except for disabled children under 19 years.
In terms of funding, the Board was advised that the DFG budget for 2010-11 was set at £950k. This was made up of a fixed £375k Governement grant and £575k capital programme funding. It was not yet clear what, if any, impact the new Governments proposed cuts to public spending would have on DFGs.
The Housing Grants Team Leader explained that the Housing team were working with the Housing Association to explore ways for Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to fund adaptations. At present only Charter had an obligation (under the terms of the stock transfer) to fund DFG related work and the current spend was about £350K each year. Historically this has not been the case with Banbury Homes, however, now that Charter and Banbury Homes have merged there will need to be a more equitable approach to meet the needs of the ex Charter and ex Banbury Homes residents.
The Board was advised that a significant volume of very small scale adaption work was undertaken by the Small Repairs Handyman. This was a very successful scheme that Cherwell District Council had been operating for a couple of years. Funding came from other grants and the work was not included in the DFG figures. Other local authorities were now replicating this scheme.
In response to questions from the Board, the Housing Grants Team Leader explained that Cherwell District Council was entirely reliant on Oxfordshire County Council for referrals. Therefore any delays at the County would affect Cherwell’s ability to allocate and carry out work. The Head of Housing Services advised the Board that Cherwell was working with partners to improve the service to disabled people. Work was underway on a new joint strategy, the County Physical Disablities Strategy, which will provide an opportunity for Cherwell, the County and the other Districts to contribute to shared objectives. It is anticipated that a draft wiil be ready in September 2010 for consultation with all stakeholders.
The Board commented that the development of both the “County Physical Disabilities Strategy” and Cherwell District Council’s “Disabled Facilities Grants Policy” would contribute to an improved service. The Board agreed that they would nominate Members to meet with Housing Services Officers to consider aspects of the Disabled Facilities Grants Policy and that the Head of Housing Services be invited to a future meeting to present a draft version of the policy.
The Chairman thanked the Head of Housing Services and the Housing Grants Team Leader for attending the meeting and the detailed information provided. The Board thanked and commended the Housing Services staff for their hard work for the delivery of Disabled Facilities Grants which supported and assisted vulnerable members of the community.
Resolved
(1) That Councillors Steward, Billington and Cullip be nominated to meet with Housing Services staff to consider aspects of Cherwell District Council’s Disabled Facilities Grants Policy.
(2) That the Head of Housing Services be invited to attend a future meeting of the Board to present a draft version of the Disabled Facilities Grants Policy.