Agenda Item No s14

AGENDA ITEM NO

REPORT TO: Social Affairs, Health and Housing Scrutiny Committee

REPORT OF: Chief Housing and Public Protection Officer

REPORT NO: CHPPO/14/10s

DATE: 10 February 2010

CONTACT OFFICER: Mr Jason Francis (Tel 315591)

Mr Clive Roberts (Tel 315581)

SUBJECT: Adaptations Review

1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

For Members to consider:

·  Proposals on categories of works which could be treated as Disabled Facility Grants to enable a greater number of applicants to be subject to a test of financial resources.

·  Further detail on the establishment of a Panel to consider adaptations likely to rely on discretionary top-up funding.

·  Proposed amendments to the Housing Renewal Strategy relating to Adaptations.

·  The proposed Private Sector Housing Capital Programme 2010/2011.

2 SUMMARY

2.1  Capital resources to fund Adaptations within the home for persons with disabilities will be under increasing pressure in the short and medium term. The report proposes that this can be alleviated by treating the provision of level-access showers as Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG’s) enabling the means-testing of potential applicants.

2.2  In addition, it is proposed that a panel is established to challenge proposed adaptations which are likely to exceed the mandatory limit for DFG’s of £36,000. The panel would seek to propose more cost-effective alternatives to ensure a greater number of people benefit from finite capital resources.

2.3  A 'Specific Capital Grant' (SCG) of £1,750,000 has been awarded by The Welsh Assembly Government to fund work in Housing Renewal Areas. The amount is £50,000 lower than the previous year.

2.4 The allocation of General Capital Funding for Housing Renewal is a 12% increase on the previous year 2009/2010. Funding has been reconfigured to increase the amount set aside for Adaptations to meet an anticipated increase in demand. Housing Renewal are facilitating alternative sources of funding notably loans and equity release schemes to supplement funding.

3 RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 Members consider the proposed changes to the Housing Renewal Strategy 2007 relating to Adaptations detailed within paragraphs 4.2 to 4.6, specifically:

(i) the transfer of bathroom adaptations from Minor Adaptations to DFG’s

(ii) The establishment and terms of reference of the proposed panel of officers to consider proposed works exceeding the mandatory limit

3.2 Members consider the proposed Private Sector Housing Capital Programme 2010/2011 and recommend approval by the Executive Board.

4. INFORMATION

Adaptations Review

4.1 The review of the service to deliver adaptations within the homes of disabled persons began 12 months ago with the primary aim of improving delivery times to customers. Since that time, performance on Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG’s) has improved from an average delivery time of 460 days in 2008/09 to 401 days by Quarter 3 of 2009/10. The service is on track to meet its target of 400 days by the end of the financial year. Average delivery times on minor adaptations for local authority tenants and private sector households was 147 days and 158 days respectively up to Q3 against a target for the year of 190 days.

4.2 Whilst the majority (77%) of actions within the Adaptations Review Action Plan were completed by November 2009, not all actions would contribute to a reduction in delivery times. Officers will now be undertaking a system review of

the adaptations process to identify how this can be simplified and expedited.

4.3 In November 2009 Members considered a report (CHPPO/124/09s) relating to an anticipated increase in the number of applicants requiring adaptations within the home for disabilities. The Occupational Therapy (OT) team staffing levels have recently been restored to near normal levels and the significant waiting list for OT assessments which had accrued is now being tackled and reduced. As a consequence this will lead to an increase in demand for financial assistance and therefore the configuration of the Private Sector Housing Capital Programme for 2010/11 will need to be adjusted to accommodate this increase. Details of the proposed capital allocations for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG’s), Minor Adaptations and other grant aided schemes are outlined in paragraphs 4.19 to 4.37.

Review of works currently funded as minor adaptations

4.4 Report CHPPO/124/09s also proposed a review of the works currently funded as Minor Adaptations to establish the scope for the more costly categories of work to be treated as DFG’s as this would require applicants to be means-tested. The aim of this proposal is to ensure that the service is better able to manage demand for financial assistance.

4.5 Appendix 1 lists the type of works currently funded as Minor Adaptations and those funded as DFG’s. Figures are provided for the total expenditure under each category, the number of applicants and the average spend per application. The information shows that bathroom adaptations (principally level access showers) take up the greatest amount of Minor Adaptation funding, a total of £1.112 Million with an average spend of £4,451 per application. This represents 73.5% of the total spend on Minor Adaptations. Other works currently dealt with a minor adaptation cost less than a third or less of a typical bathroom adaptation.

4.6 Further, once the contractor has been commissioned to undertake the work, bathroom adaptations take on average between 6-8 weeks to deliver whereas all other minor adaptations take less than 4 weeks. This demonstrates that bathroom adaptations are very distinct from other measures in terms of expenditure and installation. A balance needs to be achieved between speed of delivery and managing limited resources. Therefore it is proposed that level access showers should be funded within the DFG process and no longer as Minor Adaptations and that the applicant should be subject to a test of financial resources to determine eligibility for the grant (means-test).

4.7 If level access showers were treated as a DFG rather than a Minor Adaption it is not known what proportion of customers would no longer benefit from grant assistance following a means-test as this information has never been requested or required to date. It is likely that many individuals needing adaptations will not subject themselves to a means-test in the belief that they are unlikely to qualify for financial assistance or they might prefer not to reveal their financial circumstances and therefore not apply for grant aid.

4.8 In those cases where households are in a position to fund works within the DFG suite of works, the Council’s “Houseproud” scheme can be utilised to assist the householder with the design, specification, commissioning and supervision of works.

Review of top-up DFG expenditure above mandatory limits

4.9 Report CHPPO/124/09s referred to the number of DFG applications which incurred discretionary “top-up” expenditure above the £36,000 mandatory limit. Data on recently completed applications showed that the average top-up was another £36,000 on top of the mandatory limit. Members supported the principle of establishing a panel of officers to challenge any proposed works exceeding the mandatory limit and to propose alternative and more cost-effective methods of achieving the same outcome for the applicant i.e. that their needs would be met.

Appendix 2 is a draft terms of reference for such a panel. An important outcome of this panel will be to evaluate its effectiveness in reducing expenditure and to evaluate the impact on the applicant from its decisions. If the panel receives member approval, the outcome of this evaluation after a period of 6 or 12 months could be reported to Members at a later date.

4.10 Any of the changes proposed within paragraphs 4.1 to 4.6 would, if approved, need to be incorporated within the current Housing Renewal Strategy 2007.

Area Renewal

4.11 Following the submission of a bid in the amount of £3,683,900 to the Welsh Assembly Government a Specific Capital Grant of £1,750,000 was allocated to the Authority on the 10 December 2009. The amount allocated to Wrexham is £50,000 lower than the previous year.

4.12 The bids have always reflected the level of funding required to fully achieve the aims and objectives set for the Housing Renewal Areas at their time of declaration. Allocation of funding has, however, always been well below the bid and this has resulted in programmes of work being slowed.

4.13 Wrexham has consistently been granted one of the highest allocations of Specific Capital Grant in Wales in recent years, the allocation for 2010/11 remains one of the highest. The total Specific Capital Grant budget for Wales is £25m shared between 35 declared housing renewal areas.

4.14 The work carried out within the Housing Renewal Areas is currently only funded from the Specific Capital Grant together with owner contributions. Any reductions in the Specific Capital Grant in future years will result in the aims and objectives set for the Housing Renewal Areas at their time of declaration being unachievable. Options to generate more income are limited to higher owner contributions or allocation of funds from other sources within the Authority.

4.15 Due to unforeseen circumstances affecting progress on two current group repair contracts £700,000 of Specific Capital Grant will carried forward into the 2010/11 financial year. The Welsh Assembly Government have been assured that this amount will be expended in full by the end of June 2010 and will not affect the expenditure of the £1.75m Specific Capital Grant allocated for 2010/11.

4.16 The programme of work within the Housing Renewal Areas for 2010/11 is indicated below, the environmental work will generally comprise work to common access ways and rear boundaries on properties included in group repair schemes.

Housing Renewal

4.17 The funding for Housing Renewal is financed by Welsh Assembly Government General Capital Funding (GCF). The amount allocated in 2010/11 is £2.227 million.

4.18 There is a high demand for DFG’s and Minor Adaptations, which has remained high due to the ageing population remaining in their homes for longer. To allow for the anticipated increase in referrals from Social Services Occupational Therapy it is proposed that 50% of the current funding for Renovation Grants is reallocated to DFG’s.

4.19 The Housing Renewal budget for DFG's of £1.4 million and the Social Services Annual Capital Provision of £250,000 for Private Sector Adaptations is almost matched by provision in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) of £1.5 million funding for DFG’s and Minor Adaptations restricted to local authority tenants only.

4.20 The Housing Renewal budget for Housing and Health related schemes is matched by a provision in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) of £65,000 for work identified within Local Authority Housing.

4.21 The pressure on funding has resulted in alternative sources of finance being marketed through the 'Houseproud' scheme in association with the Home Improvement Trust, which includes an element of equity release, loans or self funding from home owners.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE HOUSING RENEWAL

PROGRAMME

Discretionary Grants Renewal Areas

4.22 This funding is to support internal renovations to properties in disrepair within Renewal Areas. Such funding not only provides for better living conditions but local authority investment within Renewal Areas is an expectation of the Welsh Assembly Government if it is to continue supporting the Council’s Renewal Areas with Specific Capital Grant.

Disabled Facilities Grants

4.23 Disabled Facilities Grants are the only grants that are mandatory with the Council having a statutory duty to consider all valid applications. To meet the Council's obligations, the budget will need to be £1.4 million from the Council's General Capital Fund and a further £1.5 million from the Housing Revenue Account for Council Housing.

Budget Allocation 2009/2010: £1.0 million

Proposed Budget Allocation 2010/2011: £1.4 million

House Renovation Grants - Vulnerable People

4.24 For the year 2009/10 funding to target grant aid only to Priority 1 applicants, (those over 60 years of age and in receipt of an income-related benefit) for properties outside of the Strategic Housing Renewal Areas, to deal with disrepair and Health & Safety issues. To help address the current waiting list, it is proposed that £150,000 be made available.

Budget Allocation 2009/2010: £250.000

Proposed Budget Allocation 2010/2011: £150,000

Cefn Commercial Renewal Area

4.25 The Council was successful in bidding for Physical Regeneration Funding and Townscape Heritage Funding. Part of that successful bid was the commitment of £100,000 for Housing Improvement Schemes per annum and in support of future bids.

Budget Allocation 2009/2010: £100,000

Proposed Budget Allocation 2010/2011: £100,000

Care & Repair 'Handy Person Scheme'

4.26 Wrexham Care & Repair has established a Handy Person Scheme to provide a minor repairs service for older and disabled owner/occupiers throughout the County Borough. Despite flexibility in the Home Repairs Assistance scheme, some repairs are of such a minor nature that the administration of the grant process can appear cumbersome. Similarly the minor nature of the works required can make it difficult to obtain the services of bona fide contractors to undertake such work.

Jobs may include:

·  Fixing of defective stair treads

·  Splicing/repairing of door and window frames

·  Fitting additional handrails, stair rails etc.

Budget Allocation 2009/2010: £15,000

Proposed Budget Allocation 2010/2011: £15,000

Home Repair Assistance (Wrexham Care & Repair)

4.27 The Council, in partnership with Wrexham Care & Repair, have been targeting home repair assistance grants to Priority 1 owner/occupiers over the age of 60 on an income related benefit or persons registered disabled for works in connection with Health & Safety and Security. In the present year, £250,000 was awarded to over 180 applicants. In order to award grant aid to all applicants on the Priority 1 waiting list, £250,000 is required for 20010/011.

Budget Allocation 2009/2010: £250,000

Proposed Budget Allocation 2010/2011: £250,000

Home Safety Scheme

4.28 This scheme provides safety measures to reduce accidents involving children in the home. These measures include fireguards and safety gates to stairs, it proposed that £15,000 be allocated to this scheme.