Agenda item

(a)       That the reduction in waiting times for Occupational Therapy assessment and improved timescales for the delivery of home adaptations be noted;

(b)       That the action plan and the workstreams contained within be supported;

(c)        That the proposed policy regarding the adaptation of family homes and upper floor flats within the Council’s housing stock be supported;

(d)       That updates on adaptations be provided to a future meeting of the Committee; and

(e)       That a breakdown on the cost of installing and removing the level access showers be provided to Members.                                

The Director of Community Services introduced a report to provide Members with an update on the delivery of home adaptations, including Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) and minor adaptations and to seek support for the Home Adaptations Action Plan and for a new policy to guide decision making for the provision of major adaptations in family houses and upper floor flats. 

            He detailed the background to the report and explained that the delivery of disabled adaptations was a challenge for the Council given the scale and complexity of demand.  Flintshire’s performance at September 2013 for DFGs against the national performance indicator was 207 days.  This met the local improvement target and was a significant improvement on the 2012/13 performance for 391 days for all DFGs.  However, guidance for the calculation of this performance indicator (PI) had been revised to allow for more accurate national benchmarking.  The PI for 12/13 had also been recalculated using the new guidance which provided a figure of 283 days for 2012/13 against the current performance for 2013/14 of 207 days.  The Director of Community Services welcomed the improvement of 76 days that could be seen from the last financial year.  The waiting time for occupational therapy assessments had also significantly decreased and the figures for Flintshire were lower than the national average wait for an assessment.  The Modernisation of Social Services Board, which the Director and Cabinet Member for Social Services were members of, had driven the development of reablement and preventative services and highlighted the need to develop locality teams to ensure that Social Services worked more closely with health colleagues. 

            The Chair congratulated the Members of both Committees for their work in the workshops in pursuing the issue of DFGs and home adaptations and gave thanks to the officers for their work.

            The Housing Renewal Manager said that work had been undertaken to look at the Council’s housing stock and identify the best solution to adaptations to properties.  A new policy had been developed on the issue of adaptations of family houses and upper floor flats for people living with a disability.  Since 1 April 2013, 111 requests for level access showers had been actioned by the in-house adaptations team.  These remained the most common adaptation that took place but with the cost at approximately £6k to install the shower within a property, the total spend was £666k so far in 2013/14.  Approximately 25% of these level access showers were in family houses and a further £150k was expended annually on stairlifts, with a straight stairlift costing £3.5k and up to £6k for a complex curved stairlift.  Over £1m was spent on major adaptations to the Council’s own housing stock and the proposals in the policy considered doing the right type of adaptation for the right property for current and successive tenants.  Paragraph 3.05 listed the points to consider when assessing the needs of the tenant and whether relocating them to a different property was a better option.  The Housing Renewal Manager also referred to the possible use of adapted pods which would reduce the number of major adaptations taking place in Council housing but could increase flexibility due to being able to retrieve and recycle when the pod was no longer required.  The capital cost for the pods would not be any different to the costs for major adaptations but would be advantageous due to their flexible nature.  The pods would also reduce costs of remedial works too in certain circumstances.  The Housing Renewal Manager advised that he would submit reports to future meetings when further evidence on the use of the pods was available. 

            Councillor Marion Bateman welcomed the suggestion to use pods which would save the Council money in the longer term.  She felt that it was an exciting opportunity and queried whether planning permission regulations could be relaxed to speed up the process to permitting any such applications and asked whether the Planning Strategy Group could consider the suggestion. 

            Councillor Hilary Isherwood referred to independent living for those with disabilities and suggested that a facility such as Llys Jasmine could provide the assistance to enable those with disabilities to live independently.  The Director of Community Services said that the proposals for the further enhanced care schemes would be more flexible to include people with disabilities to support them to live independently but added that there were currently a range of supported living schemes in place for people with disabilities.  Councillor Isherwood felt that the cost of such a scheme should be considered as she felt that younger people with disabilities would benefit from a facility such as Llys Jasmine. 

            Councillor Rosetta Dolphin referred to the adaptations carried out in properties and queried whether all schemes were carried out by in-house teams as she felt that it was important to ensure that the best value for money was achieved.  In referring to the in-house teams, the Operations Manager said that a robust interview process had taken place to identify the right people for the right jobs.  He added that the work they undertook was outstanding and he had been proud to watch them collect a Team of the Year award.  The Head of Housing advised that a report had been considered by the Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee on evaluation of the work undertaken and the cost improvements and added that the timescales were reducing and value for money was being achieved.  She indicated that she would re-send the information to the Members for their information. 

            Councillor Alison Halford thanked the officers for the progress made.  She referred to the level access showers commented on by the Housing Renewal Manager and asked whether access to the adaptation was easily available to tenants and whether they were more cost effective than the bath/shower combination advertised in newspapers.  The Housing Renewal Manager said that the aim of the policy was to try and address the issues identified.  An occupational therapy assessment would be undertaken to establish the best solution and once the request for an adaptation had been received, a decision would need to be made about the best option for the tenant and potentially save installation and future removal costs.  This may mean offering to move the tenant to an already adapted property instead of adapting their house or flat.  The Head of Housing explained that help could be provided for removal costs and could result in a family sized home being freed up for other tenants but she added that each case would be looked at on its own merits to identify the best solution.  Councillor Halford suggested that an update be provided to a future meeting of the Committee. 

Councillor Hilary McGuill sought assurance that tenants would not be pressurised to move to another property.  She also referred to the use of pods which were easy to install and remove and referred to the significant cost saving.  The Housing Renewal Manager said that a range of companies nationally produced the pods which were an attractive option which provided flexibility.  The Cabinet Member for Housing gave assurance that families would not be forced to move to another property. 

            In response to a query from Councillor Veronica Gay about lifts to upper levels in properties, the Housing Renewal Manager advised that any lifts would be provided on the inside of a property, not externally. 

            Councillor McGuill referred to property adaptations for children and young people and Councillor Gareth Roberts spoke of the facility at Llys Edward in Holywell which provided help to youngsters to assist them in independent living.  The Cabinet Member for Social Services also referred to supported living schemes near Deeside Hospital and added that there were a number of other shared living facilities in Flintshire.  Councillor Amanda Bragg felt that there was a gap locally for children with learning disabilities and referred to Cornerstone which was a project which was trying to fund a purpose built facility to allow children over 16 to live independently.  In response to a question from Councillor Bragg about support for the parents of disabled children, the Cabinet Member for Social Services explained that the Transition Team worked closely with families with disabilities. 

            On the issue of pods, Councillor Marion Bateman suggested that a representative from a manufacturer of the pods provide a presentation to the Committee.  The Director of Community Services confirmed that he would arrange for enquiries to be made.

            Councillor Isherwood queried why it cost £6k to install the level access showers and then a further £6k to remove them when they were no longer needed.  The Housing Renewal Manager explained that the £6k was not just for the shower but also provided a wet room for the tenant which would need to be returned to a normal bathroom when the shower was no longer required.  The Head of Housing advised that details on the costs could be circulated to Members following the meeting. 

            In summing up, the Chair referred Members to the recommendations in the report, the circulation of information on the costs of installing/removing level access showers and the request from Councillor Halford for updates to future meetings on adaptations.   

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the reduction in waiting times for Occupational Therapy assessment and improved timescales for the delivery of home adaptations be noted;

(b)       That the action plan and the workstreams contained within be supported;

(c)        That the proposed policy regarding the adaptation of family homes and upper floor flats within the Council’s housing stock be supported;

(d)       That updates on adaptations be provided to a future meeting of the Committee; and

(e)       That a breakdown on the cost of installing and removing the level access showers be provided to Members.