EOC(3) - OPI - 002
Equality of Opportunity Committee
Inquiry into Home Maintenance and Adaptation Services for Older People
Response from Newport City Council
Thank you for inviting Newport City Council to participate in your inquiry into the home maintenance and adaptations services for older people in Wales.
Newport City Council recognises the link between unhealthy housing and the health of its residents. The problems range from both the physical conditions generated by unhealthy housing along with the anxiety and stress caused for those that are unable to maintain their homes to a reasonable standard of repair. Additional burdens are placed on other services such as health, social services and education, in addition where unhealthy housing appears on an area basis this will impact on the community as a whole.
Newport City Council not only seeks to improve standards in a number of areas of housing such as ensuring those with a disability have access to grant assistance to adapt their homes and to reduce the level of admissions into hospital or long tern care, but also works in a proactive manner to help slow down and prevent the decline in the condition of properties for those residents unable to maintain their own homes.
The assistance provided is targeted through the Council’s housing renewal policy by way of grant aid. The assistance offered is specifically targeted to:
The disabled
Older persons within city boundaries
Areas and streets that have the highest level of unfitness
The policy reflects the aims and objectives of the Welsh Assembly Government’s 'Better Homes for People in Wales’ and 'Older Persons Strategy’.
A pioneer in our field and working closely with the Care & Repair agency, our in-house home agency service provides professional assistance to those residents seeking help and advice in maintaining, repairing and adapting their homes.
Resources for home maintenance and adaptations services
The current housing renewal policy seeks to ensure that residents of the city of Newport needing adaptations to their home have access to the necessary assistance. This assistance may be in the form of a Mandatory or Discretionary Disabled Facilities grant, a Safety at home scheme or alternatively a Discretionary Repairs Grant where a category two hazard has been identified.
As with previous years the demand for Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grants following an assessment by the Council’s occupational therapists continues to increase.
Newport City Council continues to support its Private sector housing renewal policy with an annual budget of £2.5m
Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant
This grant provides for assistance to create access in and out of the home, to all of the services and amenities within the home and access to sleeping and living accommodation. This grant provided in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
Safety at Home Scheme
Provided for both the privately owned and public rented sectors, this grant is to help with discharge from hospital, to help prevent admission into hospital and to help prevent admission into long term care.
Discretionary Repairs Grant
These are low value grants intended to cover small scale works of replacement, improvement or adaptation to a dwelling and are primarily directed to help the elderly and disabled.
The process for applying for grants and minor adaptations
Disabled Facilities Grant
1 A preliminary enquiry system is maintained to effectively provide advice to residents seeking adaptations to their home. The enquiry stage provides an initial assessment of income and if required to seek recommendations from the Council’s occupational therapy service on the needs of the individual.
2 A points based prioritisation system is maintained to process applications on a needs basis where the applicants have requested the use of the council’s agency service. The points awarded are in response to questions contained within the enquiry form completed by the applicant and the OT recommendations. Following receipt of this information the enquiry is prioritised using two categories.
Priority 1 (4star) - Immediate action. Total dependence on others for all aspects of daily living.
Priority 2 (3 Star) - The applicant is a permanent wheelchair user or is severely affected by a stroke or other serious condition grossly prejudicial to mobility.
Where a number of enquiries enter the list under the same specific star rating the OT recommendation date is then used to prioritise applications.
3 The full agency service, provided to all council DFG applications, seeks to relieve a grant applicant of all the responsibility for the organisation of the grant and the employment and supervision of the contractor. The full agency service is prioritised to the elderly and disabled clients and is the main form of agency service provided under a Disabled Facilities Grant.
4 At this formal application stage the Agency carries out a survey of the property to determine the work necessary, prepares a schedule of the work required together with a detailed estimate of the cost and secures appropriate estimates and allocates a builder to carry out the works.
5 The client is assisted in the completion of the formal application form and the obtainment of all necessary supporting information.
6 The Agency is then responsible for the supervision during the progress of the work and carries out a final inspection on completion.
Safety at Home Schemes (SAH)
This scheme is available to residents who are registered disabled, or capable of being registered disabled. Help will be available to residents living in their own homes, in privately rented property or council tenants and dependent on a referral being received for the work from one of the following sources:
Hospital Staff, i.e. doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists
Hospital Social Workers
Community nurses
Community social workers, occupational therapists
Age Concern staff, PATH scheme
General practioners
Housing Area Managers / Sheltered Accommodation Scheme Managers
The work required must also be required to meet one of the following categories:
Discharge from hospital
Prevention of admission into hospital
Prevention of admission into long term care.
The level of assistance is calculated on the reasonable cost of the work subject to a maximum level of £550. Where works required are in excess of the maximum amount referral for a Disabled Facilities Grant should be considered.
Again the Council’s full agency service is provided with the process following steps 3, 4 & 6 above.
Discretionary Repairs Grant
The general principle of assistance under the Repairs Grant is for repair / replacement of elements of the property that if not attended to would allow the property to deteriorate where it would fail to meet the fitness standard or be classed as a category two hazard.
Grant aid will be provided to qualifying persons over 60 years of age who are in receipt of Income Support / Minimum Income Guarantee, an Income based Job Seekers Allowance, Housing Benefit, Council Tax benefit.
That an applicant over 60 years of age who is not in receipt of a means tested benefit as detailed above, be eligible for assistance if, when assessed under the Test of Resources described within the Discretionary Renovation grant section of this policy, a Notional Affordable loan of less than £1000 would be incurred. Provided that the applicant has savings of less than £6000 and the grant is more than £200.
A preliminary enquiry system is maintained to provide advice to residents seeking repairs to their home. The enquiry stage provides an initial assessment of income and an assessment of the property using the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System.
Again the Council’s full agency service is provided with the process following steps 3 to 6 above.
Performance management / waiting times for adaptations
A core performance indicator exists measuring the time taken from point of first contact with the Council to the date of completion of any adaptation. The all Wales average against this PI for 2006 / 2007 is around 545 days and all Council’s are under pressure to bring this timescale down to a reasonable period.
In Newport the delivery time from first point of contact to completion in 2006 / 2007 was 579 days, realignment of the budget and an ongoing review of the DFG process has shown a substantial reduction in time to 403 days for the financial year 2007 / 2008.
As part of the Councils performance management monitoring a full review of the DFG process has been commissioned to fulfil a target of providing an adaptations service to their clients within 275 days by 2011. As a consequence, further reductions for this financial year are anticipated through the introduction of a case monitoring system run in conjunction with the Council’s existing data base system.
The overall performance management of the Council’s agency service, its budgets and its grant programs is closely monitored on a monthly basis with regular reviews conducted quarterly.
The maintenance of installations and equipment.
For many years the Housing Improvement Section has managed, by way of mandatory grant aid, the provision of stairlifts and vertical lifts to the residents of the City.
Due to the vulnerable nature of the client, the need for access between levels and the mechanical complexity of the lift machinery Newport City Council grant aids the provision of an additional 4 year warranty on top of the manufacturers twelve month guarantee on a newly installed lift.
The manufacturer’s guarantee covers all parts and labour for any breakdown in the first year. The warranty specifies a service at the end of the year which is normally carried out by the installer.
Under the Council’s existing Housing Renewal Policy there is no condition to repay either the Disabled Facilities Grant or Safety at Home Grant however, in the event of specialist equipment not being required within the period of the grant conditions the council is allowed to consider repossession of any equipment supplied.
In terms of the Stairlifts, both Newport City Council and Newport Care & Repair can arrange for the removal of a stairlift under the Safety at Home scheme if not required and in Council owned properties previously removed stairlifts can be stored, serviced and re-fitted to another Council owned property.
Newport City Council has committed a large amount of resources to the overall improvement and adaptation of its housing stock within the privately owned housing sector in previous years and continues to commit a substantial amount of its housing capital budget to this area of the Council’s service.
