Agenda item

A report by the Assistant Director – Wellbeing and Community Leadership

Presenting the report, the Portfolio Holder advised that the Discretionary Housing Financial Assistance (DHFA) policy at appendix A of the report had been developed by all seven Lincolnshire district councils working collaboratively with Lincolnshire County Council and it aimed to create a level of consistency across the county and maximise the contribution that DFG / BCF can make;  enable vulnerable people to live independently in a home of their own; and reduce the need for more expensive health and social care service interventions.

District councils had in many cases already adopted discretionary policies under the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002 (the "RRO") using Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) / Better Care Funding (BCF) from the Government to support works above the mandatory DFG limit of £30,000. Those policies also allowed home repairs, improvements and other forms of assistance to be funded to assist eligible vulnerable clients where necessary and appropriate.  However, this has led to a postcode lottery for Lincolnshire residents with financial support available for different things, with different eligibility criteria in different areas.  The Policy and accompanying Explanatory Notes at appendix B of the report, had been recommended by the Lincolnshire Housing, Heath and Care Delivery Group to all district councils for adoption as part of the overall vision of the Lincolnshire Homes for Independence blueprint for people to live independently, stay connected and have greater choice in where and how they live.  To allow a more consistent approach across Lincolnshire to be taken in relation to discretionary housing financial assistance in order to assist vulnerable households in need to live in a safe home. It would significantly help organisations that worked on a countywide basis (e.g. Health and Lincolnshire County Council occupational therapy services) to have a clearer picture of the assistance districts are able to offer.

Committee deliberation followed which included:

In response to a question seeking the value of spend over the past year the Strategic Housing Manager advised an estimate of spend at £50k.   Clarification was sought on what criteria was assessed in consideration a grant, and the Strategic Housing Manager confirmed that an application was often from either occupational health, the housing department who had identified a problem or another agency. Initially consideration would be given to whether or not the application was mandatory or an outside requirement and also if it was the best option was to provide a relocation grant for the resident to move or to undertake the works needed at the property. 

The statutory means test was applied for an assessment of income and savings, and funding could also be secured should the applicant be an owner occupier. 

In response to a question on how much the budget would increase over the following year, members were advised it was difficult to know but is was anticipated it would rise and the funding would enable assistance to a greater number of applicants. Clarification was also provided that the funding was through the Government and not at a cost to Boston Borough Council who simply administered it as the local authority.   Further comment noted the benefit of the new policy in having discretion to move quicker on applications with potential knock on effects to freeing up hospital beds.

RECOMMENDED:

That the Corporate and Community Committee considers and provides feedback on the Policy to inform Cabinet’s considerations.