Agenda item

To receive a report from the Housing Strategy Manager detailing the annual operating review of the Home Improvement Agency Shared Service and an update on the Disabled Facilities Grant Budget.

20 Minutes.

(Councillor N J Guyatt, Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning and Housing, and Councillor T V Rogers, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being), were in attendance for consideration of this item).

(At 7.10pm, during discussion on this item, Councillor S M Van De Kerkhove took his seat at the meeting).

Consideration was given to a report by the Housing Strategy Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on the outcome of a review of the Home Improvement Agency (HIA) shared service following one year of operation and on the on-going demand for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs).

In introducing the report, the Deputy Executive Leader explained that the HIA was the first shared service to be introduced by the Council. Whilst some problems had been experienced in the first six months, the service currently was operating as intended and in some respects his expectations had been exceeded. He went on to reiterate the commitment made by the Council to meet the demand for DFGs. Finally, he referred to the difficulties faced by the authority in forecasting future levels of demand and the implications of this for the Council’s financial planning.

The Housing Strategy Manager reminded the Panel of the background to the establishment of the shared HIA service. She reported that DFGs were only awarded for adaptation works in excess of £1,000. Members were encouraged to note the successes which had been achieved in reducing the waiting times for Occupational Therapists (OT) from eight months in March 2012 to four months in March 2013. The length of time applicants had to wait for assessments had been a longstanding problem. Members’ attention was then drawn to the HIA’s progress against its agreed key objectives and the work plan which would guide its work over the course of the ensuing year. It was reported that the latter included improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the service through measures such as the introduction of competitive tendering for equipment and the procurement of adaptation works from local businesses.

Despite the improvements which had been made to reduce OT waiting times, Members were of the opinion that further reductions should be sought. The view was held that four months was likely to appear to applicants to be a significant time to wait. In response, the Housing Strategy Manager reported that this was a priority for the HIA Manager. In addition, Members had some concern over effect of the impending dissolution of Cambridgeshire Community Services on the future of OT service provision. It was reported that meetings were being held with relevant parties to address the matter. Furthermore it was confirmed that to assist with the current backlog of casework in Huntingdonshire an additional Surveyor had been appointed on a temporary contract within the HIA.

The Panel discussed a number of matters including the feedback received from clients who had works carried out on their homes which revealed very high levels of satisfaction with the service received, a suggestion that homeowners  might be encouraged to utilise the value of their properties as a means of funding adaptations in the future, the reasons why only 70% of DFG applications were completed, the point at which OT assessments should be undertaken, the charges placed on properties where owner occupiers received a DFG in excess of £10,000 for adaptations relating to garage or outbuilding conversions and/or extensions and the point in the process at which applicants were means tested. In terms of the latter, the Panel expressed the view that means testing should take place at the start of the process so that works were not undertaken on cases which did not proceed because the applicant was not eligible for assistance.

Having regard to the DFG budget, clarification was received of the source of “HIA earned fee income” which refered to the 10% capital grant that the Council paid to the HIA for running the service. Councillor T V Rogers commented on the need for the Council to review its commitment to financing DFG adaptations in the future. It was also suggested that the budget forecast should be reviewed to reflect a more realistic view of demand given that past trends revealed a continuous increase in need and, given projected demographic changes, this was likely to continue in the future. Finally, it was suggested that when the review of contractor lists was undertaken, the option of establishing an in-house service to carry out adaptation works should be explored. Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

(a)  that the content of the report now submitted be noted;

(b)  that it be noted that additional modelling of current and future demand will be undertaken over the summer to feed into the Council’s Medium Term Plan process in September 2013; and

(c)  that a further report be submitted to the Panel after two years of Cambs Home Improvement Agency (HIA) operation.