PLEA FOR MORE HELP FOR DISABLED (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

PLEA FOR MORE HELP FOR DISABLED

November 27, 2008 12:00 AM

Cllr Susan Galloway, Executive Member for Housing and Social Services today called upon the government to make more money available to Councils for disabled facilities grants.

Currently in York we have 90 people on the waiting list for adaptations and so far this year we have carried out or have approved 87 adaptations. The budget of £625k had all been committed by the end of September.

There has been a large increase in people wanting adaptations - 152 inquiries were received in the whole of last year while 127 had been received by the end of October this year.

Part of the increase has been due to price increases in raw materials as well as increased cost in meeting new building regulations. There has also been an increase in referrals for large adaptations for disabled children with complex needs and there is no requirement to means test families in these instances. The amount of money which can be claimed has also increased from £25k to £30k.

Additionally the government now places a requirement on Councils to provide funding for adaptations so that disabled people can access gardens where this is deemed to be reasonable and practical.

Representation was made earlier this year to the Department for Communities and Local Government about lack of funding but so far there has been no positive response on this issue.

Cllr Galloway said:

"As a result of more people wishing to remain in their own home, more money is needed by Councils to provide grants for small and large adaptations to be carried out. We estimate that we could provide something of the order of £250000 in extra work for local tradesmen and if this is mirrored up and down the country by other councils then this is not an insignificant sum. By increasing the amount of money available to Councils, this would provide a much needed boost for small, local builders and tradesmen to remain employed during the current downturn in the economy and will also mean that more people can stay at home for longer rather than going into care."