Decision details

(Report of Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health)

The report gave an update on spend against the 2020/21 Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) budget and advised how changes in distribution of this money were being built into the Estimates process to provide a degree of certainty regarding funding for the approved social care capital projects in the current financial year as well as an option to fund hospital discharge/handypersons costs in 2021/22.

Following consideration by the Communities and Housing Advisory Board, the Cabinet Member for Housing resolved that:

(1)  the following revisions, which are being incorporated into the 2020/21 Revised Estimates and 2021/22 Estimates due to be presented during the forthcoming budget cycle, be noted:

1.    the amendment of the 2020/21 capital plan provision for mandatory DFGs to £900,000;

2.    the use of £89,000 to fund the hospital discharge/handypersons costs for the current financial year 2020/21;

3.    the use of £16,000 to fund the One You Your Home scheme for the current financial year 2020/21;

4.    the use of £90,000 of underspend this year to enable the funding of hospital discharge/handypersons costs in 2021/22;

5.    the allocation of £77,400 from this year into the 2021/22 mandatory DFG budget to provide a buffer for an unknown allocation from central Government moving forwards; and

(2)  the removal of £125,000 of Council funding for DFGs in 2020/21 during the update of the Capital Plan be noted and viewed as an in-year saving.