LAW AND BENEFIT REVIEW

[part of the 'Disability Matters' & 'Law and Benefit Review' Group]
'for all disability issues’
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REVIEWS, ARTICLES, COMMENT, UPDATES, LEGISLATION, BENEFITS, PENSIONS, CARING, NHS, BILLS WATCH, ETC.
November 2008
[edition 30]

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WELCOME to the November 2008 Law and Benefit Review and what a ‘return’, if you can call it that, ‘delayed’ would be a better term to use, we have had, only joking.  Emails, telephone calls and even letter’s, all reflecting the good news that we are back.  Well really we did not go away did we, but many thanks for all your good wishes and support, and hopefully we have at least twelve months of funding to keep us going.

The end of November 2008 will bring us the Pre-Budget report from the Chancellor. We have managed to find how perhaps it will affect the effect the elderly from April 2009.  Do not forget to look out for your Winter Fuel Payments with the ’one-off’ bonus, which should have started to be sent out by now. With the cost of living in the real world increasing weekly, whilst food, gas, electricity and fuel prices still continue to rise, inflation at 5.2% on October 14 2008, when this article was composed.  How does the Chancellor expect, the elderly and disabled on state benefits and pensions to survive with large out increases?

The consumer price inflation (CPI) measure of 5.2% was up from 4.7% in August.  September's Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure - used to work out benefits and state pensions for the coming year - reached 5% from 4.8% a month earlier.  Pensions usually increase by 2.5% or headline Retail Price Index [RPI], whichever is higher - meaning the government faces paying out billions more in benefits and pensions.

According to those who know, state pensions, which are re-set this month [November ‘08], [when also the Pre-Budget Report will be announced by the Chancellor] are pegged to the Retail Price Index [RPI] - so single people receiving the basic state pension will expect to see their weekly payments increase by £4.54 per week while pensioner couples will receive an extra £7.26 per week.  No news on state benefits as we write.

NEW EUROPEAN UNION ACTION PLANS

European Disability Action Plan Targets Improved Access to Goods and Service. In its updated European Disability Action Plan 2008-2009, published on 26 November 2007, the European Commission notes the formation of ENAT as a targeted action to improve accessibility to tourism for people with disabilities. The EC also makes proposals to improve access to goods and services by developing statistical services for monitoring accessibility and encouraging new standards.

The Action Plan points out that European Cohesion Policy plays an important role in supporting the employment and social inclusion of isabled persons, as well as accessibility, through the operational programmes prepared and implemented by Member States, regions and the wider partnerships in cooperation with the Commission. These activities are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF).The General Regulation for the 2007-2013 funding period provides that accessibility for disabled persons shall be one f the criteria to be observed in defining operations co-financed by the Funds and to be taken into account during the various stages of implementation"

CHIP AND SIGN STILL LAWFUL

How many of us forget or mix up our credit and bank card PIN numbers when using them to pay for goods, often blocking our card after three attempts, until a new PIN number has been issued by the bank.

An estimated 2m people still use chip and signature as this right is still enshrined in law which says organisations should make a reasonable adjustment.  Chip and pin signature cards are still acceptable means of payment provided customers have been issued with the right card from heir bank or credit card company as this will tell the checkout system not to ask for a PIN.  If you cannot  remember your PIN number for what ever reason, then inform your bank/card company, and they will issue you with the appropriate card which indicates to stores, supermarkets, gas stations, etc. that you use your signature rather than a PIN number, but it appears that ATM cash point cards and Post Office cards used for obtaining state pensions must still use a PIN number.

BLUE BADGE ABUSE

Not only are thousands of blue badges being used to abuse parking charges/regulations, river and bridge crossing operators from the  Severn Bridge between South Wales and England to the Forth Road  between Edinburgh and the Kingdom of Fife, complaints have been lodged by the operators because they are increasingly concerned about the increase in the misuse of the blue badge so as to avoid the crossing charge.

Crossing operators did tighten up their attention to blue badge users  when it was found that often, the actual holder of the badge was not present in the car when the badge was presented for exemption of   the crossing fee.  A program of signature comparison was introduced  followed by some operators by computer identity, but now with the introduction of a photograph to the blue badge it is easier for  operators to see if the ‘holder’ is in the vehicle.  The ‘abuse’ of the badge attracts a fine of up to £1000 pound, but normally only a £30  fixed penalty notice is issued and the operators refusing free passage across the crossing point.

A new idea being practiced by the Dartford crossing between Kent and Essex, is the number plate recognition system used by UK police forces to identify vehicles, and their owner’s, and very successful it is too for tracing stolen vehicles, disqualified drivers, etc.  Perhaps the holders of blue badges could be added to the system so that parking enforcement attendants [PEA] can check on vehicles parked using a blue badge from their ticket machines which in recent months have in some areas been computerised.  There has been talk of a national computer to accommodate details of all blue badge holders but to  date nothing has come of this.  Lost or stolen blue badges could be  kept on a computer so that again PEA’s can check on the badge displayed.

This further example’s of blue badge abuse shown above indicates further that there is still something fundamentally wrong with the blue badge scheme, so what is it?

Is it that local authorities are still not exercising the correct procedures in issuing a blue badge in the first place?  Is it that the deterrent against misuse, theft, abuse or fraud is not sufficient to deter the problems or is it not being forced vigorously enough?  Is it that the police and parking attendants are not sufficient enough in number’s or failing in their duties? Is it that the blue badge itself is not sufficiently protected to prevent abuse? or is it that blue badges held by now deceased people are not handed back or former disabled people fail to hand back their badges after recovery, or are local authorities not requiring the expired badge and time clocks  to be returned before a new one is issued? or is it that supermarket owners, super stores, private car park operators are not doing enough to deter abuse of bays marked for blue badge holders?

Our view is that some people will take advantage of anything, particularly if they think they can get away with it, and unfortunately many thousands are finding that they can beg, steal or borrow a blue badge from a relative or friend, and use it to park with very little chance of being caught and when they are caught, what happens to them?

Some arrests have been made by the police which have resulted in relatively small fines of £200 to £300 plus costs.  The maximum fine for such offences is £1000 but never has this fine been imposed.  If the ‘offence’ is serious enough, then the badge may be seized.  Parking attendants have a limit of a £30 fixed penalty ticket but what deterrent is this? and if theft or fraud is suspected they cannot arrest the person involved as only a police officer has the power to do so.

What can be done to stop this?  Perhaps the national computer that has been mentioned and apparently forgotten, be introduced as a matter of urgency so that parking attendants may run the details of the blue badge through the computer linked to their ticket machines, so see what shows up. Details of the normal car used by the disabled driver should be recorded along with their home address of the badge holder to see if the badge is being used in another vehicle or away from the home address area for instance OR is it that the whole blue badge scheme has to be re-thought out starting from scratch?

Whilst it appears that parking enforcement officers are ‘clamping down’ on the abuse on the use of the blue badge, they are the same time being criticised by ‘genuine’ blue badge holders of over zealous action for minor infractions of new parking rules also originally introduced via the Traffic Management Act 2004, and by a further parking strategy brought into force by the Department for Transport in March 2008 which provided powers to local authorities to apply for Statutory Instruments in their own areas to enable them to issue fixed penalty tickets for the offences shown in the next paragraph.

The 2008 parking regulations introduced new legislation which made it an offence to for instance to leave the nearside of vehicle more than 14” from the kerb line, failing to park wholly within parking bay, double-parking and not to parking across drop-kerbs, etc., and yet blue holders are apparently abusing these offences.  These regulations may appear to be ‘minor’, but nevertheless, they are the law, and we must all consider them when parking, particularly parking across drop kerbs that have been placed there for the benefit of wheelchair/power chair users.  Described as ‘lazy parking’ by local authorities, disabled drivers who adopt this attitude must expect to receive a fixed penalty ticket, as there is no defence in breaching such regulations.

Almost uniquely, these new parking powers specifically indicate that ‘signage’ is not necessary to indicate these additional parking restrictions as is the ‘norm, so again there is no defence to say that there were no signs saying that I could not ’double-bank’ etc.  

NEW EU SHOPPING RIGHTS

The European Commission has unveiled proposals to give more rights to consumers shopping online across the borders of the 27-nation EU.  The proposals aim to boost online shopping in Europe to allow people to take advantage of cheaper prices during the economic crisis.  The commission is asking EU governments to give consumers a two-week cooling-off period to back out of a sale.  Consumers could also get the right to a refund for delayed deliveries.  One-third of the EU's population, that is, 150 million people, shop online. But only 30 million of them do it cross-border. The new rules are meant to boost confidence in the sector and give consumers peace of mind when looking for bargains abroad.  The European Commission is hoping the proposals will be approved by EU Governments and the European Parliament next year [2009], but the amount of changes they imply in national consumer rules could lead to delays.

If such rules come eventually into place, please remember that any excesses that are already in force by the UK Custom & Excise, whereby VAT is charged at 17.5 per cent on all goods exceeding the personal import limit allowance which is variable depending on the purchase.  Full details can be obtained from your local customs and excise office.  Many people at Christmas time travel to France for instance at Christmas time to buy goodies, totally unaware that import duty is payable on all goods over a certain personal allowance which can make the whole object of the trip worthless.  Most people full foul of these laws with the excess importation of wine, beer, spirits and cigarettes, where not only is VAT payable, but the goods are often seized by the customs along with the vehicle they are carried in. Take care.

GOVERNMENT FACING FUEL COURT CASE

Two charities are taking the government to court because they say not enough is being done to tackle high energy bills.  An act passed eight years ago means the government must take measures in England to end fuel poverty by 2016, and for vulnerable groups by 2010.  Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth want a High Court judicial review which they hope will lead to a judge ordering the government to meet its commitment.

An estimated five million homes in the UK are currently in fuel poverty.  Fuel poverty is classed as when an individual spends at least 10% of their income on gas and electricity.  The legal action by the charities comes as energy regulator Ofgem published the findings of a major inquiry into gas and electricity prices.  it is widely accepted that the government is expected to miss its own targets on cutting fuel poverty.  Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth are arguing that the government is breaking the law by not doing everything reasonable to ease the problem.

EQUALITY & HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
[EHRC]

The EHRC took over from the Disability Rights Commission [DRC], the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality a year ago but now the first year is being described as  unimpressive” “poor” “weak” and “disappointing” by well known figures in the disability world.  Low staff morale, poor relations with  disability groups, etc. etc. has caused these comments to be made.

The EHRC is the UK’s first single equalities body which appears to be far from impressive.  There has also been criticism from outside the disability sector whereby the Confederation of British Industry says  “it does not appear to have a clear strategy”.   The EHRC has still not recruited enough staff and is not working to full capacity for instance.  Time to get their socks up!

DEPOSIT PROTECTION SCHEME

A reminder that the above scheme is now fully in operation for Tenants on Assured Short-hold Tenancy, and their Landlords.  When letting a residential property, landlords must protect the tenants deposit by using one of the approved tenancy deposit schemes.  This must be carried out with 14 days of taking the deposit which is often taken before occupancy and the tenant advised accordingly.

The service is free to the landlord, and the Dispute Service and Tenancy Deposit Solutions are insurance-backed schemes under which landlords registers’ the deposit with the service and pays a fee, but does not have to actually hand over the deposit.  What protection to a tenant does this scheme actually provide we cannot really understand, as tenants could theoretically still have problems recovering deposits from unscrupulous landlords.   A landlord who does not comply with the new scheme cannot commence proceedings to recover possession of a residential property.

DIRECT PAYMENTS LEGAL FEARS

There are apparently fears among those who are thinking about claiming, and those who already claiming Direct Payments from the Independent Living Funds, that they are not being up-dated on legal matters which relate to their employment of carers and personal assistants by support services or themselves.  For instance, all carers and PA’s should for the sake of the employee, and themselves in order to avoid possible large claims for compensation, be covered by sufficient insurance to cover any accidents that may occur whilst an  employee is on ‘on-duty’.  Employers which are almost always elderly  and/or disabled in such matters, have been taken to tribunals by  their PA’s or carers for breaches of one regulation or another or for simply given their employee a warning for breach of contract or where discipline action has been threatened or taken, and now many such employers feel that they are being left open to be sued due to their lack of knowledge.

Without blowing our own trumpet, this is exactly what we at Law and Benefit Review try to do, update all our readers with new and amended legislation that could affect such people as employees, and indeed their staff, and over the years we have done just this and will continue to do so as, and when new and amended legislation or changes appear.  We have featured at least two article’s this year  alone concerning changes with the ILF funding and these can be found in back-numbers.

As an employer of one/two/three PA’s or Carers, the law regulating employment is almost identical in some ways to employing 100/200/300 employees, so therefore keeping abreast of all employment regulations such as working time regulations, minimum wages changes which we reviewed in the October 2008 issue of the Law and Benefit Review. Health and Safety matters, which incidentally appears to be taking over employment everywhere, is important and accessible, and should be considered by all employers. 

The trade union Unison will protect their members which could include Carers and Personal Assistants against employment issues  and represent them at court or at tribunals.  Many people apparently are ‘scared’ of taking up ILF funding because of their concerns over employing people in this ‘litigation’ mad modern world.

The Department of Health says that it publishes sources for direct payment recipients concerning first time employers, and their employees, where they could seek help, along with support and guidance from Independent Living Centres, Job Centres, the Independent Living Fund themselves, and from Local Authorities who provide support funding for ILF recipients.  It would appear to us that the ILF and Local Authorities have a duty to keep ILF receivers up-dated with legislation, but we cannot find any evidence so far of them doing so, although the ILF do annually issue leaflets to help their clients.  Employers can seek legal advice from solicitors or organisations such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Places of employment which ‘homes’ are when carers and personal assistants are ‘on-duty’ are subject to employment laws, health and safety, etc. just the same as an office for instance does, so its up to the employer to ensure that their ‘homes’ or ‘places of work’ are a safe environment to work in.  No wires trailing across floors, no ripped carpets, safe electrical devices, etc. etc. should be apparent.  Tasks such as climbing ladders should be avoided.  Accidents caused by the employee falling due to a hole in a carpet for instance will leave the employer open to be sued for perhaps compensation, loss of wages and damages.  If in doubt, seek help and advice from one of the agencies listed above before undertaking employment.

 PARKING CHARGES

We have all read recently of blue badge holders being charged in certain local authority areas for parking, even with a blue badge, and likewise, NHS hospitals also imposing charging for badge holders.  Then we had a period when some local authorities and NHS hospitals withdrew their ‘new’ charging polices following a deluge of complaints, but now slowly the charges are returning.  Is anybody asking why, blue badge holders should not have to pay like everybody else?  Nowhere in any of the regulations that govern the issue, and use of the blue badge, does it state that holders of such a badge are exempt from paying parking charges? NO, is the answer.  What the regulations do say is that holders of the badge are afforded certain concessions to assist them in parking which does not include not paying to park.  Following the complaints, ticket machines and barriers had to be replaced to allow access at cost to those operating the parking facilities as well as the employment of private car parking companies to supervise the affected car parks, this is what lead to the discover of the ‘free parkers’.

Supermarkets and NHS hospitals particularly are finding that their ‘free’ car parks are being used by workers and shoppers to park when normally they would have to pay to park.  Some cars are parked eight hours a day preventing patients and visitors from parking resulting in missed appointments, delays in visiting, etc. It is essential therefore that holders of a blue badge check to see if there are concessions available for them before parking, otherwise fixed penalty tickets up to £40 could be issued. 

Signage is another issue, many towns and car parks fail to display clear signage concerning blue badge parking whilst others provide adequate, understandable and clear signs.  Recently on a Sunday in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the writer could not ascertain from the signage available as to the status of a blue badge holder, was ‘on-street’ parking free with the use of the badge or not?  There appeared to be at least two parking systems operating even on a Sunday, residents parking and visitor parking, both these regimes were equally confusing by the signage made available, and parking attendants’ were also working.  The writer paid the parking meter to be on the safe side.   The situation found in Cheltenham unfortunately annoyingly repeats itself in many places.

GP’S PAID MORE FOR WORKING LESS

Family doctors in England are working less, but paid more after the introduction of a new contract failed to live up to expectations, MPs said.  The Commons' Public Accounts Committee report found that the 2004 deal led to fall in productivity and working hours, while pay for GP partners rocketed, but the MPs also pointed it out it has led to  rise in the number of GPs and a greater variety of services.

Ministers said they had already started to address the issues.  The report looked at the impact of the contract in England.  While the changes applied to all of the doctors in the UK, many of the problems have been most marked in England.  The report said over the first three years, the contract cost £1.8bn more than expected.  This was blamed on the government for underestimating the cost of providing out-of-hours care - GPs were allowed to opt out of weekend and night care under the terms of the deal - and the better than expected performance of doctors.  As we reported last month, ‘out of hours services‘, have been criticised for the services they provide, and patients normally working during the week are finding that doctors surgeries cannot be accessed during weekdays due to early closing, and are therefore forced to attend ‘out of hours’ clinics without being able to see their own GP.

Recent reports however indicate that more and more GP surgeries are opening to 8.0  p.m. and on Saturdays to accommodate patients.

COMPLAINTS DO NOT IMPROVE THE NHS

Vital lessons which could be learned from complaints to the NHS are ignored, a public spending watchdog says.  The largest ever review for  the system in England, by the National Audit Office, found "little evidence" that complaints improved services.  Most people dissatisfied with their care do not bother complaining formally. Ministers plan changes next year, but the committee chairman examining the report said it would be "no easy task".

Similarly-structured NHS complaints systems are in operation in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  They offer the chance that problems can be solved locally between the organisation and the person complaining, before independent reviews or ombudsman systems are called in.  Complaints are often confronted with a defensive and unhelpful response when on occasions a simple apology is all that required.

However, these local systems have been dogged with criticism for years, with accusations that they take too long to deal with problems, are overly complicated for the public, and foster a defensive attitude among staff.  The National Audit Office (NAO) report findings suggest that all these problems remain in evidence.  It says that even when someone does successfully navigate the system, there is no  guarantee that this will mean a better service for others.  The report complained that there was no formal means for any "lessons learned"  from complaints to be recorded so they could be shared with others.
Approximately 19 out of 20 complaints are concluded "locally", and three-quarters of these are dealt with within 25 working days.
NHS complaints which need to be reviewed by the independent  Healthcare Commission take an average of 171 working days.

For far too many patients say it is no 'service' at all. It lacks compassion, is bureaucratic beyond belief and takes far too long. This is not a 'service', it is a sham.  The Department of Health said it had significantly improved the speed with which the NHS dealt with complaints over the past year, but agreed that more needed to be done to ensure that lessons were learned from them. A spokesman said: "From next year, we are simplifying the system. Greater emphasis is to be placed on working with the complainant to resolve cases satisfactorily at a local level.  "We are also requiring NHS organisations and local authorities to publicise the complaints procedure and encourage people to use it.  "In addition, local organisations will publish information on the number of complaints received and how they have been dealt with."

We at the Law and Benefit Review offices know well the unhelpfulness of our local NHS Hospital Trust‘s, and the time taken to deal with issues.  We have likened it to tryng to extract teeth from an unwilling patient, but perseverance prevais in the end we have found.

BENEFIT CHANGES

A reminder that from the beginning of this month, the Incapacity Benefit will be replaced by the Employment Support Allowance [ESA] for all new claimants with existing claimants being affected in due time.  Two main differences will be apparent, one, a test for claiming the ESA and two, the need for people to move towards work.  People who are considered not to be severely disabled will be required to return to work, seek another job or retrain.  It will be a case of what you cannot do, but what you can do.

Initially, there will be a thirteen week period of qualification for the ESA, and during this period a basic payment will be made whilst the claimants ability to work is accessed.  Claimants who are found to be severely disabled would not be required to work and would receive a higher rate of the ESA allowance.  Those who have been asked to look for work, change jobs or retrain will be regularly interviewed to how their progress is performing.

These changes will affect initially new claimants in England, Scotland and Wales with separate legislation being introduced for Northern Ireland.

 NEW EQUALITY BILL

The Government plans during what’s left of this this year to produce a new and wide ranging Equality Bill to both combine and extend existing problems with disability, age, gender and race laws.

It is currently still ‘legal’ to refuse holiday insurance, or make huge big increases in the cost of cover,  healthcare, loans and even car hire to people over a certain age, which in itself is variable.  The proposed bill will also include both goods and services in its content.  The Bill is also expected to impose a duty on public organisations and authorities to totally ban discrimination and promote equality with services such as free bus passes to continue, but as we reported last month, this ‘service’  could be in crisis in some local authority areas.  Both Health and Social Care legislation is also being demanded by charities and again these new proposals will cover England, Scotland and Wales.

 CABBIES FEEL THE PINCH

Licensed taxi drivers in towns, cities and rural areas have been forced into increasing their fares following authorities approval, to deal with rising fuel charges, maintenance and licence fees imposed by those local authorities.  This is having an adverse effect on elderly and disabled people who use such means of transport to shop, collect pensions, visit hospitals, GP surgeries and clinics. 

Many cab drivers are retiring from the taxi/private hire business to seek employment elsewhere as they cannot make ends meet.  This will often mean that ‘accessible’ taxi vehicles will be taken off the road leaving many disabled wheelchair users stranded in their homes.  Rumours have it, that some ‘Dial a Ride’ Scheme are also feeling the pinch as the cost of fuel rises, and pensioners and those on state benefits can no longer afford the charges imposed for this service either.

Both rural, town and city public transport systems, if they exist, are often of no use to many serious disabled people, as they simply cannot access the transport due to their disabilities, and of course in many rural and countryside areas, there are no public transport systems at all.  So where does this leave those who totally rely on taxi’s and private hire?  Well stranded is the plain answer, unless they have sympathetic and available neighbours to offer lifts.  We can find no evidence that points to solving this problem, and now with the possibility of some bus passes being withdrawn or not renewed, transport could not look worse.  We have written to the Government asking for answers and we will report back in due course.

HOUSING ADAPTATIONS RECALLS

It would appear that many Local Authorities [LA] are apparently, and suddenly, ‘calling-in’  many Disability Facilities Grants [DFG] applications which are mandatory grants, which local authorities have a ‘duty’ to provide.  DFG’s are issued for adaptations of bathroom, ramps, access, etc. in disabled and elderly peoples homes.  It is very strange that this should occur at this time, when there is still six month’s to go for the 2008/2009 funding of a total of £149.5 m to end or be spent, and the Iceland bank - Landsbanki, where many local authorities have invested at least part of their investments, cannot, for the time being, return depositors savings.  This has clearly hit local authorities very hard - hence possibly the withdraw of DFG funding?

As a matter of interest, the Icelandic Landsbanki in London is a bank that was not registered with the Financial Services Authority [FSA] although the government local authorities say the government classed ‘Landsbanki’ as a triple ‘A’ bank for local authorities, even though the UK government or banking system has no control over them like banks registered with the FSA, and yet the government permitted local authorities to invest in this bank.

In February 2008, the bank offered 6.5% on instant-access savings accounts, which was the very top rate at the time, and even when the Bank of England dropped the UK bank rate at that time, the 6.5% ‘Landsbanki’ rate remained, so it was then presumably local authorities, NHS departments, charities, etc. invested their money to take opportunity of the high interest rate.

Local Authorities have a lawful obligation to provide Disability Grants - hence the name ‘mandatory’.  The fact they, the authorities, appear to be saying that they have no money or that the current years funding has been spent, does not excuse them from providing the mandatory grant, and have any important adaptations installed.  Our advice is to contact your local authority if you received a notice saying that your grant has been cancelled, and ask exactly what the state of play is, and why has it been cancelled. 

Is the funding being held back for possibly other reasons such as safeguarding council employees salaries for instance, as the press are now in October 2008 suggesting?  It would not be the first time that government funding provided to local authorities has been used for another purpose for what it was originally issued for by some local authorities, so following the Icelandic bank in London ’difficulties’ and where many local authorities have invested at least part of their funding, are they covering their backs?

In January 2008, Government announced £11.5m extra funding for the Grant Aid programme, which will be added to the existing £138m already promised for 2008/2009 for home adaptations.  The government said that hundreds of older and disabled people across the country will benefit from an extra £11.5 million for home adaptations to help them live independently in their homes.  The government continued that the funding will help councils ramp up their Disability Facilities Grant (DFG) programme until the end of March 2009.  The programme already helps around 35,000 disabled, and older people live safely and independently in their home each year by making adaptations such as wheelchair ramps, stair lifts and downstairs bathrooms.

We are dubious that a total of £149.5 m could have been spent between April 2008 and October 2008 - six months - by local authorities in England and Wales alone, unless there has been a massive influx of applications.  The figures do not add up.  The government says some 35,000 disabled and elderly people of England and Wales would benefit from the £149.5m, that’s an expenditure of approximately £4.270 per adaptation.  Frankly we do not think that this is possible bearing in mind that such grants are provided from relatively cheap bath and shower seats, cushions, hand rails, ramps, all the way up to complete shower units with tiling, plumbing, showers, taps, pipe work, labour, fittings, etc.

On February 26 2008, the Government issued a measure of ‘Package Changes to Modernise the [Disability Facilities Grant] Programme’.  The Government also issued other directives throughout 2008, such as Statutory Instruments [S I] 2008/1189 and 2008/1189 along with other similar information to Local Authorities concerning guidance for Disability Facilities Grants.

We, at the ’Disability Matters’ and ’Law and Disability Review Group are going to investigate this matter further with our legal advisers, as to the lawful obligations of local authorities to provide a Disabled Facilities Grant [DFG] to qualifying applicants.  In our minds, we feel that somewhere in the not so distant past, there was what is known as a ’stated case’ where an individual or a group of elderly/disabled people took a local authority to court for failing to provide DFG’s, in a similar way as a group of elderly and disabled people took Harrow Borough Council in London to court for failing to provide care at home to qualifying people.  We are bound to be airing this matter next month, so watch for more updates and information, as such issues affect the most vulnerable in our society.

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