WAIT TO ADAPT HOMES FOR DISABLED ‘TOO LONG’
Council set to look how to improve service
A REVIEW will look into why disabled people are having to wait too long to have their homes adapted.
Stoke-on-trent City Council aims to complete 85 per cent of disability adaptations within five to 24 months, depending on their type.
But the latest figures show that just 66 per cent of the works were completed on time between October and December, and officers do not expect the target will be hit in 2023/24.
A total of 73 adaptations were completed during the latest period.
Councillors have now agreed to carry out a review into the issue and look at how the service can be improved. Senior officers told the housing, development and growth scrutiny committee that the council was receiving increasing numbers of requests for major adaptations.
Carol Gibbs, director of housing, development and growth, said that these works often took longer due to the need for design work, procurement and for planning permission to be secured.
Cabinet member Chris Robinson added: “The need has gone up so much, and as everybody knows the cost of materials and things like that have gone through the roof. At some point, we’re going to have to look at whether the amount we’ve put into the pot is enough. It does seem as though we’re chasing our tails to keep up, as demand is outstripping supply all the time.”
Committee member Diane Williams asked whether the delays could be reduced if homes that had already been adapted were matched to families needing those adaptations. She said: “I’m aware of a few people in my ward who need adaptations and they’ve been given the waiting times, and it is ridiculous, because obviously there are people higher up the list. Given that we’re getting more complicated needs, what extra resources do we need to put in place?
“Also, what information do we have on properties that have been adapted? If someone moves out of a property after it’s been adapted, there must be some way of matching needs and properties.”
Adrian Scarrott, assistant director for housing, said the council aimed to do this, but that an appropriately adapted house becoming available at the right time and in the right area did not happen as often as they would want. He added: “We are reviewing adaptations because we are conscious that we’ve got this situation where we have increasing demand, increasing complexity and it’s more expensive because of inflation. We put some more money into the pot recently, but we’ll have to review whether that will be enough, looking forward.”
The committee agreed to work with the adult social care scrutiny committee on the review into disability adaptations.