ADASS responds to DHSC’s Disabled Facilities Grant funding boost

Responding to the Disabled Facilities Grant announcement, ADASS CEO Sally Burlington said:

“The Disabled Facilities Grant allows people to maximise their independence and try to stay in their own home for longer, and additional funding is of course positive news. But the reality is that it’s impact will be limited without also investing in occupational therapy support.

“Our members tell us that occupational therapy services who are administering the grant still face multiple challenges such as increasing demand, lengthy administration processes including unnecessarily lengthy paperwork, restrictions on what the money can be spent on, and limits to how much can be spent per person meaning local authorities can’t support people quickly enough with this grant.

“As a matter of urgency, we ask government to review the statutory disabled facilities grant framework, complete and publish its review of the £30,000 upper limit and means test criteria, and better resource occupational therapy to ensure the grant can go further to improve people’s health and wellbeing.”