I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act. This Freedom of Information request aims to understand how people with a terminal illness are supported to access timely home adaptations.
If some parts of the request cannot be answered within the cost limit, please answer as many questions as possible up to the cost limit. Please prioritise answering questions in relation to the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant and other expenditure under your Housing Assistance Policy, including discretionary spending on adaptations. We have also included a request for supplementary data from the Housing Revenue Account.
Please contact me if any further clarification is required. We would also welcome advice about how the FOI request could be refined to attain the remaining information.
If possible, please provide answers in a spreadsheet. To avoid exceeding the cost limit, please provide aggregated data rather than individual case files.
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Scope of questions
Unless explicitly specified, for the following questions, please include data from mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant and other expenditure and figures under your Housing Assistance Policy, including discretionary spending on adaptations. If possible, please also include Housing Revenue Account data for adaptations to your own properties as separate figures for each of the following questions.
Terminology
We have used the term ‘potential recipient’ to refer to the disabled occupant who will benefit from the adaptation. This is because a landlord may apply for an adaptation on behalf of a disabled occupant and the landlord may consequently be considered the ‘applicant’.
We have asked questions about whether potential recipients have a terminal illness. Some schemes refer to people receiving ‘palliative care’. For the purpose of these questions, please use these terms interchangeably.
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REQUEST
Adaptations approval and delivery time
1) What is the total number of applications for adaptations
A) received by the local authority and
B) how many of these applications were accepted by the local authority during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
2) What was the average time taken (in working days) from first contact about an adaptation to that adaptation being approved for
A) adaptations up to £1,000
B) adaptations between £1,001 and £15,000 and
C) adaptations over £15,001 during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
3) What was the average time taken (in working days) from the approval of
A) adaptations up to £1,000
B) adaptations between £1,001 and £15,000 and
C) adaptations over £15,001 to the completion of the adaptation during the period during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
Adaptations for urgent needs
4) Do you record whether potential recipients of adaptations have a terminal illness?
a) If yes, what are the eligibility criteria to being classed as terminally ill?
5) If you do record whether potential recipients of adaptations have a terminal illness, what is the total number of applications
A) received from or on behalf of potential recipients with a terminal illness and
B) how many of these applications were accepted by the local authority during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
6) Do you currently have a fast-track process in place to provide adaptations funding more rapidly to potential recipients with urgent needs?
a) Is terminal illness a qualifying criterion for access to the fast-track process?
7) What was the average time taken (in working days) from first contact about an adaptation to that adaptation being approved of
A) adaptations up to £1,000
B) between £1,001 and £15,000 and
C) adaptations over £15,001 for applications under the fast-track route during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
8) What was the average time taken (in working days) from the approval of
A) adaptations up to £1,000
B) adaptations between £1,001 and £15,000 and
C) adaptations above £15,001 to the completion of the adaptation for applications under the fast-track route during the period during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
9) How many adaptations applications were not completed because the potential recipient died following first contact about an adaptation and prior to the adaptation being completed during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
Means testing for people with a terminal illness
10) Does the local authority waive means-testing for potential recipients of adaptations with a terminal illness?
a) If yes, is this solely for potential recipients with a terminal illness or is it open more broadly?
b) If yes, up to what amount do you waive the means-test?
c) If yes, is it only waived to allow for certain types of adaptations?
Relocation Grant
11) Does your local authority offer a Relocation Grant or similar support? These are grants typically offered to help with moving costs offered by some local authorities as an alternative to adaptations where it is more cost effective or beneficial to offer a relocation than adapting a property.
a) If yes, to what value is the Relocation Grant available?
b) If yes, is the grant subject to a means test? To what value?
c) If yes, to which tenure types is the Relocation Grant available?
d) If no, has the local authority conducted any assessments (including an Impact Equality Assessment) or reviews on the benefits of offering a Relocation Grant?
12) If yes, how many Relocation Grants were issued during the following periods?
i. 01 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
ii. 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026
13) Do you have a different application and/or delivery process for the Relocation Grant if a potential recipient has a terminal illness?
If yes, how is the application and/or delivery process different?
