Considered – A joint report of the Corporate Director for Health and Adult Services and the Corporate Director for Community Development, setting set out proposals for changes to the delivery model of Minor Adaptations Services from a mix of commissioned and in-house provision to a solely in-house model supported by DFG funding. The proposal included:
· Cessation of the Council’s commissioned Minor Adaptations service and an expansion of the existing in-house provision to cover the whole of North Yorkshire from April 2024.
· Use of the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding to deliver the materials and labour costs of the service where funding permits, alongside Council funding, noting that a full review of how DFG is deployed would be carried out which in an effort to further maximise the grant and reduce the pressure on the revenue budget.
Councillor Simon Myers introduced the report and confirmed that Scarborough District Council and Ryedale District Council had for some time both successfully delivered their own in-house service and noted that rolling out the proposed changes in service delivery would save money and deliver a better service.
Executive Members welcomed the proposal recognising it was the first transformational activity to show economies of scale and the benefits of being a unitary authority. They also noted the further work planned to maximise the grant as detailed in section 8.9 of the report.
Having considered the report, the Executive
Resolved – That:
i) The provision of a commissioned Minor Adaptations Service be ceased as from April 2024
ii) Community Development begin detailed work to mobilise a Countywide Minor Adaptations service from April 2024
iii) The use of DFG funding to support the service be continued.