Helping People with Disabilities to Stay in Their Own Home - £400,000 More for Home Adaptations and Improvements

Amongst the decisions taken at the recent Council Executive meeting, I'm pleased to report that we committed an additional £400,000 for home adaptations and improvements which help people with disabilities live comfortably and independently in their own home. We allocated the funding from the early achievement of budget efficiency savings in the current year, and those savings will make a real difference through improvements which enable people to move around their own home more freely and to use essential facilities.

By enabling people to stay in their own home and retain their independence, the improvements funded by these 'Disabled Facilities Grants' help to make an extremely positive impact on people's health and wellbeing.

Examples of the sort of modifications funded through the grants include installing a stair lift or providing a downstairs bathroom; installing ramps or widening doorways for easier wheelchair access; or adapting heating and lighting controls to make them easier to use. Just in glancing over that list, you can instantly start to understand what a difference these adaptations can make to someone's life day in, day out, and how they can be the difference between enabling someone to stay in their home and having to go into residential care. I'm therefore very pleased that we've been able to increase support for this important area, and now we must get on and ensure the extra work is carried out as soon as possible for those who need the grants.