Summary: Ms X and Ms Y complained about how the Council dealt with their disabled facilities grant application. There were faults by the Council for its delays with their disabled facilities grant application and for its poor communication with them. This caused injustice to Ms X and Ms Y. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X and Ms Y complained the Council delayed in providing a disabled facilities grant for a through floor lift at their property. As a result, Ms X and Ms Y experienced avoidable distress, frustration, and avoidable difficulties using the stairs in their home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have exercised discretion to investigate matters from June 2021 to March 2024. This covers the period from when Ms X first contacted the Council about the disabled facilities grant (DFG) until when the Council completed the adaptations in their property. There is good reason for Ms X to complain to us after 12 months because the complaint suggests the process of applying for a DFG has taken a protracted length of time and the complainants are vulnerable.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have discussed the complaint with Ms Y and considered the information Ms X and Ms Y provided. I also considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries.
7. I sent Ms X, Ms Y, and the Council a copy of my draft decision and considered all comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Disabled facilities grants

8. Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) are for people with a qualifying disability who need adaptations in their home to help them remain in their home. DFG are provided under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
9. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. These include enabling the disabled person to access their home and essential facilities within the home.
10. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, appropriate for the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.
11. The process of applying for a DFG usually requires:

• An assessment by an occupational therapist or other qualified assessor to identify the person’s needs;
• A schedule of works setting out the adaptations to meet the identified needs. Complex adaptations might also need plans or technical drawings;
• Quotes from at least two contractors for the cost of the works; and
• Certificates and approvals from both a tenant and a landlord, where the applicant is a tenant, or an owner's certificate if the applicant owns their own home.

12. When the Council has all the necessary information, the formal grant application is complete. The Council should decide a grant application as soon as possible and must do so within six months.
13. The statutory timescale does not begin until the Council receives a complete application. However, government guidance sets out expected timescales for progressing an application and completing the works.
14. The guidance gives the following timescales:

• Urgent and simple works – 55 working days
• Non-urgent and simple works – 130 working days
• Urgent and complex works – 130 days
• Non-urgent and complex works – 180 working days

(Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) Delivery: Guidance for local authorities in England 2022)

15. Works should be completed, and grants paid within 12 months of an application being approved.

Key events

16. Ms X and Ms Y (daughter and mother) live together. They both have health conditions which affects their mobility. Ms X is a wheelchair user.
17. In June 2021, Ms X contacted the Council due to a decline in her health and mobility. Ms X explained the risk and difficulties she was experiencing using the stairs in their home. She asked the Council for an occupational therapist (OT) assessment and how to apply for disabled facilities grants (DFG) for a through floor lift to be installed in their property.
18. In February 2022, an occupational therapist (OT) assessed Ms X’s needs. The OT recommended a major adaptation for a through floor lift to be installed in Ms X and Ms Y’s property via DFG.
19. In mid-March 2022, the Council sent Ms X a DFG application form. The Council received Ms X and Ms Y’s DFG application form in April 2022.
20. In September 2022, Ms Y chased the Council for an update on their DFG application.
21. A contractor completed a survey and produced a through lift floor plan to the Council in October 2022. The Council allocated Ms X’s case for a bid/offer in December 2022.
22. In late January 2023, the Council approved Ms X’s DFG application. The Council’s approval letter stated the adaptation works should be completed twelve months from its approval date. It advised Ms X and Ms Y to instruct contractors to start the works and that the Council would pay the DFG upon completion of the adaptation.
23. In February 2023, Ms X said two different contractors visited their property. Ms X said she informed the Council about the contractor that offered their preferred type of through floor lift which was suitable for both a wheelchair user and a standing person.
24. In May 2023, Ms X and Ms Y chased the Council again for updates since the contractors’ visits in February 2023. The Council emailed the contractor and asked for any updates about the through floor lift installation at Ms X and Ms Y’s property. The Council did not receive a response from the contractor.
25. When Ms X and Ms Y received no updates about the installation, they made a formal complaint to the Council. They said it had been 2 years since they initially applied for DFG, but the Council had failed to install the agreed through floor lift in their property. They said their individual health conditions and mobility had worsened and it was more difficult and dangerous for them to use the stairs in their home.
26. In July 2023, Ms X said a contractor informed her it would arrange for a new lift to be installed at their property. She said she told the Council the type of lift the contractor specified was unsuitable to meet her needs.
27. In the Council’s responses to Ms X and Ms Y’s complaint, it said:

• there was an eight-month delay with completing an OT assessment
• there were further delays with arranging a quote to install a through floor lift, approving the DFG and placing an order
• it chased up the contractor in May 2023 for the lift installation but failed to subsequently monitor and escalate the matter when it received no response from the contractor
• as of July 2023, that the through lift had been ordered and said it would take between eight to ten weeks to get it delivered and installed
• there were differences between the OT measurements of the lift and those taken by the lift surveyor
• it therefore needed to re-visit and review both Ms X and Ms Y’s current and future needs before it made a new order for a suitable through floor lift
• once the relevant information / measurements were obtained, it would take approximately eight weeks for the lift to be ordered and installed
• it apologised to Ms X and Ms Y and it said it would offer them a payment of £200 in recognition of the impact its delays caused to both of them.

28. The Council said to reduce future delays and waiting times, it would:
1. recruit additional staff
2. review the way specialist adaptations were ordered
3. arrange an external provider to carry out OT assessments on its behalf.
29. In November 2023, the Council confirmed after further measurements were completed, the OT recommended a two-person through floor lift to be installed in Ms X and Ms Y’s property. The new recommended lift was suitable for both a wheelchair user and a standing person.
30. In January 2024, the Council said due to the change of lift, the lift installation company needed to complete a new technical survey and complete final checks before it could provide an installation date. The Council said it would inform Ms X and Ms Y when the technical survey would be conducted and subsequent progress on the lift installation.
31. On 15 March 2024, the Council installed the through floor lift in Ms X and Ms Y’s property.

Analysis

32. The Council was at fault in how it dealt with Ms X and Ms Y’s DFG application. It took longer than the legal timescales set out in paragraphs 12, 13 and 15 and far longer than the suggested good practice guidance in paragraph 14 to deal with this case.
33. There was an initial eight-month delay as the Council has said in its complaint response for it to arrange an OT to assess Ms X’s needs for the DFG application. This period covered from June 2021 when Ms X first contacted the Council about the DFG process to when an OT assessed Ms X’s needs in February 2022.
34. Similarly, it took the Council nine months between when it received Ms X and Ms Y’s completed DFG application form in April 2022 until when it approved their application in January 2023. Therefore, there was a further three‑month delay by the Council.
35. Between February 2023 to March 2024, I find the Council lost sight of Ms X and Ms Y’s case. The Council failed to take control of its contractors to ensure the case progressed satisfactorily.
36. The law requires councils to take no longer than 18 months from the start of the DFG process to completion of the works. It took the Council a total of 33 months to complete the DFG process in Ms X and Ms Y’s case. This was a significant delay of approximately 15 months, and it was fault.
37. There was further fault by the Council for its poor communication with Ms X and Ms Y during the DFG process. Evidence shows they chased the Council for updates on their DFG application over a considerable period when it failed to keep them informed. This was fault.

Injustice

38. I note the Council has apologised and offered to pay £200 to Ms X and Ms Y to acknowledge the impact its delays had on both of them. However, I do not consider these remedies are sufficient and proportionate to remedy the injustice caused to Ms X and Ms Y in line with our guidance on remedies.
39. The Council’s delays and poor communication caused avoidable distress, uncertainty and frustration to Ms X and Ms Y. They both have a downstairs toilet, but their bedrooms are upstairs and so the injustice is avoidable discomfort and risk for Ms X who is a wheelchair user. Ms Y also has conditions which affect her mobility, and this made using the stairs uncomfortable and difficult for her as well.

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Agreed action

40. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following within one month of the final decision:

• apologise in writing to Ms X and Ms Y to acknowledge the injustice caused to both of them by the Council’s failings as identified above. The apology should be in accordance with our guidance, Making an effective apology
• provide evidence of the £200 payment the Council made to Ms X and Ms Y in recognition of its failings
• make Ms X a symbolic payment of £3,000 (15 months at £200 a month) and Ms Y a symbolic payment of £2,250 (15 months at £150 a month) to recognise the injustice caused to them as a result of the Council’s identified failings. These payments are in line with our guidance on remedies. The Council can deduct any payments already made to them
• provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the service improvements (listed in paragraph 28) the Council has put in place to prevent future delays as mentioned in its responses to Ms X and Ms Y’s complaint
• share a copy of this decision with staff in the relevant departments to identify lessons learnt from Ms X and Ms Y’s complaint
• by training or other means remind relevant staff of the importance of communicating effectively with service users and in a timely manner about their DFG applications and explain the stages of the DFG process
• provide the Ombudsman with an action plan to demonstrate how the Council will prevent significant delays for dealing with DFG applications and completing agreed and suitable adaptations for service users.

41. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

42. I find evidence of fault by the Council leading to injustice. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman