Issue - meetings

6.1       The Board considered a report on the Better Card Fund (BCF) Plans for 2023-25 which includes allocated funding of around £180 million over the next two-year period. It is one of roles of the Health and Wellbeing Board to approve Better Care Fund Plans. The Board asked a number of questions which are summarised below.

6.2       The Board asked about some concerns that have been expressed regarding delays to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) process, especially in relation to those people in social housing, and whether these problems had been resolved.

6.3       Mark Stainton responded that the problems have not been resolved completely, but the nature of the challenges and issues are different across the five District and Borough councils who administer the scheme. The County Council has the responsibility to identify the need and then the relevant District or Borough council will work through the DFG process. Hastings Borough Council has recently agreed some additional resources to speed up the grant process. A separate issue has been delays around getting permission from landlords to carry out adaption work and some social landlords will deny permission where they deem the property to be under occupied. This is not something the County Council has influence over but is happy to support councils such as in Hastings where this may be a particular problem.

6.4       It was clarified that the County Council and District and Borough councils have influence over the parts of the process that are under their control, such as obtaining contractors to carry out the work. However, this can also be another cause of delays as it can sometimes be difficult to secure a building contractor to carry out the adaption work.

6.5       Councillor Andy Batsford confirmed that Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has agreed additional resources to speed up the DFG process and remove delays. However, obtaining owner or landlord permission remains a challenge, particularly with social landlords who have reservations about adapting properties and would rather move people. HBC is also looking at securing some additional Occupational Therapist resources from the East Sussex County Council (ESCC) Team to speed up the process.

6.6       Mark Stainton commended HBC for allocating additional resources to the DFG process and clarified that the DFG process under discussion was for adults and there is a different process for children. He commented that he is aware of number of questions that the Leader of HBC has raised about the DFG process and is putting together a response to those questions.

6.7       The Board RESOLVED to:

1) Note the Better Care Fund requirements for 2023-25; and

2) Approve the East Sussex Better Care Fund Plans for 2023-25 recognising the 2024/25 plans are subject to review later this year.