An Ombudsman has ordered Salford city council to pay £500 and apologise to a woman for delays and poor communication over the authority’s handling of her disability grant. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found that the local authority’s failings caused the woman and her family ‘considerable inconvenience and distress’.
Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for ‘certain adaptations’ and must be satisfied that the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs and is ‘reasonable and practicable’.
The woman, referred to as ‘Mrs X’ in the Ombudsman’s report has a disabled husband, ‘Mr X’, who has care needs. She contacted the council in 2019 asking for a needs assessment for her husband and a review of their housing.
