1. National Body for Home Improvement Agencies
Improving Delivery of the Disabled Facilities Grant
London HIA Network
Meeting October 2019

2. Agenda
• 9.55 Welcome and introductions
• 10.00 Fi Flowers, Specialist Adviser, Community Settings,
Macmillan Cancer Care
• 10.30 Laura Boothman, Senior Policy Manager, Versus Arthritis
• 11.00 Break
• 11.15 DFG Quality Standard – Overview
• 11.30 Dawn Draper, Quality Manager, Advice Services Alliance
& Liz Morris, Quality Manager, Recognising Excellence
• 12.00 Current Issues and Challenges for HIA/Adaptation
Services
• 12.20 Foundations Update
• 12.30 Close

3. DFG Quality Standard
•sets out what good looks like
•helps identify which parts of
your current practice could be
improved
•not about the mechanics of
managing DFG applications

4. Based on existing good
practice…..

5. DFG Quality Standard
• Does not set out how to process a statutory DFG application
• Built around 10 themes
• Based on good practice but intentionally brief
• Says what good means
• Reflective "Do you....?" questions
• Links to good examples or practical resources
• How to set up the “system”
• Started before the DFG Review and re-written since

6. 1. Commissioning
• Do you produce Joint Strategic Needs Assessments for
Housing?
• Do you have agreed joint strategies for action?

7. 2. Co-production
• Do you co-produce your policies and strategies for home
adaptations with the people who need them?
• Do you co-produce the design and specification of home
adaptation projects with the disabled person and their family?
• Service users are involved in reviewing and improving delivery of
services
• Could be as part of an advisory group / user board
• Satisfaction surveys and feedback are monitored and used to
improve delivery

8. 3. Public information
• Do you provide accessible, accessible, relevant and up to
date forms and guidance, available both online and in the
community?
• Do you also have an accessible contact point to find out
more information and start an application?
• Availability of assistance and support is publicised
• Good quality public information is designed in consultation with
disabled people
• GPs and community health workers are trained
• Initial point(s) of contact are well known, and include triage and
signposting

9. 4. Combined services
• Do you ensure that an assessment / application for a DFG
considers other services that may be available?
• AKA as a Home Improvement Agency

10. 5. Staffing
• Do you have housing and occupational therapy staff in the
same team and same location?
• Do you identify a key worker as the main point of contact
throughout the process?
• Do staff have opportunities for training and networking?

11. 6. Timescales
• Do you publish expected timescales as part of their service
standards, and monitor and report on their actual
performance?
• Do you record the NHS Number with every DFG
Enquiry/Referral?
• Linking housing and health data allows correlations to be identified

12. 7. Assistance Policy
• Do you publish a Housing Assistance Policy?
• Current Housing Assistance / RRO policy that addresses:
• Works costing more than £30k*
• Use of the test of resources*
• Hospital discharge
• Appeals process (not fettering discretion)
• Appropriate (minimal) bureaucracy
• Review process
*addressed as part of the DFG Review

13. 8. Tenure neutral approach
• Do you ensure that all residents have equal access to home
adaptations, regardless of tenure?
• Protocols in place with housing associations
• Awareness raising with private landlords

14. 9. Housing Options
• Do you provide advice on housing options?
• Do you have an up to date Register of Accessible
Properties?
• Do you provide access to services that provide practical and
emotional support to disabled people choosing to move
home?

15. 10. Value for money
• Do you understand and measure the Social Value of
adaptations?
• Do you have an efficient and timely process for pricing and
ordering adaptations?

16. How to use?
•Self-assessment – DFG Quality
Standard checklist
•To structure service review –
Westminster CC
•To inform service improvement
plans

17. Common areas for improvement
• DFG is not an integral part of a local strategy for housing,
health and social care
• Home adaptation services are not co-produced with disabled
people
• Lack of accessible public information on how to access DFG
• Lack of coordination between initial contact, assessment and
application process
• Occupational Therapists and housing staff are based in
separate offices and work independently of each other

18. Common areas for improvement
• DFG applicants do not know how long their application is
likely to take
• There isn’t a published Housing Assistance / RRO Policy
• The quality of service you receive depends on the tenure of
your home
• There’s no information or support for people who might want
to move instead of adapt
• There’s a separate tender process for every grant application.

19. HIA Quality Mark
• Originally designed as a passporting
assessment for the Supporting People QAF
• Focus on organisation and structure
• HIA Quality Mark acts as a feeder
qualification for onward progression to
obtain the Advice Quality Standard (AQS)
•

20. HIA Quality Mark
• Covers ten key objectives of a Home Improvement
Agency’s work
• Agencies must provide evidence that they are
undertaking specific activities and the impact of
those activities
• Assessed by Foundations
• Awarded for two years

21. 10 QM Objectives
Objective 1: Minimum services from an HIA
Objective 2: Assessment and support planning
Objective 3: Duty of care to clients and staff
Objective 4: Fair access, diversity and inclusion
Objective 5: Privacy and confidentiality

22. HIA Quality Mark
• Covers ten key objectives of a Home Improvement Agency’s
work
• Agencies must provide evidence that they are undertaking
specific activities and the impact of those activities

23. 10 QM Objectives
Objective 6: Listening to your Customers
Objective 7: Forward Planning and Finance
Objective 8: Staffing
Objective 9: Case / File Management Policy
Objective 10: Governance and High-Level Strategy