Disclosure Log

DFGs, care costs, and social care involvement (FOI/6012)

Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 08 July 2025

Dear *****

Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI/00006012

Thank you for your email of 16 June 2025 where you requested information about disabled facilities grants.

The information, which can be disclosed, is:
 
Section 6: Panel Use in DFG Decision-Making 
6AAre panel meetings currently routinely used to decide if a DFG adaptation is “necessary and appropriate”Yes
   

The following information is not held by Nottinghamshire County Council:
 
7CAre cases triaged or prioritised (e.g. by risk, urgency, or complexity)
8ADo you (or partners) use Trusted Assessors (e.g. trained caseworkers, technical officers, etc) to carry out assessments for adaptations
8BIf yes:
  • What types of cases are they used for
  • How do they work alongside OTs or OTAs
  • What training and supervision is in place

The district and borough councils in Nottinghamshire may hold the information you are seeking as they lead on these elements of disabled facilities grants.  If you have not already done so, then you may wish to write to:
 
  • Ashfield District Council, Urban Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, NOTTINGHAM, NG17 8DA or [email protected].
  • Bassetlaw District Council, Queen’s Buildings, Potter Street, WORKSOP, S80 2AH or [email protected].
  • Broxtowe Borough Council, Council Offices, Foster Avenue, Beeston, NOTTINGHAM, NG9 1AB or [email protected].
  • Gedling Borough Council, Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, NOTTINGHAM, NG5 6LU or [email protected].
  • Mansfield District Council, Civic Centre, Chesterfield Road South, MANSFIELD, NG19 7BH or [email protected].
  • Newark and Sherwood District Council, Castle House, Great North Road, NEWARK, NG24 1BY or [email protected].
  • Rushcliffe Borough Council, Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, West Bridgford, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 7YG or [email protected].

The remainder of the information that you requested is exempt under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  This comprises the answers to:
 
Section 4: Social Care Contributions to DFG-Related Costs  
4AIn the last full financial year, did your social care department contribute to any DFG-funded adaptations where:
  • The total cost exceeded the statutory upper limit
  • The applicant had a means-tested contribution they could not afford
yes/no
4BIf yes:
  • How many cases in each category
  • What was the total value of these contributions
  • Under what duties were the contributions made (e.g. Care Act, Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act)
What is the decision-making process for agreeing such contributions
Section 5: Use of DFG Funds for Other Social Care Capital Purposes 
5AIn the last full financial year, has your local authority used any of the local DFG allocation for other social care capital purposes under the Better Care Fund rulesyes/no 
5BIf yes:
  • What was the amount used
  • What was the funding spent on
  • Was this included in your local Better Care Fund Plan
 
6BIf yes:
  • What percentage of DFG cases are considered by a panel
  • What types of cases usually go to panel
  • Who attends the panel
 
Section 7: Waiting Lists for Assessment 
7AAs of 1st April 2025, how many people were waiting for an assessment following a request for equipment or adaptations  
7BWhat is the average and longest wait time (in weeks) from referral to assessment  
       

From our preliminary assessment, it is clear that we will not be able to answer your request without further clarification.  Under section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), a public authority need not comply with a request unless any further information reasonably required to locate the information is supplied.  If a request is too broad or general in nature, then public authorities have a duty to provide advice and assistance to the applicant in order to focus the request.

In order to provide you with the information on the scale that you have requested would require us to manually review around 2,000 referrals for Disabled Facilities Grants in the time period requested.  This is because we have no automated reports that would provide the information that you have requested.

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450.  This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

We estimate that it will take us in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in reference to your request.  Therefore, your request will not be processed further.

You may wish to refine your request by narrowing its scope by being more specific about what information you particularly wish to obtain, including any dates or period of time relevant to the information required.  You may find this information on how Disabled Facilities Grants are provided in Nottinghamshire useful https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/care/adult-social-care/social-care-publications/disabled-facilities-grant.

Your privacy: we use your personal information such as name and address so that we can comply with our legal obligations to respond to FOI requests.  For further details about the use of information about you, please see the information handling privacy notice on our website at https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/4323566/informationgovernanceandinformationrightsprivacynotice.pdf.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review.  Internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of receipt of the response to your original request and should be addressed to: Complaints and Information – Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 7QP or [email protected].

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, WILMSLOW, SK9 5AF or https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/foi-and-eir-complaints/.

Yours sincerely

Colin Sawers (He/Him)
Information Case Officer | Customers, Complaints and Information
Chief Executive"s Department | Nottinghamshire County Council
County Hall | Loughborough Road | West Bridgford | NOTTINGHAM | NG2 7QP
Tel: (0115) 977 3714