Disclosure Log

Riser Recliner Armchairs (FOI/7211)

Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 16 February 2026

Dear *********                                                                   

Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI/00007211

Thank you for your email of 2nd February 2026 where you requested information about Riser Recliner Armchairs. The response to your request is provided below.

In your request you asked:
 

  1. For your local authority area can you confirm who provides your community equipment service  British Red Cross
 
  1. If outsourced, how long is the provider contracted for

ICELS is a Partnership run on behalf of Nottingham City Council, Notts County Council and the ICB for the whole of city and county of Notts.
We commission The British red cross to provide this service to anyone assessed as needing equipment who live within the borders of Nottingham City and Notts County.
The service is Hosted by Notts County Council, so all FOI’s related to this service are responded to vis the Notts County Council FOI leads.
The most recent service tender was awarded in April 2023 to The British Red Cross on a framework agreement with contract term of 5+5 and possibility of further extension if all parties are happy to continue.

 
  1. Are riser recliner armchairs available through your community equipment service
    1. If yes, what is the eligibility criteria  See attached
    2. If yes, what make and model are supplied RR are not a standard catalogue item and can only be provided following assessed clinical need in line with eligibility criteria and agreement of the ICELS Specials Panel decision making process.
 
    1. On average what are the timescales from referral to delivery
 
      1. 1 - 2 months
      2. 2 - 3 months
      3. 3 - 4 months
      4. 4 - 5 months
      5. 5 - 6 months
      6. 6 months +

City Council: The current OT waiting time for non-urgent referrals for the City Council is 5 months. Supply of the seating will then depend on whether it is stock item, a refurbished piece of equipment or there is a need to put through a request for a special order. For stock equipment the delivery would be less than 1 month, for refurbished equipment it would take slightly longer as a submission would need to be made to panel for the equipment, taking it possible to 1- 2 months. If it is a special order this could take longer as visits with reps are required, followed by a panel application and then an equipment order placed with the appropriate company.
                             Health and County Council: prescriber wait times is similar to City.
                            
ICELS: ONCE a request is received into ICELS, if approved ‘Out of Panel’ it can be supplied in around 1-2 weeks. If a request has to go to panel and further clarification information is requested, it might be a month to be supplied. If we have to bring in a new purchase from an alternative supplier, then its dependant on supplier lead times so could be 2-3months

 
    1. If yes, how many riser recliner armchairs were supplied in 2024 and 2025 As all specials equipment/non-standard seating requests are handled via the ICELS process all requests are recorded in spreadsheets to provide an audit trail. The service handles over 1500 requests each year.

Time period                                                                                              Total seating requests considered
Apr 2024 to March 2025              228 riser recliners supplied                    475
Apr 2025 to Feb 2026                   265 riser recliners supplied                   480 so far this year

 
    1. If yes, how much do you pay per unit This information is exempt under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act, commercial interests. After applying the public interest test, we have concluded that the release of the information you seek is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the authority and contractor.
 
  1. How many individual funding requests have you considered for seating (in 2024 and 2025) We consider postural seating and riser recliners, numbers above.
 
  1. If your community equipment service doesn’t provide seating, what is the process for a resident who is assessed as needing a riser recliner armchair N/A
 
  1. Would your local authority be interested in re-using/refurbishing equipment such as riser recliner armchairs if it was available for local collection  We already collect and refurbish equipment and supplied seating within the service very successfully.


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

The Complaints and Information Team
Nottinghamshire County Council



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