5 September 2012 - East Devon District Council

e) Date for Review of Decision
Annual review.
1 Introduction
1.1 EDDC tendered for an HIA service following a Best Value Review in 2001 when it
was considered that the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant work could be more
effectively and efficiently provided by an external Agency rather than through an ‘inhouse’
grants officer team in the Environmental Health Service.
1.2 Anchor Staying Put successfully provided the HIA service in East Devon up to
2006.
1.3 In 2005 Devon County Council’s Supporting People team initiated discussions to
develop a Devon-Wide Home Improvement Agency Contract, to commission an HIA
service from one provider across the whole of Devon except for Plymouth and
Torbay. The partnership included Health, all District Council’s and Social
Services/Supporting People.
1.4 The contract identified 7 Service elements of which 2 elements Repairs and
Improvements and Major Adaptations (including Disabled Facilities Grants) were
the District Council functions.
1.5 The contract was competitively tendered and Devon and Cornwall Housing
Association (DCHA) were successful and set up Devon Care & Repair (DCR). In
2010 DCHA re-organised and created Independent Futures to manage all the
support services, including Home Improvement Agency services.
1.6 In 2008 there was a formal multi-agency review of the contract which identified a
number of fundamental problems with the single contract approach. In particular the
review identified that a ‘one size fits all’ contract does not reflect the very different
client and commissioner needs across a county as large and diverse as Devon.
1.7 In 2009 joint improvement plans were designed by the commissioners and service
provider to try to address some of these problems and to secure agreement for
continuation of the single contract approach post April 2011. In the latter part of
2010 DCC advised that there would be no extension to the contract. There has
been no alternative contract developed by DCC or DCR to continue to provide the
same services for EDDC or other District Councils. The decision not to renew the
contract was influenced by savings to the Supporting People budget.
1.8 There is a mandatory requirement on this council to carry out an assessment of
each client who receives a Statement of Need from the Occupational Therapist
(OT) to ensure that what is considered ‘necessary and appropriate’ in terms of
adaptations to the home and is ‘reasonable and practicable’. There is also a
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