The government could have saved nearly £48 billion in social care costs over five years if it had funded all the work needed to make disabled people’s homes more accessible, according the Disability United website.
The calculations have been made by Disability United’s editor Fleur Perry, who made the calculations after finding a reference to research carried out by Isle of Wight Council (pages 16 to 18).
The council concluded that for every £1 invested in the disabled facilities grants (DFG) scheme, a council could save more than £7 in social care costs over the next five years.
Fleur Perry then found Department for Communities and Local Government research from 2011, which concluded that “the total amount required to cover [DFG] grants for all of those who are theoretically eligible under the current rules” in England was £1.9 billion.
Over the last five years, annual spending by central government on DFGs has ranged from just £180,000 to £220,000.
Fleur Perry made her calculations by adding up the annual excess demand for DFGs from disabled people and multiplying that by the potential savings that could have been made if that work had been funded.
She points out that these are rough calculations and do not take account of a range of other factors, such as rising prices, an ageing population, and top-up DFG funding provided by many local councils.
But she suggests that the estimated cost savings could be even higher than £48 billion because her figures only examine social care costs, and do not include NHS spending caused by preventable falls or other accidents in inaccessible homes, the impact on other services, or the long-term, knock-on effects on the health and wellbeing of disabled people and carers.
Disability United has now launched a petition on the UK parliament website, calling on the government to fund fully all of the annual need for DFGs and “make sure that every disabled person eligible for a Disabled Facilities Grant will get the support they need to make their home safe and suitable”.
For further information see Government ‘could have saved £48 billion on social care’ with full funding of DFGs available @ http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-could-have-saved-48-billion-on-social-care-with-full-funding-of-dfgs/
You can sign the ‘Make sure all disabled people can have the adaptations they need’ petition @ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/163379
For more information about disabled facilities grants see our factsheet @ http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/housing-grants