Care & Repair Cymru responds to Older People’s Commissioner Report on state of Disabled Facilities Grants in Wales

Care & Repair are pleased to read the report from the Older People’s Commissioner highlighting the urgent need for improvements to the delivery of Disabled Facilities Grants across Wales.  

The research published today by the Older People’s Commissioner helps prove what we know anecdotally: that older people are waiting too long in this system to receive adaptations that are essential for their continued independence and dignity at home.

The report finds that the average end-to-end waiting time for DFGs across Wales in 2024-25 was 370 days. This includes the time from referral for an OT assessment to the completion of adaptation works. This is too long to wait for essential support. People living in Ceredigion waited the longest at 692 days, whilst Torfaen had the shortest waiting time of 119 days. Care & Repair caseworkers have been highlighting long waiting times, especially in some areas where DFG funding runs out early in the financial year meaning people are put on a waiting list for the next financial year, or where needs increase between an OT assessment and works starting due to such long waits.

Chris Jones, Care & Repair Cymru’s Chief Executive said: “Data shows that over 75% of Disabled Facilities Grants are for people aged over 60. It is therefore worrying to see that waiting times for DFGs have increased significantly over the past five years, since the focus on measuring waiting times nationally in Wales ended.”

Although Wales is often described as having a ‘complicated’ adaptations system, without the development of different funding streams for different adaptations, even more older people would be waiting too long for the support they need. Care & Repair’s Rapid Response Adaptations Programme is highlighted as an example of good practice in the report. Last year we delivered nearly 25,000 small adaptations to help support safety at home and prevent accidents at an average cost of £170. These adaptations are completed within two weeks, meaning older people quickly get the support they need. There is also a triage system in place for urgent works, such as those needed facilitate safe hospital discharge. Crucially, the Rapid Response Adaptations Programme provides a pathway to remove smaller works from the DFG system, freeing up capacity to focus on larger works where the DFG is the principal funding option.

The last national adaptations data available is for 2020-2021. Likewise, DFG waiting times haven’t been published since 2019. We believe one of the first steps to improve DFG waiting times in Wales is to reintroduce the publication of DFG waiting times, and bring national data on adaptations up-to-date to reintroduce accountability and ensure policy decisions are led by up-to-date evidence.

You can read the full report on the Older People’s Commissioner’s website

If you need support to continue living safely in your own home, please contact your local Care & Repair