Better Care Fund
The Better Care Fund (BCF) is essentially a partnership between the Health and Social Care sectors, who the work with Local Authorities (Housing) to help the elderly and the vulnerable get the right assistance at the right time - helping people to be safe and live more independently.
With more than £7 billion allocated for this year (2022-23), it is the responsibility of NHS Clinical Commission Groups and local Councils to work and agree at local level, what the funding amount is and how it should be used.
It focuses somewhat on Social Care but also covers the housing aspect via DFG funding. The annual DFG budget makes up a part of the overall Better Care Fund allocation.
It is from the BCF that Local Authorities will often make use of discretionary funding that can be used to provide assistance outside of the mandatory DFG work. It allows more flexibility for Councils who can offer additional help outside of the conventional adaptations but also more collaborative opportunities.
Local Authorities will need to have a Private Sector Regulatory Reform Order Policy in place to apply for and spend discretionary money.
Collaboration
With the ever increasing need for home adaptations and improvements and the demands on Health & Social Care, we strongly believe there should be better collaboration and communication between organisations and services.
With a shortage of skilled workers to carry out this work we believe it offers the chance to streamline the process and would help to compliment some of the existing resources in any organisation.
We know there are various opportunities for collaboration and Steinwall are here to work and provide value, rather than to be seen as 'competition' as far as Local Authorities are concerned.
There are many challenges faced by the organisations involved in delivering adaptations and the interest for Steinwall is to see where and how we can help to reduce or eliminate these challenges, whilst adding value to Local Authorities, Housing Associations and other property owners.
Having previously worked for both Local Authorities and Housing Associations we have first hand experience in understanding the demands, the procedures and processes, policies and constraints that affect Housing and desire to have a significant, positive impact on the delivery of home adaptations.
In an effort to reduce waiting times for adaptations we believe collaboration can provide a fast and efficient service to those who need it most, allowing more people to be served over a period of time.