I'm told many of these benefits ARE NOT means tested and people should not be coming into your home demanding to see your bank statements.Hi Alan,
Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) are MEANS TESTED, but it seems individual Local Authorities seem able to set their own parameters about the Maximum Grant, and savings.
I agree that Social Workers cannot demand to see your bank statements, but showing them might be the lesser of various other evils.
There is also a clause about NOT divesting yourself of assets, in order to make yourself entitled.
Google explains that LAs cannot afford to pay these mandatory grants. I feel sorry for the LAs ... just a little. The feeling does not seem to be reciprocated.
You have seen photos of the aluminium ramp that Social Services provided for Barbara's wheel chair to use the front door. Their first attempt was 1:5 gradient, but Barbara's buggy's anti-tip rollers grounded, lifted the driving wheels. The came back with longer ramp giving a 1:7 gradient, which the buggy can manage, but I am unhappy walking down it. I believe that such a ramp should not be steeper than 1:12, but that is the maximum slope of a
landing between staircases (see Building Regulations). I can find no definitive grade mentioned for Disabled Access ramps in the Building Regs.
Our builder relieved us £8,000 to replace the Social Services ramp, by lifting the brick laid drive to door threshold level, with a negligible gradient ... but that included moving the complete uPVC door frame out by three inches, and dropping it
down the front of the door step ... and laying bricks over the area across front of the bungalow ... you've seen the photos.
My builder left it to me to get rid of the excavated "spoil" ... neighbours departing with wheel barrows full of top soil ... leaving me to fill a 6 yard skip, plus a 1 yard Hippo bag. Luckily, my daughter dragged a crew in from her office (International Banks HQ in MK). One bloke had done similar work before getting into finance ... he went home to fetch a bigger shovel.
Observation ... a Hippo bag only makes sense if you can get away with just one bag. More than that, renting a metal skip makes sense, providing you can fill it in the allotted time. (2weeks?) I did not investigate the penalty for exceeding the time limit. I believe the Local Authority charge £15 for a licence to place the skip on the highway ... for two weeks?
I stiill need holes dug for at least six fence posts (2m high fence, 2.4m long posts), and am confident that my builder will leave me with the spoll.
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