A disabled man from Reading has received a £3000 payout from the council after failings were exposed in his attempt to funding for modifications for his home.

Issues for the man began August 2018, when he applied for Disabled Facilities Grant to make adjustments to his home, which are provided by the council.

At that time, an occupational therapist (OT) said he needed a new ramp for accessing his home, repairs to his bathroom, and adaptations to his kitchen.

Councils have a statutory duty to give these grants to disabled people for adaptations, but the council must be satisfied that it's necessary, reasonable and practical.

But the works still hadn't been done some three years and eight months later.

The whole process should have taken 150 days, however the man had to wait a whopping 920 days for the council to approve the works.

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He also had difficulty with his care plan, which was reviewed in September 2019.

The man disagreed with the plan, stating that it is not accurate, and called for changes.

Problems arose in November 2019 due to a dispute between council staff and the man's advocate, who was accused of being intimidating and aggressive in communications a month earlier.

That prompted the council to no longer meet or speak with the man if the advocate was present.

The council blamed the delay on changes to work recommended by the OT, difficulties in visiting the man after it decided not to work with his advocate, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the man disputed these excuses and complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) which began investigating in April.

The LGO report refers to a review into whether the man needed adaptations recommended by the OT.

However the report states: "Even allowing for time taken to agree whether he needed a ramp or a step lift, and the re-design of the kitchen adaptations, I consider the Council delayed by at least 629 working days in progressing his application for a Disabled Facilities Grant."

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As for his care plan, the council did conduct a review in November 2021, but that was done without any involvement from the man in question, meaning it does not reflect any changes to his condition.

The LGO judged that the care plan should have been reviewed  by December 2020, at the latest.

They recommended that the council pay the man £3000 and apologise, as it found fault with the delay in the disabilities facility grant and the issuing of the care plan.

The payments will be made in £100 monthly installments to reflect the 30 month delay.

However, the LGO did not find fault with its decision to not work with the man's advocate, its decision not to amend the 2019 care plan, or fault with the council for hiring an independent investigator to examine the complaint.

For its part, a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: "The Council fully accepts the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.”

“We have apologised to the man and paid £3,000 compensation in recognition of the distress caused.”