Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with Arthritis have adequate access to (a) aids and (b) adaptations that enable them to live independently.

We know that aids and adaptations can greatly enhance the quality of life of older and disabled people, including those with arthritis, in addition to supporting them to be as independent as possible in their own homes.

The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) supports disabled people, on low-incomes, to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs. Funding had already increased year-on-year, rising from £220 million in 2015-16 to £431 million in 2017-18. The Autumn Budget 2017 provided an additional £42 million for the remainder of the 2017-18 financial year. The grant is £468 million in 2018-19 and funding will rise further to £505 million by 2019-20.

An independent review of the DFG has recently completed. It assesses how the DFG is currently working, and makes evidence-based recommendations on how it could change in the future. It also considers wider adaptations issues including how the DFG might need to adapt to the changing aids and adaptations market and whether it could support the adoption of new innovations and technology, and new designs. The Department of Health and Social Care, together with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, is carefully considering the recommendations and next steps.

Personal health budgets are another way the National Health Service is giving people more choice and control of the services they receive. Personal health budgets can be spent on a range of things agreed as part of a care plan, including community equipment such as aids and minor adaptations.