Housing Adaptations: Options for Change and Improvement - An Analysis of Consultation Responses

1 introduction and approach

Introduction

1.1 This report provides an analysis of responses to the independent Adaptations Working Group’s consultation on options for change and improvement to the future organisation and funding of housing adaptations for older people and disabled people.

1.2 The consultation is set out in a document published by the Scottish Government in June 2012^[1].

1.3 The Scottish Government has a longstanding policy of ‘shifting the balance of care’. This means enabling disabled people and older people to live independently in their own homes, instead of in hospitals or care homes. A Wider Planning Working Group was established to explore issues in relation to independent living. The group completed its final report in 2010, identifying housing adaptations as one of the key services supporting older people to live independently. In February 2011, an independently chaired working group was established to consider whether fundamental change to the organisation and funding of housing adaptations across all tenures is required and to make recommendations to the Scottish Government by September 2012 (now amended to October 2012).

1.4 The Group’s membership is drawn from a broad range of stakeholders and includes organisations representing both older and disabled people, housing organisations, COSLA and the College of Occupational Therapists.

1.5 The consultation sought views on the future organisation and funding of housing adaptations in Scotland. The consultation document sets out ten questions regarding the housing adaptations framework. It comprises a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions and is based on five themes:

• Views on the current arrangements for housing adaptations (questions 1 and 2);
• Views on proposed streamlining changes to improve current arrangements for delivering adaptations (question 3);
• Views on approaches to organisational delivery (questions 4,5 and 6);
• Views on funding approaches (questions 7,8 and 9); and
• Views on the consequential changes and other issues relating to the future delivery of housing adaptations (question 10).

1.6 The analysis of these responses has been undertaken by ekosgen on behalf of the Scottish Government Communities Analytical Services.

The Consultation Process

1.7 The consultation document went live on 31^st May 2012, with the closing date for responses set as 27^th July 2012.

1.8 In addition to written responses submitted electronically or in hard copy, six regional events were held which were based around obtaining feedback on the proposals. Three of these were held in June 2012 and attended by nearly 50 people from local authorities, housing associations care and repair, disability and other organisations. Three other events took place in August 2012, organised by Capability Scotland and involved gathering feedback from service users of which around 40 people attended. This report summarises findings from both the written responses and the events.

1.9 The completed questionnaires comprised responses from a variety of different organisations and individuals as set out in the table below.

1.10 The vast majority of the responses provided to the written questionnaires were from organisations involved in housing adaptations. Only 3 written responses were received from service users and there were few responses from representatives in the health and social care sector. The findings of the report therefore largely represent the views of organisations and not individual respondents and should therefore be used accordingly. Feedback was obtained from 40 service users during three consultation events and the views expressed from service users are outlined in chapter 7.

Analysis Methodology

1.11 Firstly, the data from the completed questionnaires was inputted into an Excel database of responses. The next stage involved analysing the responses to each of the ten qualitative questions. These were reviewed and for each proposal a thematic framework was developed to code the responses to the qualitative questions according to key themes emerging. The key emerging themes and arguments behind these were then presented in this report. The report outlines where there were clear differences in the views of different types of respondents. The views expressed during the three consultation events for organisations were reviewed and where these were not reflected in the questionnaire responses, these were highlighted within the text. Separate sections are provided which summarise the findings from the three service user consultation events.

1.12 For the quantitative elements of the questionnaire, a tick box response form was not provided. Consequently, some respondents did not directly answer all of these quantitative questions with a yes/no response. Where this occurred, a judgement was made, where possible, regarding the answer provided by the respondent in light of the respondent’s overall answer.

1.13 The report has attempted to provide a balance between summarising the key themes from the consultation responses, as well as highlighting the range of views expressed. Some of the responses are provided by bodies who represent a number of individuals, groups, local authorities or housing association. No weighting has been given to reflect this and so the percentages quoted should just be used as a guide to the range of responses provided. It is therefore important that where appropriate, the full written responses should also be reviewed when formulating policy in response to the findings set out in this report. This is particularly important where bodies represent a large number of individuals or groups.

Report Structure

1.14 This report is structured around the analysis of responses to each of the key issues set out within the consultation document as follows:

• Chapter 2 - Views on Current Arrangements
• Chapter 3 - Views on Proposed Streamlining Changes
• Chapter 4 - Views on Approaches to Organisational Delivery
• Chapter 5 - Views on Funding Approaches
• Chapter 6 - Views on Consequential Changes and Other Issues
• Chapter 7 - Views of Service Users
• Chapter 8 - Summary and Conclusions

1.15 The consultation questionnaire is provided as an annex.