Decision details

That Cabinet:

1.    Accepts the additional allocation of £67,398 Disabled Facilities Grant funding for 2025/26 received from Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and:

a.    Approves the use of £32,946 to contribute funding to a 21-month extension of the Good Home Alliance advice and casework service from 1 July 2026 to 31 March 2028, funded in total by Lincolnshire District Councils and LCC contributions and hosted by East Lindsey District Council; and

b.    Approves the use of £34,452 to support the delivery of DFG and, where appropriate, Discretionary Housing Financial Assistance (DHFA).

2. Approves amendment of the Council’s capital and revenue budgets to reflect the above decisions and as set out in financial section of the report

The Lincolnshire Good Home Alliance provides information and signposting – via the Good Home Lincs resources, hosted on Connect to Support Lincolnshire – and additional advice and casework support for more vulnerable clients, where additional assistance is required to address housing condition issues.

The advice and casework pilot is funded by participating Lincolnshire councils for a 2- year pilot period to 30 June 2026. The Centre for Ageing Better has funded an independent evaluation of the pilot period, to provide an evidence base for further development of the Good Home Hub model, both locally and nationally.

Evaluation of the first year of GHA delivery indicates that the benefits of the service and model are potentially high. Positive effects in terms of reduced hazards and greater client wellbeing began to appear as the first cases were closed, and the flow of benefits is now accelerating. In the next phase of the evaluation, evaluators will collect more robust evidence on the type and magnitude of benefits, including importantly reductions in public-sector costs, to inform a more detailed cost-benefit analysis.

Overall, however, evaluators note that the experience of the first year suggests that the advice and casework service represents good value for money. A final evaluation report, covering the full 2-year pilot period, is expected in September 2026.

The additional in-year DFG allocation announced by Government in February 2026 provides sufficient funding to meet South Holland District Council’s identified contribution whilst maintaining existing DFG and DHFA delivery.

Engagement with participating council leads has identified support for continuation of the current service model for a further 21 months to 31 March 2028, and retention of the incumbent advice and casework officers within ELDC.

1)     (‘Do nothing’) To allocate the total additional DFG funding for received 2025/26 to support the delivery of DFGs and where appropriate, DHFA.

This option does not deliver against the SHDC commitment to support the delivery of identified actions within the Lincolnshire Homes for Independence Blueprint for people to live independently, stay connected and have greater choice in where and how they live.

This option does not support the continued development of the work that has been undertaken between the Centre for Ageing Better (AB), Lincolnshire County Council (LCC), and all participating Lincolnshire District Councils to deliver against a key recommendation of the AB Good Home Inquiry “- placing a duty on local authorities to ensure every authority has a local ‘Good Home Agency’, a public-facing hub providing access to information and advice, finance schemes, and a range of home improvement services including maintenance and repair, accessibility adaptations and energy retrofit”

2) To allow the pilot to cease on 30 June 2026 at the end of the current funding period and consider reestablishing the service and model on receipt of the final evaluation report in September 2026.

This option would see a loss of skills, knowledge and experience gained during the initial pilot period due to fix-term contracts ending, and result in significant service disruption to existing recipients and partners of the Good Home Alliance. GHA evaluators have noted that caseworkers have proven to be adaptable and effective practical problem solvers, having been able to build relationships of trust with clients, which has often required significant time and patience. The skillset developed by caseworkers in the first year is identified by evaluators as one of the project’s biggest assets.

None.