Bury Council is facing a funding crisis for Disabled Facilities Grants according to local Lib Dems. Figures obtained by Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South reveal that over £1,500,000 of grants are either waiting for approval or approved and not yet paid.

“This is a serious issue with serious consequences for those waiting for these important grants” Said Vic D’Albert, adding, “These grants are essential to enable people with severe disabilities to adapt their properties to enable them to live as independent and full a life as possible. Often these involve proving basic ground floor facilities. These figures show that Bury is heading for a financial crisis with these grants, and are stalling over payments more and more in an effort to keep payments down. If the Council does not address this issue sooner rather than later we will see an escalation in the number of disabled people suffering longer and longer as a result.”

The Council had a budget for the year of just over £1.1m but already have applications totalling £1.53 not paid on top of £418,713 already paid this year. On top of these outstanding applications there are a further 34 cases that have now been marked as medium or low priority.

This backlog of grants follows on from the recent high profile local case of Mr Westwood of Whitefield, a double amputee and constituent of Vic D’Albert, who had to wait over 10 months for his grant. In another instance a mother with a 5 year old autistic child approached Vic D’Albert after being told by a council officer that “the council couldn’t afford to do the work yet – could they find the £29000 necessary and the council pay them back later”.

“I find it intolerable that in an effort to meet the budget that has been set at the beginning of the year, that Bury Council is effectively stalling on providing much needed adaptations. We are not talking luxuries here, these are essentials and needed immediately not in 10 months or a years time. I expect Bury Council to respond to this crisis with a detailed strategy as to how they plan to deal with this problem in a way that meets the demands of disabled residents.“

“It’s stressful, hurtful and frankly insulting for people to be treated this way. Bury Council needs to get a grip of the situation immediately.”