Disabled Preston children in 'appalling' situation over home modifications, councillor claims

The majority of Preston families who need to adapt their homes to help them care for disabled children face “significant shortfalls” in the financial support they will receive from the state, it has been claimed.

A meeting of Preston City Council heard that 21 households with children who have complex needs are currently awaiting the outcome of applications for disabled facilities grants (DFGs) from the authority.

The Liberal Democrat main opposition group at the town hall warned that the funding provided would be insufficient in most cases - and blamed a recent policy change in Preston that reduced the maximum amount that could be awarded from £50,000 to £30,000.

However, the Labour administration defended the new cap, claiming that it enabled more people to receive help under a scheme that had previously been running out of money in the first half of each year.

Local authorities receive national funding to distribute means-tested DFGs in their areas. They are obliged to pay out up to £30k to eligible applicants - a figure that has not increased since 2008 - but they can choose to make discretionary ‘top-up’ payments beyond that amount.

Lib Dem deputy group leader Cllr Fiona Duke brought forward a motion calling for that approach to be reinstated in Preston after cabinet members voted last November for it to be dropped.

“These families often require a modest extension for a wetroom and a downstairs bedroom, but £30,000 won't cover that these days,” she said.

Cllr Duke told the meeting the story of an 11-year-old Preston girl who is severely learning disabled, doubly incontinent and non-verbal as a result of a rare genetic condition.

She said the cost of the wetroom and downstairs extension recommended by an occupational therapist was £72k, but the family had received only £30k in DFG and, even after a significant contribution from their landlord, were still £20k short.

“I am appalled that a family in Preston in such a desperate situation is not getting the help that they need from this council,” Cllr Duke said.

Responding to the criticism, cabinet member for health and wellbeing Cllr Zafar Coupland said she was “totally sympathetic” to the case raised - and said the ruling group had put an extra £500k of local funding into the DFG pot at last month’s budget.

She said the revised policy was intended to give more Preston residents “more of an opportunity” to apply for DFGs - and stressed that there were adult applications that also had to be considered, alongside those made on behalf of children.

“We just don't have enough money to make [discretionary payments],” Cllr Coupland added.

In the 2024/25 financial year, DFG in Preston was overspent by almost £294k - an amount that had to be clawed back over the following 12 months. The decision to end to discretionary payments was taken in order to avert another overspend in 2025/26.

The annual DFG budget in Preston for each of the next four years is expected to be £2.1m - excluding the £500k boost added for 2026/27.

During a testy debate in which claims of political gameplaying abounded, Lib Dem group leader John Potter accused Labour of having enough money “to mess around with a bank”, but not to put it into DFGs. That was a reference to a decision taken earlier in the meeting to commit £750k to help establish the new North West Mutual community bank, which is to be headquartered in the city.

In turn, Labour council leader Matthew Brown branded the Liberal Democrats hypocritical for bringing their motion during the pre-election ‘purdah’ period - when controversial matters are not usually determined - having criticised Labour for deciding on the bank funding during the run-up to next month's city vote.

He said he was “open to a conversation” with Cllr Duke about DFG outside of the council chamber, adding: "Obviously we’re not without compassion…but we are dealing with recovering from 14 years of austerity - and we can't do everything that we'd like to do within this council."

Conservative group leader Harry Landless said his immediate instinct was to want to “wave a magic wand” to “help these families out” - but he added he recognised the situation was complicated and that there had been some “commitment” from Labour to look into it further.

The council’s lone Reform UK member, Stephen Thompson, echoed that sentiment, but accused the Lib Dems of raising individual residents’ issues for “political reasons”.

The motion was defeated by 22 votes to 15, with five abstentions.