Another day, another upheld complaint about Disability Related Expenditure (DRE)...

Our Financial Assessments Trainer, Jan Hinks, discusses Disability Related Expenditure and our brand new workshop.

"It feels like most days now that I am seeing another upheld complaint about Disability Related Expenditure (DRE). The result is that the complaint is rightly upheld, due to the Local Authority not having a clear policy around DRE.

The Ombudsman reminds us that it is not their role to question our decisions, but our decision-making process.

Get your policies right, and your appeals should be dismissed; if they get that far at all. I know that, as budgets get tighter, Local Authorities look for new ways to increase their revenue. Often, the way to do that is to increase income from Service Users. This leads to punitive decisions being made around DRE, that don't always make sense.

 Assessments, reassessments and appeals are costly and time-consuming. If you are guessing, you'll be reassessing!

Living with a disability can be expensive. There are additional financial burdens that can significantly impact individuals and their families. Disability-related expenditures encompass a wide range of costs that are essential for maintaining quality of life, ensuring accessibility, and receiving necessary care and support.

That's why there is a real need for Local Authorities to stop and think about their policy and how it should be applied in their local area.

You don't have the time or the resources for these complaints and appeals, so, where do you start? You start with YOUR policy:

• What do YOU do? • On what evidence do you rely? • On what evidence do you base your costings? • How do you consider what a reasonable cost is for your area? • How do you communicate the outcomes to the service user?

There is a real need to support Local Authorities to have the tools to produce a fair and consistent policy, that is easy to follow and easy to communicate. A policy that is agile and can adapt to change. And, finally, a policy that supports the most vulnerable in society to ensure they can afford their service user contribution."

If you are interested in starting this journey towards a comprehensive policy that you can be proud to support, then you might be interested in our new DRE workshop, launching in September 2024.