How to apply for a Prevention Assistance grant
Check that you're eligible for the grant
You must be eligible under the Care Act and this eligibility is determined by The Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2015 as follows:
An adult’s needs meet the eligibility criteria if they arise from or are related to a physical or mental impairment or illness, and they are unable to achieve two or more of the following outcomes without assistance, and as a result, there is or is likely to be a significant impact on their wellbeing:
- managing and maintaining nutrition
- maintaining personal hygiene
- managing toilet needs
- being appropriately clothed
- being able to make use of their home safely
- maintaining a habitable home environment
- developing and maintaining family or other personal relationships
- accessing and engaging in work, training, education, or volunteering
- making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community including public transport and recreational facilities or services
- carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child
The adult is also considered unable to achieve the above outcomes if in doing so without assistance, they:
- experience significant pain, distress, or anxiety
- endanger or are likely to endanger the health or safety of themselves or others
- take significantly longer than would normally be expected
How to make an application
Where a relevant health or social care professional believes that a Prevention Assistance Grant is necessary to prevent delayed discharge from or admission to hospital, care home, or other similar establishments, they should arrange for the necessary application form to be completed. Although the application form has sections that the referring professional needs to complete, they cannot be the applicant themselves and must arrange for the applicant section of the form to be completed by the client who would benefit from the works. In some circumstances, the client may not be able to do this, in which case a family member may act as the applicant on their behalf instead.
There are two options for making applications:
Apply online
As the online application form contains both the sections that need to be completed by the referring professional and the section for the applicant to complete, it is best suited for situations where the professional is completing the form online in the presence of the client or their representative.
Download an application form
Where the application form is being completed by the referring professional and the applicant separately, at different times, and therefore a paper version is required, then the referring professional should download the Prevention Assistance grant application form (PDF) and complete section B onwards. They should then arrange for the applicant to complete Section A.
Consent for works
Consent for the proposed works is required from the owner of the property that would be affected. Where an online application is being submitted, the applicant can provide this consent during the application if they are the property owner, or provide details of the property owner for a request for consent to be sent where they do not own the property themselves.
Where a paper application is being submitted, the referring professional should download the Prevention Assistance grant owner’s consent form (PDF 11.3KB) 
, add the address and works to the form, and then ask the property owner to complete the remainder and sign.
Submitting downloaded forms and quotations
Once the referring professional has the completed and signed forms, they should scan and send them by email to psh@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
Please note that email is not a secure medium. We strongly recommend that you encrypt your form and send us the password in a separate email.
In order for works to be completed as swiftly as possible, we would encourage referring professionals to submit quotations for the works, or at the very least a specification of sufficient detail to enable us to obtain the required quotes.
Who to contact
Telephone: 0300 300 8767
Email: psh@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk