PENDLE Council has become the first local authority in the country to set up a scheme to help families with disabled children.

It has agreed to pay costs for adaptations needed to homes which house a disabled child.

Currently, parents of a disabled child applying for a 'Disabled Facilities Grant' are means tested.

This normally means they have to pay a contribution to the cost of the adaptations, which they often cannot afford, leaving the child having to cope without.

But Pendle Council has now decided to give extra help and pay the parents' contribution to allow more families to benefit from a Disabled Facilities Grant.

Mental health charity MENCAP is campaigning to abolish the means test in England and the move by Pendle Council has been welcomed by other disabled pressure groups.

A spokesperson for the Disabled Rights Com-mission said: "Pendle Council is leading the way and setting the standard here.

"We hear of a lot of families who have disabled children who are suffering real hardship and having to be means tested for basic help is unfair.

"For the council to recognise their difficulties is welcome news and should go some way to lift the burden that these families already face."

Coun Sonia Robinson, Executive Member for Urban Renewal, said: "Adaptations to a home for a child with a disability can be very complicated and expensive and many parents cannot afford to pay their share of the cost under the rules of the Disabled Facilities Grant scheme.

"Councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have abolished the means test.

"Councillors felt that we could, in the interim, help even a small number of families if we offered to pay parents' share of the costs under the Disabled Facilities Grant scheme."

The grant covers adaptations, necessary to meet an individual's needs which are identified by an occupational therapist's assessment.

People who feel they could benefit from adaptations to their home first approach Social Services who arrange for the assessment.

For further information, contact Matthew Pearson, Home Improvement Manager, Urban Renewal, Pendle Council, Town Hall, Albert Road, Colne, Lancashire, BB8 0AQ. Tel: 01282 661121, e-mail: matthew.pearson@pendle.gov.uk