Southampton Centre for Independent Living

Ian Loynes and Robert Droy from SCIL recently attended the first session of the Hampshire Personalisation Commission. Throughout the day, we discussed with members of the audience how they felt about the Commission and their observations of the first session.

Firstly without wishing to be overly negative, the format and acoustics of the venue was not particularly accessible for many of the participants. There was no sign language interpreter at the session but we presume this would have been provided if an participant had requested it. We were also disappointed with the lack of diversity amongst both the commissioners, witnesses, and the audience in general. ‘White, middle aged, and middle class’ was one comment we heard.

Despite the session being entitled ‘People and Carers’, out of the 7 people who gave evidence, 3 people were actually ‘professionals’ who gave lengthy presentations which were followed up by questions. Their evidence, whilst useful, may have been better suited to a later session.

In contrast, the ‘people’ and ‘carers’ were asked to give very brief presentations with no opportunity for the commissioners to question them further. We feel this was a missed opportunity to really capture from the ‘users’ themselves why personalisation was so important. This part of the evidence was summed up by the Commission Chair as ‘moving’ and ‘uplifting’. Whilst these comments were well meaning, they were construed by many as slightly patronising and not viewing the evidence on an equal level as the evidence given by the other witnesses.

The round table discussions in the afternoon were found to be much more successful but unfortunately were only open to a ‘select’ group of invited guests. Some of the common themes have however been summarised in a document on the Hampshire Personalisation Commission website, along with much of the other evidence and presentations at each session.

The next session is on June 12 and you can apply for tickets for that session until May 20 by visiting the website or by calling 01962 833 040. Leave your name, telephone number and address and they will post an application form to you

Thanks to NCIL for passing on this information.

The Coalition on Charging is a group of organisations chaired by the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL). The coalition was established to campaign against the current system of charging for community care services.

The Coalition members include: NCIL, Age Concern, Scope, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Disability Alliance, Alzheimer’s Society, People First, Mind, Radar, the Alliance for Inclusive Education, Counsel and Care, United Kingdom Disabled Peoples Council (UKDPC), Action for Blind People, Royal National Institute for the Deaf, Arthritis Care, British Polio Fellowship, Carers UK, Equalities, Help the Aged, the Parkinson’s Disease Society, Mencap.

The Coalition is writing an up to date report, highlighting the current situation with charging for care, to ensure that the issue is on the government’s agenda when looking at the future of social care.

Our survey:

As part of the report we want to include feedback from people who are affected by charging. We have developed a survey that will be used to help the Coalition on Charging produce good information.

The report is aimed at the Department of Health and Government. A Government consultation (‘green’) paper on reform is due out sometime in 2008.  The Government has said that it ‘believes that there are real opportunities for reform within a system that shares the cost between the individual and the state’.

However, in our view, it is very important that they look at the effects on people of the current charging system and hear the views of people who are currently being charged for their support.

In order that we can include your views please can you respond to this survey by May 1 2008.

Please fill in the question on personal details. It is important for us to know your age as adult services are often provided for ‘adults’ and ‘older people’. We will not pass on any personal information and will make all responses anonymous in the report.

The Coalition has one set of survey questions for individual people who need support and their carers. There is a separate set of survey questions for organisations representing people who need support and representing carers. Please fill in the right survey.

You can download them here:

charging-survey-for-individuals

charging-survey-for-organisations

If you are involved in a forum or network, if you were able to discuss this issue that would be very useful.

The survey is for all adults in England who use (or have used) local authority social services for support in their own home. This includes people who use (or have used) direct payments. It does not include people who use residential care services.

This survey is aimed at all disabled and older people who use community care services.

We apologise for the short amount of time given to return the survey but we hope you will be able to give us your views.

Please send your completed survey by May 1 2008 to NCIL,  Fourth Floor, Hampton House, 20 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ or to policy@ncil.org.uk or fax to 0207 587 1663

Both Disabled People and Local Authorities were shocked by the Independent Living Funds’ decision to raise the amount that local authorities have to contribute towards a person’s support package before they are entitled to ILF funding.

From April 1 2008, new applicants will need to be receiving at least £320 per week of local authority input. This is an increase from the current threshold of £200 per week.

Existing applicants will not be affected unless they request an increase in their support needs. In this case the ILF will expect the local authority to increase their input to at least £320 per week. Existing applicants will be able to request an increase due to an increase in the cost of the support e.g. a change in the hourly rate without being subject to the new £320 per week threshold.

The ILF are also tightening up their rules on backdating payments as well as prioritising applicants in paid employment and applicants on Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance and Pension Credit Guarantee.

 Of course, many Disabled People are asking why the ILF has made this sudden decision. According to the ILF, since summer 2006, there has been a 27% rise in applications and therefore a change in policy was necessary, The ILF also claim that 53% of current applications already meet the new £320 per week threshold. They also point out that the threshold of £200 per week has remained the same for the past 15 years. 

Local authorities have been sent reeling from the news and some local authorities have prioritised new ILF applications in the hope of beating the April 1 deadline.

With SCIL’s AGM just around the corner, SCIL are pleased to release their annual report for 2006/2007. As you will see, it has been yet another rollercoaster of a year with some low points but also some real signs of optimism for the future.

We are just about to start phase 2 of our redevelopment of Unity 12. Once completed, we will have fully accessible conference room facilities, in addition to extra office space that will be let to like-minded organisations.

Anyway, I don’t want to reveal all the hidden gems you will find in the annual report. Give it a read, you might find it more interesting than you thought - just click the link below.

SCIL’s Annual Report 2006 - 2007

The above file is a PDF file so you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer and it may take a few seconds to download.

Southampton Centre for Independent Living, an organisation run and controlled by Disabled People, wish to recruit a Disabled Person. 

Direct Payments Support Worker 37.5hrs per week, £20,893 - £22,292

An exciting opportunity to support, train, inform and advise disabled people to organise their own personal assistance arrangements through the use of Direct Payments.

The geographic area you will cover is negotiable.  Posts require an ability to travel unaided or with assistance. A training and induction package will enable you to develop your skills. You will have the opportunity to make a difference to other Disabled Peoples’ lives.

This job will suit any Disabled Person committed to the principles of Independent Living and the Social Model of Disability. Experience of providing advice and information to Disabled People would be an advantage.

SCIL is committed to the principle of equality of opportunity. We particularly welcome applications from Disabled People who are also members of minority groups. All posts are open to job share.

For application packs, or an informal chat, please contact Robert at SCIL, Unity 12, 9-19 Rose Road, Southampton, SO14 6TE Tel: 023 8033 0982, Textphone: 023 8020 2649, Fax: 023 8020 2648 E-mail: robert@southamptoncil.co.uk

Returned application forms to be received by Monday 17th September  

Well, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun. It doesn’t seem a year ago that we decided that a blog on the SCIL website might liven things up a bit. 

Over the last year, we covered a whole range of different issues affecting Disabled People’s lives,  from Inclusion to Direct Payments to Relationships. There has been 71 articles posted and 40 people have commented on the blog. Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the last year. We’ve had nearly 7000 hits over the year which is really encouraging.

Developing the blog into a useful resource has taken some time but we now have a host of information with a sprinkling of pictures which helps break up the text. We also now have a Jobs page on the blog so that Disabled People who are looking for Personal Assistants can advertise free of charge. We are also constantly searching for new websites and blogs that you may find useful. Any suggestions are gratefully received.

Linked to the SCIL Blog, we recently launched a SCIL Chat Room and a SCIL Message Board. We are hoping, like the blog, that they will grow in popularity as time goes on. Anyone can use them so give it a go.

To celebrate our first anniversary, we are at last including videos on our blog. This first video is just a bit of fun but we hope to include more informative news clips as time goes on.  All you need to do is click on the arrow in the middle of the video screen and it will start playing. Enjoy!

SCIL has been working hard over the past couple of months to develop its presence on the Internet. Although we are very aware that some people do not have regular access to Internet, we feel that it is important that SCIL continues to promote itself as a leading voice within the Independent Living movement and the website is one way that we can do that. 

 It is also important that the SCIL website encourages interactivity with its readers and therefore we have recently launched 2 new developments:

SCIL Chat Room

SCIL has now its very own chat room for any issues relating to Independent Living, Direct Payments, Self Directed Support etc. Anyone can participate no matter where you live. We hope to host various events on there such as an online Direct Payments Peer Support Group. Other ideas would be welcome.

Also we might be able to use it to network over various campaign issues on a national basis. We will be shortly paying £15 per month for the chat room so it would be good to see if we can find some good uses for it. Anyway, you can try it out by clicking here 

SCIL Message Board / Forum

SCIL has also launched its own message board. This means that you don’t necessarily have to be online at the same time as other people. You can post your thoughts / comments / queries on the board and other users can reply at their leisure.

You can access the message boards by clicking here.

At the moment, we have a board for General Chat and News, Direct Payments, Campaigning and Travel and Transport. Other suggestions would be welcomed. 

With all these developments, we are learning as we go along so please do let us know if you experience problems or need assistance. You can contact Robert on 023 8020 2639 or email Robert@southamptoncil.co.uk 

Peer support is a core element of the work we do at Southampton Centre for Independent Living. Indeed the organisation was set up in 1984 with the main aim of Disabled People supporting fellow Disabled People. That is why we believe that Direct Payments Support Workers must be Disabled People and preferably Direct Payments users themselves.  

Over the years we have set up a number of peer support groups with varying degrees of success. Barriers such as lack of accessible venues, scarcity of accessible public transport and difficulty securing PA support to attend the meeting have hampered our efforts however we are pleased to report that we now have popular peer support groups running in Eastleigh and the New Forest. Both groups are always eager for new members so why not come along? Venues and dates are shown below and we hope groups in Fareham and Petersfield will start very soon.

Peer support groups are a great way to meet other Disabled People to discuss any issues to do with Independent Living. You don’t necessarily have to be on Direct Payments to participate.

Another exciting move is that SCIL have opened an online chat room where we plan to hold regular peer support group meetings for people who have access to the Internet. One advantage of this is that people don’t need to worry about access, transport or PA support, they just need to turn their computer on. If you want to try out the SCIL chat room, then just click here 

We hope that these developments both in the ‘real’ and the ‘cyber’ world will benefit Disabled People across Hampshire and help strengthen our commitment to peer support.

Future Dates of Peer Support Groups are as follows:

23 August and 21 September at Wells Place in Eastleigh 2.30pm – 4pm Contact Maureen on 023 80202641 or email Maureen@southamptoncil.co.uk 

20 September in New Milton contact Berni on 023 80202630 or email Berni@southamptoncil.co.uk to confirm time and venue 

4 September Online Peer Support Group in SCIL Chat Room 2.30pm – 4pm Contact Robert on 023 80202639 or email Robert@southamptoncil.co.uk to receive an invite.   

Southampton Centre for Independent Living, an organisation run and controlled by Disabled People, wish to recruit a Disabled Person. 

Independent Living Support Worker (Recruitment) 37.5hrs per week, £20,893 - £22,292

An exciting opportunity to support, train, inform and advise Disabled People to recruit their own personal assistants and maintain a register of Personal Assistants in Southampton.

Post require an ability to travel unaided or with assistance. A training and induction package will enable you to develop your skills.

You will have the opportunity to make a difference to other Disabled Peoples’ lives. This job will suit any Disabled Person committed to the principles of Independent Living and has the ability to develop and expand the project.

Experience of providing advice and information to Disabled People would be an advantage.

SCIL is committed to the principle of equality of opportunity. We particularly welcome applications from Disabled People who are also members of minority groups. All posts are open to job share.

For application packs, or an informal chat, please contact Robert at SCIL, Unity 12, 9-19 Rose Road, Southampton, SO14 6TE  Tel: 023 8033 0982, Textphone: 023 8020 2649, Fax: 023 8020 2648  E-mail: robert@southamptoncil.co.uk 

Returned application forms to be received by Friday 10^th August 2007 

On June 18, more than a hundred Disabled People gathered outside Downing Street to show support for the Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill which was being debated in the House of Lords.

The rally was organised by Our Lives, Our Choices which is a consortium of disability organisations including NCIL.  The rally was addressed by Lord Ashley of Stoke and Roger Berry MP who are sponsoring the bill.

A small delegation which included Sue Bott from NCIL and Robert Droy from SCIL were then allowed to deliver a banner with testimony from many Disabled People to the door of 10 Downing Street.

Roger Berry then hosted a reception at Portcullis House for many of the rally participants where there were further speeches of support from the Equal Opportunities Commission, Carers UK, and the National Pensioners Forum. Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton also gave a rousing speech to her fellow ‘freedom fighters’ to carry on the campaign.  

A successful day was tinged with sadness following the news that Roy Webb from NCIL who had been instrumental in organising the Our Lives, Our Choices campaign had died on June 15.