PB User Group 27th June 2011

The next PB user group meeting will be on Monday 27th June, in rooms 3 and 4 at Kensington Town Hall, at the new time of 12.30 -2.30.

Agenda:
12.30 -1 Introduction /Group discussion of Issues to be put to the Council.
1pm-2pm - Feedback from Council / focus groups problem solving with the Council officers
2-2.30 - summing up / AOB

If there are any issues thay you want to raise, please contact us in advance at pbadmin@adkc.org.uk, at pbsupport@adkc.org.uk  or 020 8960 8888

Minutes of the meeting in May below:

Personal Budgets User Group Meeting Minutes,

Friday 6th May 2011

Hello everyone, thank you for coming. The agenda for this meeting is as follows;

v     Introductions

v     Hillingdon meeting

v     ‘Hardest Hit’ March

v     Guests for next meeting

v     Meeting’s attended by Jenny

v     Support planning

v     Chelsea Care

v     Development

Focus groups

v     Marketing for the group

Hillingdon meeting: For those who were not present in last month’s meeting, we had guests from Hillingdon borough who offered to come along and share their experiences of how personal budgets are used in their borough. For more information please see last month’s meeting minutes.

On the 25th May 2011 Hillingdon borough are inviting us to go to visit their group. We need a few representatives to go and represent this group. (Yamina and Phil expressed and interest in attending).

‘Hardest Hit’ March: The hardest hit march is designed to defend disabled people's futures. The day will consist of a March, attending a lobby with MP’s and a rally. There will be an average of 250 stewards to ensure the day runs smoothly. If you are unable to attend you can write to your MP and meet with him/her locally.  MPs usually hold surgeries and meet with constituents on the Friday or the Saturday. A template letter is available at http://www.hardesthit.org.uk/ you can also show your support for the campaign by sending a message along with a photo or short film of yourself about the importance of disability benefits to info@hardesthit.org.uk 

Guests for next meeting: As most of you were aware, the council were suppose to come to the second part of this meeting, however three out of the five people we invited have had to pull out. I know that the group is keen to work with more senior council officers so we are rearranging for June.

People first user form. Every few months, the Council host a forum for organisations involved in Social Care. This involves a feedback by the Council on current events surrounding Social Care, sometimes a guest speaker, and a time for Service User representatives to feedback about their organisations. The next one is on Monday 16^th May. Yamina, Philomena and Glenda expressed an interest in attending but as we are only allowed 2 representatives Yamina and Phil will attend this meeting and Glenda will attend the next with another member of the PB group.

Meetings Attended by Jenny: I recently went to a meeting run by the ‘London self-directed-support Forum’ this meeting consists of individuals who work for charities, Local Authorities, as well as profit making organisations, and assist members who receive a Personal Budget or Direct Payment. In this meeting a survey was presented to everyone showing statistics based around Personal Budget / Direct Payment services around the whole of London, below are some examples of what was presented;

• 1/3 of social workers don’t understand what a PB is
• 81% of disabled individuals don’t fully understand what a PB is.
• 66% of support services say that the amount of money allocated is not enough to meet all of their clients’ needs
• 75% of PB support services say that there are restrictions on how to spend there PB on (i.e. people are being told now that they are not allowed to buy any equipment; they are only allowed to spend it on a carer).

Support Planning / Legal Rewards:

It is very important to make sure that you only use your Personal Budget money for the things that are written in your support plan – if it is not in the Support Plan then you can’t use your PB for it!

This is particularly important if you want to use your PB to pay a legal reward or thank you gift such as buying lunch for a relative who helps you out at a hospital appointment instead of having a care worker from an agency go with you. In terms of the research being done about legal rewards- the group said previously to

Also, you can only use the PB on things that meet your “needs” as described by the Council – what they mean by “needs” are very specific- for example help with Personal Care, help with eating and drinking, help around the house, help moving around, help staying safe, help accessing the community etc. This is why the Council refuse let you use the PB for things that you say you need (for example a new keyboard for the computer etc) – because it isn’t what the council count as a “need”.

Also, depending what needs the council say you have, you might not be able to use the PB in the same way as another person. For example – if the council say that you have a need for personal care only – you can only use your PB for community care, not for housework, getting out and about etc.

Chelsea Care: Chelsea Care is an organisation funded by Kensington and Chelsea, it’s a care agency that also does all the stuff that we do for PB users. Unfortunately they have gone into liquidation, meaning they are no longer to provide agency or PB service. Martha and I may have to take on many additional clients, so do bear with us if we are slower than usual.

Group development :

Following discussion, group members said that they might like to take on more of an active role around direct responses to issues, documents and consultations. There would need to be a Terms of Reference to say what issues the group would take on, how they would take on these issues and what support the group would need from ADKC in terms of support and resources – this will be for another meeting.

There was also agreement that the group should continue to be open to ALL people receiving, or in the process of starting to receive, a PB (including carers receiving a Carers PB, older people, people with a learning disability etc – not just people who would be eligible to join ADKC.)

Date of next meeting: to be confirmed once Council officers have confirmed their availability (now confirmed as the 27th June from 12.30-2.30 in the TOWN HALL.)