The Personal Budget User group meeting learnt yesterday that, following a study about the pro's and con's, the Prepayment visa card will no longer be the compulsory "option". This is a victory as the user-group had raised concerns that an obligatory prepayment card went against the ethos of Choice and Control.
The card will now be offered as an option, along with designated PB accounts set up and managed by the PB recipient or a managed account which is set up and managed by the ADKC, Age Concern or the Council.
If you don't provide the Council with proof of how you are spending a PB, they will transfer you to the prepayment card / managed account - so if you want maximum choice please make sure that you keep all necessary records and pass these to the Council when requested.
The prepayment card is a good option for people who just want to use an agency / buy the odd peice of equipment etc and don't want to be bothered with all the record keeping.
If you are on a prepayment card and want to change to a designated own account / managed account, or of you want to have a prepayment please get in touch with Jenny (pbsupport@adkc.org.uk) or Martha (pbadmin@adkc.org.uk )/ 020 8960 8888.
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Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Understanding Money Matters
Tuesday 28 June 2011
5.45pm to 8pm
Small Hall Kensington Town Hall
The event is aimed at those who live, work or study in the Royal Borough to assist them in
· Understanding how the new welfare reforms may affect your household including :-
Housing Benefit Capping
(Reduction of Local Housing Allowance payments in private rented accommodation)
Universal Credit
(Replacing current benefit structure)
Personal Independent Payments (PIPs)
(Replacing Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance)
· What action can be taken now to maximise your income
· How best to manage personal debt
· Where to get advice if all else fails.
The Seminar will be of benefit to:-
· Those in receipt of benefits now or is likely to make a claim in the future
· Those currently living in private rented accommodation and claiming housing benefit
· Those who want general information on how best to manage their debts and budget for the future.
· Anyone who helps family, friends or others in their community with their money issues
If you know someone who may wish to attend please follow the links below to book a place.
CLICK ON THE INVITATION BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT
National Personal Budget Survey results - incontrol
National Personal Budget Survey results
A new social care survey of over 2,000 people released today (Wednesday 22 June) reveals that for a majority, personal budgets have a positive impact on people's lives, meaning they are supported with dignity and respect, stay independent, in control of their support and get that support when they need it.
The National Personal Budget Survey, carried out between January and April this year, also found that people are more likely to experience better outcomes if the personal budgets process keeps people fully informed, and in control of the personal budget and how it is spent; while supporting them without undue constraint and bureaucracy, and fully involving carers.However, the survey results also found that councils need to provide better quality systems and processes if they are to help continue to transform the lives of older and disabled adults and achieve the best results.
Undertaken for The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership by In Control and the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster University, the survey aimed to identify the outcomes and experiences of people using personal budgets - and those of their family carers - so the adult social care sector can build on the positives and better understand what improvements are needed.
It is the biggest survey of service users and carers undertaken in England to date, giving people a voice to share their views and experiences in their own words. The findings will help councils to re-shape their approach to social care, as informed by local people.
Other implications that can be drawn from the survey results include:
- Personal budgets work better for older people than you might expect and direct payments work just as well for older people as everyone else.
- The processes used for delivering personal budgets are more difficult than they need to be and that impacts badly on carers and on personal budget recipients.
- More work needs to be done to make direct payments more accessible generally but especially to older people.
- There is a need to simplify and clarify the rules and regulations surrounding personal budgets.
Every year nearly one and a half million people in England look to their local authority for personal care and support due to their age or disability. Almost 6 million adults in the UK are believed to spend time caring for disabled or older family members.
The Think Local, Act Personal Partnership Chairs Miranda Wixon and Richard Jones said in a joint statement:
"There can now be no doubt that for the most people, personal budgets can and do work, particularly as direct payments and especially when implemented well by councils. At the same time, continuing and urgent action is needed to ensure all can benefit - wherever you live and whatever your needs - and that expensive and restrictive processes are streamlined to improve experiences and efficiencies.
"The right information, advice and support, alongside quality relationships and communication between people and social care staff through training and information sharing are crucial ingredients for making this happen. There is work still to be done on developing local provider markets, including very small voluntary and community sector organisations, user-led organisations and social enterprises, so people have a choice about how to manage and spend their budget.
"The current situation is very challenging, given significant financial pressures. However, this makes effective delivery of personal budgets even more important - use of resources must be optimised to improve outcomes, choice and control."
In Control Chief Executive Julie Stansfield said:
"These findings show the huge potential for personal budgets but they also signal a warning that they will only make a difference to people's lives if implemented by councils in the right way and if this doesn't simply become a 'box-ticking' exercise. The report shows a big gap in progress that authorities are making, and people's experiences of the processes and the support they receive from their council varies widely with many reporting 'difficulties'. With council's expected to have 100% of people on personal budgets by 2013 it's critical that they take the opportunity to review their progress to date, build on the positives, and identify ways to make improvements."
Chris Hatton, Professor of Psychology, Health and Social Care, Lancaster University, said:
"The results of this survey clearly show that councils can routinely deliver personal budgets that work well for everyone. If councils keep to the principles of self-directed support, people using personal budgets and their family carers report real positive changes in their lives. People also need supportive local communities, meaningful access to the full range of community facilities available to everyone else, and a range of local services that will deliver the support people want, when and where they want it."
The full report and a summary can be downloaded below.
More information on POET can be found here.
Monday, 20 June 2011
ADKC Disability Network meeting - 6th July
Your community is changing!
Have you heard about The Big Society?
What is Localism and how does it affect you?
You may have heard about this new Government idea looking at how local communities need to work better together. The idea is to give people more choice and say in local services. BUT how will services be run? How will people be informed? What does this really mean for local disabled people?
Come and find out more at the ADKC Disability Network meeting!
We’ve invited a panel of Senior Mangers from the Royal Borough, Councillors, Service Providers and independent organisations that support local people along to discuss the issues. Ask them questions and find out how important services like schools and employment might change.
When? 6th July 2011, 2pm-4.30
Where? The Lighthouse West London ,
111 - 117 Lancaster Road, Ladbroke Grove, W11 1QT
111 - 117 Lancaster Road, Ladbroke Grove, W11 1QT
Light refreshments provided.
Anyone interested in access, education, planning or just getting involved in the local community should come along.
For more information call Kate on 0208 960 888 or e-mail policy@adkc.org.uk
Sunday, 19 June 2011
RBKC Event interesting for PB users 28th June.
Understanding Money Matters
Tuesday 28 June 2011
5.45pm to 8pm
Small Hall Kensington Town Hall
The event is aimed at those who live, work or study in the Royal Borough to assist them in
· Understanding how the new welfare reforms may affect your household including :-
Housing Benefit Capping
(Reduction of Local Housing Allowance payments in private rented accommodation)
Universal Credit
(Replacing current benefit structure)
Personal Independent Payments (PIPs)
(Replacing Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance)
· What action can be taken now to maximise your income
· How best to manage personal debt
· Where to get advice if all else fails.
The Seminar will be of benefit to:-
· Those in receipt of benefits now or is likely to make a claim in the future
· Those currently living in private rented accommodation and claiming housing benefit
· Those who want general information on how best to manage their debts and budget for the future.
· Anyone who helps family, friends or others in their community with their money issues
If you know someone who may wish to attend please follow the links below to book a place.
CLICK ON THE INVITATION BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT
Website of interest - Unison guide to rights for Personal Assistants
Unison have produced a guide to the employment rights of Personal Assistants / private (non-agency) care workers. There is a PDF at the bottom of the following Unison web page http://www.unison.org.uk/localgov/pages_view.asp?did=12877
If you want to know anything more about ensuring your worker has all the employment rights they are entitled to feel free to contact Jenny H on 020 8690 8888 or at pbsupport@adkc.org.uk
If you want to know anything more about ensuring your worker has all the employment rights they are entitled to feel free to contact Jenny H on 020 8690 8888 or at pbsupport@adkc.org.uk
Employment rights of Personal Assistants / private care workers - Community Care Magazine
The employment rights of personal assistants
Monday 06 June 2011 11:09
(illustration: Paul Blow/Eastwing)
An impending surge in the number of personal assistants is set to highlight a range of employment issues. Louise Tickle reports
For people seeking a career in personal care, the job market's looking rosy. Skills for Care's recent report on the adult social care workforce suggests that the drive to ensure service users hold their own personal budgets means there will be a five-fold increase in the number of personal assistants in England by 2025, from 168,000 in 2010 to 722,000.
But though the jobs might be there for the taking, when a workforce expands this quickly, a plethora of employment issues can arise.
The relationship between a personal assistant and the budget holder they support is unusual. The budget holder employs the PA's services, yet they may find themself unable, by virtue of illness, disability or vulnerability, to effectively call the shots. To complicate things further, PAs often don't understand their employment rights.
The Department of Health is developing a strategic framework for personal assistants, due to be published later this year, which will aim to clarify some of the issues facing personalised care and support. In the meantime, Unison has stepped up its campaign for PAs and the people who employ them to have proper information about their rights and responsibilities.
The union is also in the process of recruiting someone to research the issues facing PAs, and has recently published a leaflet to help PAs in the workplace.
A typical confusion, says Allison Roche, Unison's assistant national officer, happens when personal assistants believe they're self-employed rather than the budget holder's employee. "This causes problems around taxes and national insurance, and it comes out of ignorance around contractual obligations," she says.
Often, Roche continues, neither the budget holder nor the personal assistant really understands their respective obligations under employment law. And from such confused beginnings, any disputes or issues that emerge over time can cause the working relationship to deteriorate.
Lisa Gillespie is head of relationship management at Fish, a company offering specialist insurance for personal budget holders. She says: "Recognising that employers and employees have certain responsibilities is essential before you even start the interview process."
Gillespie adds that new employers, who may be vulnerable, are likely to be unaccustomed to managing staff and may feel uncomfortable being firm. "Sometimes people will employ someone they know," she points out, "and the line between friendship and employer and employee gets crossed."
These blurred boundaries can lead the PA to believe everything is going well, when in fact the budget holder is unhappy and frustrated. But budget holders can find it difficult to find a fair reason to terminate the contract. "Often what we're dealing with are many little things that aren't necessarily gross misconduct," says Gillespie. This can lead to the appearance that PAs are being dismissed on a whim.
Unison has expressed concern that PAs can end up isolated and with very little peer support if things do go wrong. There are currently no specialist mediation services to help resolve employment disputes, so the only recourse a PA has is to an employment tribunal - and that does not guarantee protection (see case study).
Roche says budget holders with little or no management experience need more guidance in all aspects of becoming an employer. Training on interviewing and managing should be freely available, and a free specialist mediation service should be easily accessible across the country to help both parties come to an agreed solution.
"All care workers need to be Criminal Records Bureau checked and regulated professionally, with their registration linked to clear qualifications," she adds. Roche suggests local authorities become the employers of PAs, rather than the budget holder. Councils should also be responsible for vetting and barring, together with the creation of a local register of approved workers.
Being a directly employed PA does offer some stability, such as holiday and sick pay, says Alex Fox, chief executive of NAAPS, the UK network for family-based and small-scale ways of supporting adults. But he adds: "Not everybody on direct payments wants to become an employer, and there are PAs who would prefer to be self-employed."
Setting up as a micro-enterprise is one way to do this, Fox says, and means PAs can provide care to budget holders who prefer not take on the responsibilities of being an employer. "A small group of workers could get together and still deliver personalised care to a few service users," he points out.
Managing staff is an easy thing to get wrong and even big companies with extensive experience often fall foul of the law. Ultimately, though, the budget holder who becomes an employer must follow strict employment law or risk the stress of having to defend charges of unfair dismissal. It's a tough message, but if it's not acted upon, many more PAs will end up beating a path to the tribunal door.
When the PA-employer relationship goes sour
Workplace disputes can arise despite the best of intentions. One situation ended on a sour note after the budget holder felt her personal assistant was taking unwelcome control of her life. The PA would, for instance, take it upon herself to research utility companies' energy prices, inform her employer of the cheaper deals she'd found and then get cracking on the paperwork to effect a switchover.
When an employee goes above and beyond the call of duty to be helpful, it can be difficult to protest. Over time, the budget holder began to feel she had little choice about how she lived her life. The PA insisted on making "improvements" to decisions that her employer had already taken and was perfectly happy with.
The employer began to feel increasingly unhappy with the situation, but also felt uncomfortable about blocking her PA's repeated attempts to improve her domestic arrangements.
At the point where she felt it had become intolerable, she terminated the PA's contract. This came as a huge shock to the PA, who didn't understand the reasons behind the decision. The PA felt she had gone to a lot of extra effort to improve her employer's life, and was having all her hard work thrown back in her face.
The PA took the case to an employment tribunal. The tribunal found proper employment procedures hadn't been followed: the budget holder had issued no official warnings outlining her concerns, so she had given the PA no opportunity to change her working practices. Procedurally, therefore, the dismissal was unfair.
However, having considered the impact of the working arrangements on the budget holder, the tribunal decided to use the leeway given them in employment law to allow dismissal for "some other substantial reason", and the PA lost her case.
* Some details have been changed to protect identities
Personal assistants' rights
PAs have the right to:
● Be classed as an employee if they have set hours, take instructions from their employer and have to do the work themselves rather than being able to send a substitute;
● Be paid the national minimum wage and work no more than an average of 48 hours a week;
● Maternity leave and protection from dismissal due to pregnancy;
● Protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
● Public liability protection through their employer's insurance;
● Safe working conditions;
● Access to employment information and advice through the local authority, NHS or user organisation.
For more information, visit our special report on PAs: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/static-pages/articles/personal-assistants
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/06/06/116947/the-employment-rights-of-personal-assistants.htm
News - Most Councils meet Personal Budgets targets - Community Care Magazine
Most councils meet personal budgets target but variations persist
Tuesday 14 June 2011 13:30
Most councils hit a target to have 30% of users and carers on personal budgets by April 2011, but wide variations remain in take-up between authorities, show figures released today.
Almost two-thirds of councils met the 30% target set by the Labour government, but one in seven had less than 20% of users and carers on personal budgets, found the survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Think Local Act Personal Partnership.
Overall, an estimated 35% of eligible users and carers - those receiving council-funded support in a community setting - were on personal budgets as of April 2011, with the number of budget holders, almost 340,000, doubling since April 2010.
However, councils have a long way to go to meet a target set by the coalition to have all eligible users on personal budgets by April 2013.
"It is a significant achievement for councils to have exceeded the 30% target for all eligible people to receive a personal budget by March 2011," said Adass president Peter Hay. "Progress is varied and it's time for all councils to step up to the plate if we are to achieve the 100% target by April 2013."
The survey results come with significant questions being asked about the future of personalisation in the face of budget cuts and the bureaucracy that some councils have applied to the implementation process. A Community Care and Unison survey of social care professionals found just 41% believed personalisation would benefit service users in the long-term, compared with 67% for a similar survey in 2009.
Hay added: "We recognise this is a very testing period for councils in managing the difficult financial environment and its consequences. It is crucial that we maintain momentum in promoting personalisation and self-directed support by taking greater individual and collective responsibility for the delivery of key aspects of policy."
The figures show that two-thirds of personal budgets were managed by local authorities, as opposed to given to service users as a direct payment, despite government calls for councils to make direct payments the preferred method of delivering personal budgets.
In addition, managed personal budgets accounted for almost all of the 100,000 increase in personal budgets in the second half of 2010-11.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/06/14/117009/most-councils-have-30-of-service-users-on-personal-budgets.htm
Almost two-thirds of councils met the 30% target set by the Labour government, but one in seven had less than 20% of users and carers on personal budgets, found the survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Think Local Act Personal Partnership.
Overall, an estimated 35% of eligible users and carers - those receiving council-funded support in a community setting - were on personal budgets as of April 2011, with the number of budget holders, almost 340,000, doubling since April 2010.
However, councils have a long way to go to meet a target set by the coalition to have all eligible users on personal budgets by April 2013.
"It is a significant achievement for councils to have exceeded the 30% target for all eligible people to receive a personal budget by March 2011," said Adass president Peter Hay. "Progress is varied and it's time for all councils to step up to the plate if we are to achieve the 100% target by April 2013."
The survey results come with significant questions being asked about the future of personalisation in the face of budget cuts and the bureaucracy that some councils have applied to the implementation process. A Community Care and Unison survey of social care professionals found just 41% believed personalisation would benefit service users in the long-term, compared with 67% for a similar survey in 2009.
Hay added: "We recognise this is a very testing period for councils in managing the difficult financial environment and its consequences. It is crucial that we maintain momentum in promoting personalisation and self-directed support by taking greater individual and collective responsibility for the delivery of key aspects of policy."
The figures show that two-thirds of personal budgets were managed by local authorities, as opposed to given to service users as a direct payment, despite government calls for councils to make direct payments the preferred method of delivering personal budgets.
In addition, managed personal budgets accounted for almost all of the 100,000 increase in personal budgets in the second half of 2010-11.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/06/14/117009/most-councils-have-30-of-service-users-on-personal-budgets.htm
News - Councils failing to offer choice to personal budget holders - Community Care Magazine
Councils failing to offer choice to personal budget holders
Thursday 16 June 2011 11:58
Some local authorities are still failing to offer significant levels of choice and control to personal budget holders in receipt of managed budgets, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
Despite government calls for councils to make direct payments the preferred method of delivering personal budgets, some are giving clients personal budgets that are little more than a traditional service, while many are offering a managed budget as a default.
Richard Jones, joint president of the Think Local, Act Personal consortium, said this was causing the take-up of direct payments to "flatline".
Adass and TLAP have now pledged to encourage councils to ensure that users experience "meaningful choice and control" alongside good advice and support.
Adass's survey showed that most councils hit a target of 30% of users and carers on personal budgets by April 2011. But two-thirds of personal budgets were managed by local authorities, as opposed to given to service users as a direct payment.
In addition, managed personal budgets, rather than direct payments, accounted for almost all of the 170,000 extra personal budgets arranged in 2010-11.
Adass received responses from 132 of England's 153 local authorities with adult social care responsibilities.
The news comes as questions are asked about the future of personalisation in the face of budget cuts and the bureaucracy that some councils have applied to the implementation process.
A Community Care and Unison survey of social care professionals found just 41% believed personalisation would benefit service users in the long term, compared with 67% responding to a similar survey in 2009.
Jones said the "flatlining" of direct payments nationally would need to be addressed "because the evidence in relation to outcomes and efficiencies is that direct payments deliver a better response to people".
He said TLAP would work with councils and social work staff to ensure they understood the offers available in their area.
Adass president Peter Hay acknowledged some councils were offering the same menu of services as before, while others were "genuinely trying to build confidence towards choice and control" within a managed budget.
Julie Stansfield, chief executive of In Control - the social enterprise directing self-directed support - said: "It is critical that local authorities remember that personal budgets will only deliver good outcomes for people if they truly offer choice and control and do not simply become a 'box ticking' exercise."
Care services minister Paul Burstow said: "Local authorities need to do much more to ensure that as many people as possible are receiving their personal budgets as a direct payment."
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/06/16/117022/councils-failing-to-offer-choice-to-personal-budget-holders.htm
Despite government calls for councils to make direct payments the preferred method of delivering personal budgets, some are giving clients personal budgets that are little more than a traditional service, while many are offering a managed budget as a default.
Richard Jones, joint president of the Think Local, Act Personal consortium, said this was causing the take-up of direct payments to "flatline".
Adass and TLAP have now pledged to encourage councils to ensure that users experience "meaningful choice and control" alongside good advice and support.
Adass's survey showed that most councils hit a target of 30% of users and carers on personal budgets by April 2011. But two-thirds of personal budgets were managed by local authorities, as opposed to given to service users as a direct payment.
In addition, managed personal budgets, rather than direct payments, accounted for almost all of the 170,000 extra personal budgets arranged in 2010-11.
Adass received responses from 132 of England's 153 local authorities with adult social care responsibilities.
The news comes as questions are asked about the future of personalisation in the face of budget cuts and the bureaucracy that some councils have applied to the implementation process.
A Community Care and Unison survey of social care professionals found just 41% believed personalisation would benefit service users in the long term, compared with 67% responding to a similar survey in 2009.
Jones said the "flatlining" of direct payments nationally would need to be addressed "because the evidence in relation to outcomes and efficiencies is that direct payments deliver a better response to people".
He said TLAP would work with councils and social work staff to ensure they understood the offers available in their area.
Adass president Peter Hay acknowledged some councils were offering the same menu of services as before, while others were "genuinely trying to build confidence towards choice and control" within a managed budget.
Julie Stansfield, chief executive of In Control - the social enterprise directing self-directed support - said: "It is critical that local authorities remember that personal budgets will only deliver good outcomes for people if they truly offer choice and control and do not simply become a 'box ticking' exercise."
Care services minister Paul Burstow said: "Local authorities need to do much more to ensure that as many people as possible are receiving their personal budgets as a direct payment."
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/06/16/117022/councils-failing-to-offer-choice-to-personal-budget-holders.htm
Friday, 17 June 2011
Are your contact details correct? What PB service are you interested in?
The PB team is currently updating details of people who use our service. If you currently use the ADKC Personal Budget Service, or would like to, please fill in the form below and email it to pbadmin@adkc.org.uk or post it to us at the office.
Personal Budget User Group – Information Sheet
Name:
Are you still in receipt of a personal budget from RBKC? Yes / No
If no – do you pay out of your own money to have help due to you being disabled? Yes / No
(If NO to both – thank you for your time)
(If YES to either – Please continue down the page)
Address:
Postcode:
Home phone:
Mobile Phone:
Email:
Preferred method of contact: Phone / Email / Post / Text / Other
Preferred method to receive notice of meetings, minutes and/or newsletters: Post / email
Access requirements: Standard, Large print (font size _________), Font /Paper colour _____ ______, Braille, Audio, Wheelchair access, Hearing loop, Other _____________________________________
Date of Birth:
Ethnic background:
Impairment type: Physical / Sensory / Hidden / Mental health / Learning disability / Long term health condition / other ___________
Are you currently a member of ADKC? Yes / No
(If they have a physical /sensory impairment and are under 60 ask if they would like to be a member Yes /No
Are you interested in any of the following:
· Attending monthly PB user group meetings: Yes / no
· Promoting the PB service to other people: Yes / No
· Attending small groups focussing on specific issues: Yes / No
· Helping to compile/edit the quarterly PB newsletter: Yes / No
· Helping to develop a PB website /resource library: Yes / No
· Providing peer support / mentoring: Yes / No
· Designing help sheets: Yes / No
Would you like to receive further training about any aspects of personal budgets meeting for example:
· Finances (what records to keep, filling in the financial monitoring forms etc) Yes / no
· Recruiting private workers (adverts / job descriptions / contracts) Yes / No
· Dealing with problems (how to be assertive, supervising workers, disciplining staff, making complaints) Yes / No
· Other – what type?
How do you currently use your PB (or meet you care needs): Employ worker / use agency / buy equipment / do activities / holiday or respite / informal “thank-you” payments to friends or relatives/ other ……
If you have used / contacted the PB service in the last 6 months could you let us know what you think of the service and what difference it has made to you, if any.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
News -Cross party talks on Care - BBC
Miliband and Cameron back cross-party talks on care
Click to play
Ed Miliband says the scenes of abuse filmed by Panorama at the Winterbourne View care home "shame our country"
PM David Cameron said he "thoroughly welcomed" the idea of talks on what was a "very difficult" issue.
Any talks will not happen until the Dilnot Commission reports on its plans for the future funding of social care in England in July.
Labour explored a number of options for reform of long term care for the elderly before the 2010 general election but the three largest parties failed to reach agreement on how to proceed.
It ended in a row ahead of the general election with the Conservatives accusing Labour of planning a "death tax" to pay for free care at home for the elderly.
'Serious offer'
At a press conference in London, Mr Miliband vowed to "come to these talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past".
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
End Quote David CameronThis is a very difficult issue to get right as a country - the long-term costs of social care”
Asked what that meant for previous Labour care pledges - such as National Care Service, announced by Gordon Brown in his 2009 Labour conference speech - he said: "It doesn't mean we are ditching our commitment... I'm still a supporter of that idea."
But, he added, he would go into any cross-party talks with an open mind. David Cameron welcomed Mr Miliband's call for cooperation on the issue.
He said: "This is a very difficult issue to get right as a country - the long-term costs of social care, how we share those costs, how we pay for them.
"If there is an opportunity for cross-party work on that, I thoroughly welcome it.
"The idea of commissioning Andrew Dilnot was to see if he could unlock this fantastically difficult problem that has dogged governments of all colours for the last few decades.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
End Quote Ed MilibandThe government appears to believe that reviews by the Care Quality Commission and by South Gloucestershire Council are enough - it is not”
"I am always happy to have cross-party talks, particularly on an issue like that."
The Department of Health said the Dilnot commission had consulted members of different political parties and was working on recommendations "that will attract the widest possible support".In his press conference, Mr Miliband also addressed abuse, uncovered by a BBC Panorama investigation, at Winterbourne View care home near Bristol and called for an independent inquiry.
Panorama uncovered a pattern of abuse at the privately owned residential care home - which led to 13 employees being suspended and four arrests.
Mr Miliband said he was shocked and sickened by the scenes and called for an independent investigation into what happened.
"The government appears to believe that reviews by the Care Quality Commission and by South Gloucestershire Council are enough - it is not because these bodies were involved in the failure itself," he said.
Mr Cameron said the most important thing was for the police investigation to get under way: "We saw the appalling scenes on our television screens and we need the police to get to the bottom of what happened. If criminal offences were committed, then people should feel the full force of the law coming down on them."
But he dismissed calls for reform of the regulator, the Care Quality Commission, after it failed to act on a whistle-blower's warnings about Winterbourne View.
He said: "The last thing we need is another reorganisation of regulators. This is now the regulator, this is the responsible body. We have got to make sure they are fully capable of doing all the tasks that are put in front of them."
Last week it also emerged that the UK's biggest care homes provider Southern Cross, which runs 750 homes, was having to reduce its rent payments as it struggles with its financial problems.
Mr Miliband said it showed that the finances of such organisations should be subject to regulation - as, like the banks, corporate failure could have "consequences far beyond the loss to shareholders and investors" - for those in homes, their families, and the taxpayer.
"It is plain wrong that financiers creamed off millions, while as we now know the care of tens of thousands of elderly people was being put at risk. They seem to have been treated merely as commodities."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13681932
Monday, 6 June 2011
RBKC prepayment card users - have your say
The PB Team recieved an email from the Self-Directed-Support team at RBKC asking for your experiences of using a Personal Budget Pre-payment Card. Please see below, and send your answers to us to forward on. The deadline is the 10th June though - so you had better be quick
"Personal Budget Visa Card review
We are currently carrying out a review of the Personal Budget Visa cards which we have been piloting for the last few months. We would appreciate your feedback on the following questions.
How easy is it for people to pay for their care using the PB Visa card?
How easy is it for people to manage their personal budget using the PB Visa card?
How well do service users understand how to use the card- What works well about the card?
How could the card be improved?
I would like to hear back from you by Friday 10th June 2011.
Kind regards
Mark Ward
Self Directed Support & Development Manager
Housing, Health, Adult Social Care
Kensington Town Hall
Hornton Street
London
W8 7NX
office: 02073612335
mobile:07875878798
Saturday, 4 June 2011
News - Don't give up your job to be an unpaid carer - Guardian
A warning: don't give up your job to be an unpaid carer
While governments have always lavished praise on caring, they are less willing to reveal the harsh reality that awaits carers when the person they care for dies, says Peter Beresford
Take Joanna, middle-aged and working class. She has worked all her life while also looking after her mother, who had a long history of mental health problems. When her mother became seriously ill with cancer, Joanna had to give up work as a cleaner to take care of her at home. For the last few weeks of her mother's life she claimed carer's allowance.
After her mother died, Joanna was able to claim carer's allowance for a maximum of eight weeks. Then she had to sign on at the job centre to receive jobseeker's allowance (JSA). She had to prove she is looking for work by keeping a log of all her job hunts, including what newspapers she was checking, what advertisements she had answered and any interviews she had attended. She made desperate efforts to find a job but, it seems, an unskilled middle-aged woman has little attraction for today's dwindling labour market.
In order not to lose her benefit, Joanna had to do two weeks' temporary work in a local shop. A letter from the New Deal said she would be paid to do this at the rate of her JSA. But to work there she also had to pay – from her own pocket – for a uniform skirt and pair of black shoes.
That job ended and Joanna was again looking for work. The jobcentre gave her no help, even though she was under enormous pressure to have one and had given up previous employment, in line with political demands, to be an "active and responsible citizen". Joanna doesn't know how to use a computer, but can't learn at the jobcentre because there are only three over-used machines and at least one is always broken. She no longer heats her flat properly because she can't afford to. And each time she signs on she has to explain again all her efforts to get work.
Is there a moral here? The key one is probably to do what politicians do, not what they say. They may give you a gold star as a carer, but that's about all. Be guided by their actions, not their words. They may talk up voluntarism, but, if you can, you should have a paid job like they do. Most of all, never, never give up a job to be an unpaid carer. It will be terrible for you when the person you care for dies, unless your job is guaranteed to be held open for you.
• Peter Beresford is professor of social policy at Brunel University.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/feb/24/dont-give-up-job-unpaid-carer
After her mother died, Joanna was able to claim carer's allowance for a maximum of eight weeks. Then she had to sign on at the job centre to receive jobseeker's allowance (JSA). She had to prove she is looking for work by keeping a log of all her job hunts, including what newspapers she was checking, what advertisements she had answered and any interviews she had attended. She made desperate efforts to find a job but, it seems, an unskilled middle-aged woman has little attraction for today's dwindling labour market.
In order not to lose her benefit, Joanna had to do two weeks' temporary work in a local shop. A letter from the New Deal said she would be paid to do this at the rate of her JSA. But to work there she also had to pay – from her own pocket – for a uniform skirt and pair of black shoes.
That job ended and Joanna was again looking for work. The jobcentre gave her no help, even though she was under enormous pressure to have one and had given up previous employment, in line with political demands, to be an "active and responsible citizen". Joanna doesn't know how to use a computer, but can't learn at the jobcentre because there are only three over-used machines and at least one is always broken. She no longer heats her flat properly because she can't afford to. And each time she signs on she has to explain again all her efforts to get work.
Is there a moral here? The key one is probably to do what politicians do, not what they say. They may give you a gold star as a carer, but that's about all. Be guided by their actions, not their words. They may talk up voluntarism, but, if you can, you should have a paid job like they do. Most of all, never, never give up a job to be an unpaid carer. It will be terrible for you when the person you care for dies, unless your job is guaranteed to be held open for you.
• Peter Beresford is professor of social policy at Brunel University.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/feb/24/dont-give-up-job-unpaid-carer
News - Direct payments preference driven by cuts - Community Care Magazine
Councils' direct payments preference 'driven by cuts'
Wednesday 01 June 2011 00:01
Councils are pushing service users into taking direct payments on cost grounds, say social work leaders.
The warning came after one-third of respondents to Community Care's annual personalisation survey, commissioned by Unison, said their local authority had changed their policy to make direct payments the default option for personal budgets.
Unison's national officer for social care, Helga Pile, said the "worrying development" meant "personalisation was being hijacked by the cost-cutting agenda" because it made it easier for councils to the shift burdens on to families.
One mental health social worker told Community Care that, although direct payments were "fantastic" for some people, users needed to be given the choice of having their personal budget managed by their council or a third party. "Pushing people down the most 'cost effective' route makes me more suspicious of the true motivation behind the agenda."
However, care services minister Paul Burstow said the survey finding was positive, given the government's aim to "provide personal budgets for everyone eligible by 2013".
The warning came after one-third of respondents to Community Care's annual personalisation survey, commissioned by Unison, said their local authority had changed their policy to make direct payments the default option for personal budgets.
Unison's national officer for social care, Helga Pile, said the "worrying development" meant "personalisation was being hijacked by the cost-cutting agenda" because it made it easier for councils to the shift burdens on to families.
One mental health social worker told Community Care that, although direct payments were "fantastic" for some people, users needed to be given the choice of having their personal budget managed by their council or a third party. "Pushing people down the most 'cost effective' route makes me more suspicious of the true motivation behind the agenda."
However, care services minister Paul Burstow said the survey finding was positive, given the government's aim to "provide personal budgets for everyone eligible by 2013".
News - New software to save millions from adult care budgets - Community Care Magazine
New software tool to shave millions from adult care budgets
Tuesday 31 May 2011 11:26
Derbyshire Council, which is testing Trips - Transforming Raw Information In Public Services - estimates it will save at least £2m a year on a net annual budget of just under £200m.
The savings come from the software's function to analyse data on finance and activity in real-time, rather than relying on year-old data, and show the costs of individual service users and social care teams.
Councils can then capture differences in costs between individuals and teams and analyse them.
"It will help us be more cost-effective," said Derbyshire's adult care director, Bill Robertson. "It will make a major contribution to our efficiency savings."
The free tool has been developed over two years by the East Midlands regional improvement and efficiency partnership, the Department of Health and the NHS Information Centre. Councils can also tailor it for their own adults' services departments.
News - Hard to reach groups still face PB barriers - Community Care Magazine
Hard-to-reach groups still face personal budgets barriers
Wednesday 01 June 2011 00:01
Several client groups, including older people and those with mental health problems, continue to face barriers in gaining personal budgets, say social care professionals.
A significant minority of respondents to Community Care's 2011 personalisation survey said their council was not doing enough to improve access to personal budgets for older people, the homeless, problem drug or alcohol users, people with mental health problems and people who lack mental capacity.
This is despite calls from the government for councils to provide targeted support to improve access to personal budgets for groups including older people and those with complex needs or mental health problems in its vision for adult social care published in November.
The problem was particularly acute for homeless people and drug or alcohol misusers, Community Care found that only 5% of social care professionals thought enough was being done to improve personal budget take-up for the former group and 6% for the latter. Respondents also cited a lack of progress for people with mental health problems.
"In mental health teams, personalisation has not yet been introduced so there has been very little impact," said one. "Mental health teams are lagging behind," said another.
However, some respondents identified other significant barriers in implementing personal budgets for some of these groups. "Very difficult to apply to the homeless mentally ill who I work with until they are settled," said one.
Recent figures for England show that 10% of older people had a personal budget last year, along with 5% of mental health service users and 2% of those using substance misuse services, compared with 23% of adults with learning disabilities.
Recent trials on expanding personal budget use among mental health service users, rough sleepers and drug users identified barriers including a lack of trust by social workers that these client groups would behave responsibly, along with a lack of professional knowledge of personal budgets.
"People can be reliant on their care co-ordinators - assuming that they have one - for information on accessing personal budgets, but the confusion among professionals themselves about who gets them and how they work makes it even harder for people with mental health problems to gain them," said Vicki Nash, policy and campaigns head at Mind, which carried out the trial into mental health service users.
"Professionals can have a paternalistic approach and make prior judgements that their patient won't be able to handle a personal budget, and so don't offer up information about them."
A significant minority of respondents to Community Care's 2011 personalisation survey said their council was not doing enough to improve access to personal budgets for older people, the homeless, problem drug or alcohol users, people with mental health problems and people who lack mental capacity.
This is despite calls from the government for councils to provide targeted support to improve access to personal budgets for groups including older people and those with complex needs or mental health problems in its vision for adult social care published in November.
The problem was particularly acute for homeless people and drug or alcohol misusers, Community Care found that only 5% of social care professionals thought enough was being done to improve personal budget take-up for the former group and 6% for the latter. Respondents also cited a lack of progress for people with mental health problems.
"In mental health teams, personalisation has not yet been introduced so there has been very little impact," said one. "Mental health teams are lagging behind," said another.
However, some respondents identified other significant barriers in implementing personal budgets for some of these groups. "Very difficult to apply to the homeless mentally ill who I work with until they are settled," said one.
Recent figures for England show that 10% of older people had a personal budget last year, along with 5% of mental health service users and 2% of those using substance misuse services, compared with 23% of adults with learning disabilities.
Recent trials on expanding personal budget use among mental health service users, rough sleepers and drug users identified barriers including a lack of trust by social workers that these client groups would behave responsibly, along with a lack of professional knowledge of personal budgets.
"People can be reliant on their care co-ordinators - assuming that they have one - for information on accessing personal budgets, but the confusion among professionals themselves about who gets them and how they work makes it even harder for people with mental health problems to gain them," said Vicki Nash, policy and campaigns head at Mind, which carried out the trial into mental health service users.
"Professionals can have a paternalistic approach and make prior judgements that their patient won't be able to handle a personal budget, and so don't offer up information about them."
News - Councils slammed for curbing use of PBs - Community Care Magazine
Councils slammed for curbing use of personal budgets
Wednesday 01 June 2011 00:01
A quarter of social care professionals said service users in their area were highly restricted in using personal budgets for holidays, while 13% said the same was true for computer equipment and attending sporting or entertainment events. One in 10 said their service users were highly restricted in spending personal budgets on taking part in sports or exercise.
"Blanket restrictions are not in the spirit of personalisation," said care services minister Paul Burstow. "Everyone has different circumstances, which is why decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis."
While such restrictions are associated with councils' desire to control costs, Burstow added: "Many of the creative uses of personal budgets can benefit carers as much as users and may also lead to savings through reducing the need for expensive respite care."
His concerns were echoed by the Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) partnership, the coalition charged with supporting the delivery of personalisation.
"It is understandable councils are looking to carefully manage resources when their bottom lines are tight," said partnership co-chairs Miranda Wixon and Richard Jones. "However, they need to be very careful to avoid rigid rules that limit the potential efficiencies that result from people controlling and choosing supports that are right for them."
They said that similar concerns have been highlighted in a separate survey of service users and carers, due to be published soon, and that TLAP would be "paying this issue particular attention in the coming months".
"Social workers may have to make the case that when restrictions apply it results in increasing need, but they are under enormous pressure around that because councils are having to make the savings," said Helga Pile, national officer for social care at Unison, which commissioned the survey.
However, John Nawrockyi, chair of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services' physical disabilities network, said councils had to strike a balance between individual choice and use of public funds. "It's about ensuring that the way the money is spent supports the person's care plan," he said
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