Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 11:35 AM
To: Thomas Chambers
Subject: IL Newsletter, 5th February
| Hello Thomas Welcome to the latest Independent Living newsletter. Contents: 1. Council, Care and the Ombudsman 2. Women Shortchanged Over DLA/PIP? 3. Care Bill Training 4. New Guides for Parents of Disabled Children 5. Your Nominations for High Achievers 6. Latest snippets - Taxi survey, Bedroom tax """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1. Council, Care and the Ombudsman Perhaps you have had recourse to an Ombudsman at some time? I have, and was both pleased to know they were there as a last resort, and reassured by the way my complaint was investigated and the Council involved put things right. So I was concerned to hear about a difficult case involving Shropshire Council, where the ombudsman's investigation resulted in a finding of fault on the part of the council, and recommendations about how they should put things right – which the council has, in part, disregarded. The part that costs them money, in case you are wondering. A timely reminder that no matter how much Ombudsman services are respected, they are not underpinned by law, and they depend on the bodies they investigate complying with their recommendations through their own sense of fairness or moral obligation. As budgets are squeezed harder, I wonder how many more councils will disregard such judgements? You can read an anonymous but informed article about the Shropshire case here, and some interesting commentary on the situation here. A timely announcement from Care Minister, Norman Lamb, proposes the establishment of a new appeals process for people who are not happy with their council's assessment of their care needs, as part of the Care Bill, which is currently working its way through the committee stages in Parliament. More about this, here. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 2. Women Shortchanged Over DLA/PIP? A lot has been written about the change from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and a lot of it seems very confusing, but two things have always been clearly stated. One, pensioners would not be affected by the change, and two, everyone under 65 would need to apply for PIP. I hadn't appreciated that there is a group of disabled women who fall into both categories: they have retired from work, but haven't reached the age of 65. So they count as pensioners in every respect – have a state pension, free bus pass, pension credit, etc – but when it comes to disability benefits, they are treated as working age. Kim Wood, who works for the charity Deafconnect in Northamptonshire, has raised this unfairness on the IL Forum, here. She wonders whether any other disability groups are planning to take action on behalf of those women who are being discriminated against? Do please add your comments and opinions to the forum. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3. Care Bill Training The Care Bill is coming, and it's going to represent change for anyone involved with adult social care. It is currently making its way through the committee stages, and I will be writing more about developments as it proceeds. Meanwhile, anyone who might be interested in becoming a training consultant, helping to spread awareness and understanding of the Bill to those commissioning and providing services, can read about a free "Weekend Boot Camp" proposed by Care and Health Law, here. And for analysis of some likely consequences of the bill, you could do worse than listen to the interview I recorded last year with Belinda Schwehr. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 4. New Guides for Parents of Disabled Children National charity, Cerebra, has published two new illustrated guides to help parents and carers of children with neurological conditions access the information they need quickly and easily. The 'infographics' can be used alongside the charity's popular comprehensive guidance booklets on 'Toilet training for children with autism and intellectual disabilities' and 'Self-injurious behaviour in children with an intellectual disability'. You can read more about the guides, and link to download them, here. And this link will take you to the IL area dedicated to children with disabilities. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 5. Your Nominations for High Achievers "Eyes on the County", Philip Anderson's weekly magazine programme for Stafford FM is looking for your nominations for high achievers. Anyone with a disability who has made a difference in any area of life is eligible, so get your thinking cap on! The person can be living or dead, and their achievements may be intellectual, social or physical; anything that has had an impact beyond the ordinary. Once all the nominations are received, they will be drawing up a shortlist, and then inviting listeners to vote for their favourite – I will keep you posted! Let me know who you would like to propose - you can post your suggestions here - and let's see if we can come up with some real unsung heroes. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 6. Latest snippets - Taxi survey, Bedroom tax The Department of Transport is conducting a survey of wheelchair users on the subject of taxis and hire cars. If you use a chair, and would like to take part, please click here to download the survey as a PDF. Some good news for social housing tenants north of the border. The Scottish Parliament has proposed to provide enough funds to abolish the bedroom tax. Read more here. And that's it for this week. Don't forget you can access all the news as soon as it is uploaded in our News Centre. And, just as importantly, our new look Forum is always open, and waiting for you to post about any topics that interest you. Previous newsletters are archived here. Our Facebook page is regularly updated with the latest developments on the site, and is also somewhere that you can share your opinions with us. Or if you want to make it pithy, send us a tweet! @IndLiving Until next time, with all good wishes, Frances -- Frances Leckie Editor E: editor@independentliving.co.uk t: +44 (0) 208 133 0628 Skype: francesleckie w: http://www.independentliving.co.uk This newsletter was sent to thomaschambers@eircom.net. If you prefer not to receive future copies, just reply asking to be removed from the list, and it will be done! |
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