Unit
9 Motherwell Business Centre The PA Employer Spring 2005
Inside this issue:
- Editorial: New partners
- Administrative news
- Direct payments rethink
- Manifesto for inclusion
- SPAEN member flying high
- Partnership Official Opening
- Training officer news
- Travelbility
- Drive for members
- Direct payments for older people
- Highland visit
Editorial: New partners
Hello and how are you all? Well Spring has arrived and I feel that this is the appropriate time to give you a progress report on some of the activities SPAEN has been involved in since the turn of the New Year.
In our last newsletter, I had intimated to you on how we hoped to be working in partnership with Peninsula Business Services to introduce an Advice and Indemnity Scheme for the benefit of PA Employers giving them access to an advice line and support surrounding personnel and employment issues. I am delighted to report that we now have members who will embark on the pilot scheme commencing in April 2005. This is an extremely exciting breakthrough for SPAEN in as much that it will allow us to see first hand how the scheme is working and benefiting those on the pilot.
It also allows us to gauge if any further checks and balances have to be put in place in addition to those already in operation to support the scheme. I will be able to give you feedback on the progress of the scheme in the next summer newsletter.
In our last newsletter, I mentioned that we would be trawling for members to get involved in various policy groups to assist in the decision making processes which affect our ongoing development. Well I am very pleased to say that we now have the space to start having these meetings in our new office. So I hope that those members who had indicated their interest in assisting become actively involved, and are on standby for a call from the office over the next week or so.
SPAEN is running a capacity building development course for our current committee members and others who may be interested in becoming more involved in SPAEN. The course will be 4 days in total comprising two days in May those being the 10th and 17th, 7th June and 6th July. So get yourself involved with your organisation and take full advantage of this learning opportunity with the additional benefit of learning some new skills or honing the skills you already have. If you would like further information on this training please get in touch with me.
We have done some travelling since the last edition of the newsletter, principally in Ayrshire and in the Highlands where we gave presentations on our current services and activities and future plans for SPAEN’s continued development. These events were well attended and the feedback we received was both encouraging and helpful to us, it was nice also to meet a number of new people who had no previous contact with our organisation.
Not long after our visit to Ayrshire, we learned the Ayrshire Independent Living Network had been unsuccessful in securing funding for the organisation to continue with its full range of services they provided. SPAEN would like to thank all those who were involved with the network in Ayrshire for their support to us over the years and I wish all those involved good luck for the future in hopefully reestablishing a support network within Ayrshire.
The Ayrshire situation reinforces the vulnerability of grant funded support organisations and why SPAEN continues to need your support and input. For us to be an effective voice in ensuring that Independent Living remains at the top of our agenda, and to ensure we are always included in the local and national policy decision making process.
PJ Brawley
Project manager
Administrative news
I am sure you will be aware by now that we have moved offices with effect from 01 March 2005 to a new unit within Motherwell Business Centre. We are now located within Unit 9, Motherwell Business Centre, 130 Coursington Road, Motherwell ML1 1PR. Our telephone numbers will remain the same as will our email addresses if you wish to contact us.
Administratively, SPAEN has been very busy and as a result of our increased activity we identified a need to increase the hours of Marion Bisset, our clerical worker to 25 hours per week as opposed to 12 hours. This has been possible due to the funding we receive from the Scottish Executive and has allowed Marion to become more fully involved in all the work we are doing.
One of Marion’s tasks in the near future is to develop operational databases for our main areas of work which she has already started to compile. To this end, during the month of April you will all receive an information sheet recording you personal details. We would ask that you verify them and complete any blank fields and return them to us in the envelope which will be provided for you.
Over the next few months we will be once again looking at our future funding strategy in line with our new business plan which is being developed at present covering the period 2006 – 2009. Applications are due to be submitted to various funding organisations over the space of the next 6 months and we will let you all know the outcome of these applications as and when they are known. On a positive note, we have managed to secure two years funding for a further part time clerical worker thanks to the renewed support of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. You may recall that the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation were one of the initial grant making trusts which supported SPAEN at its inception, they were very pleased to see how much we had progressed since their initial grant back in 2000. It is a measure of our success that we have secured their further support.
So as you can see, administratively speaking, we are very busy at the moment and we hope that we can continue to support you in any way we can.
Manifesto for inclusion
On Tuesday 15th February 2005, Inclusion Scotland launched the Manifesto for Inclusion document at the SCVO Gathering in the SECC in Glasgow. This document is the first of its kind written by disabled people themselves in the UK. It is hoped that the manifesto will be used widely by disabled people, politicians and policy and decision makers across Scotland and beyond.
Many people have already commented positively on the manifesto. These included: BBC journalist and reporter Iain Hamilton: “As a disabled person myself, I have, long term believed that disabled people are their own best advocates. The presentation of this document only goes to prove this. I believe that this document should act as a catalyst for politicians as well as policy and decision makers at all levels of society to engage directly with disabled people themselves”.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy Leader of the SNP:“Every politician in Scotland should read the Inclusion manifesto. It has been written by disabled people for disabled people. The challenge now to make sure that it influences the future direction of policy.”
If you would like to view the document in its entirety you should go to www.inclusionscotland.org
Call for direct payments rethink
Professor Colin Barnes a leading academic on disability issues has called for the control of Direct Payments to be centralised, because he said, local authorities have failed to implement the policy fairly.
Professor Barnes, a disabled person himself, told delegates at a seminar on Independent Living organised by the Social Care Institute for Excellence that the “direct payments scandal” could be solved by “setting up a new national body accountable to the National Centre for Independent Living” that would distribute funds according to standardised assessments.
Responding to the expressed concerns voiced at the conference that Direct Payments were not meeting local needs, Professor Barnes said local disabled peoples groups, which had helped pioneer direct payments, should be enlisted to provide regional support.
Do you think Direct Payments should be funded from a centralised source? If you have any views on the subject, let us know.
SPAEN member flying high (literally)
Spaen member Chris Daly took to the skies recently for his first flying lesson taking his PA along with him. Due to ill health Chris retired recently from his position as Safety Officer with the Fire Service having achieved 25 years service. The flying lesson was his colleagues parting gift to him which is a bit different from the usual crystal decanter! During the hour and a half flight Chris took over the controls and had the exhilarating experience of flying the aircraft. The journey started and finished at Cumbernauld Airfield taking a route as far as Stirling and the surrounding area. Chris was elated to inform SPAEN “this is something I always wanted to do and I want to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks to my former colleagues at the Fire Service for giving me this wonderful experience. I big thank you also to my PA Mary Timoney for trusting me in a way that is well above the call of duty”.
Dumfries and Galloway direct payments support service partnership - Official Opening 27 October 2004
Dumfries & Galloway direct payments support service partnership, celebrated its official opening on Wednesday 27 October 2004. The support service has now been supporting individuals who are interested in Direct Payments or are already in receipt of Direct Payments since September 2003 and the number of clients is increasing weekly.
The launch was well attended by service users, representatives from local voluntary organisations, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Health Board and Social Services. Dumfries Provost and local councilor Kenneth Cameron OBE did the support service the honour of officially declaring the office open. Provost Cameron said he was proud to be part of the launch of this exciting new service and wished the partnership, which made this support service possible and the service itself, every success for the future.
The Chairperson of Dumfries and Galloway DP Support Service, Arlene Croall thanked all other directors, Dumfries and Galloway Council and Direct Payments Scotland representative William Neil for their support and encouragement without which the support service would not be the success it is today.
Local councilor and chairman of the Business Review and Performance Committee Alan Wright said “I welcome the development of the support service and am aware that the development has taken longer than some people had wished, but the council were anxious that the scheme was well managed and monitored and I am now confident of this”.
Anyone wishing more information on the Direct Payments
scheme or the support service should contact Lee Badham
at:
Dumfries & Galloway Direct Payments Support Service
Partnership
166 St Michael Street
Dumfries
DG1 2PR
Tel: 01387 240000 or 07834667545
Training officer news
March has arrived and with it the scheduled end of the advocacy course. You may recall that in September a delegation of SPAEN members and interested others began the Association of Independent Living Advocates accredited University course in Independent Living Advocacy.
Over the last few months the delegates have been compiling their portfolios representing at least 200 hours work. The portfolios must show the breadth and depth of their knowledge and how the research has been carried out. This has involved a combination of reading, researching assignment hours and portfolio gathering.
The assignments represent four learning outcomes giving an indication of the delegate’s level of expertise in Independent Living Advocacy. Despite losing a number of students along the way, this has not been cause for major concern as the reason for us arranging the course was to secure, for our members, help and support from trained advocates and we are on course to achieve this with 60% of those who started completing the course.
This has been a challenging course and I personally feel I have benefited from undertaking this form of study. I thank SPAEN’s Executive Committee for agreeing this as a constructive proactive way forward for SPAEN. The results will follow in a few months. Watch this space!
Travelbility
We are pleased to learn that J & M Insurance has re-launched Travelbility, a specialist cover for disabled travellers and those with preexisting medical conditions. It now contains some useful additional medical, repatriation and baggage benefits. These include replacement and repatriation of a PA/carer where necessary, cover for mobility and disability equipment up to £1,000 (or more with an extra premium), the cost of hiring equipment when lost or delayed, and replacement of essential medication. The policies also cater for a variety of situations such as group travel, single parent families, multi-trip, short stay, Europe or world-wide.
For further information contact J & M on 01992 566950.
Drive for members
SPAEN has a membership of 251. If you are not a member and would like to be, please contact us. The more members we have the stronger our voice will be promoting the interests of personal assistant employers and those supporting them. By becoming a member you will have the benefit and security of being part of an organisation of Personal Assistant Employers who strive to secure and promote your interests.
Strength in Unity.
Contact SPAEN for further information.
Direct payments for older people
As you may be aware, Direct Payments will be made available to the first non – disabled care group of older people aged 65 and over who are assessed as needing community care services due to infirmity or old age with effect from 01 April 2005. If you require further information on Direct Payments for older people contact our office. There is also a change to the guidance on employing close relatives and further information can be obtained by contacting our office.
Highland visit
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who attended our recent information days in Elgin and Inverness during March. It was pleasing to see some new faces at the event held in Elgin and by all accounts, those individuals left with a good grasp of the work that we are trying to do. In Inverness, it was particularly nice to see some of our members who had travelled some distance to see us and hear what we had to say. These information days will be held in varying locations throughout Scotland in the coming year and we will publish details as and when known.
Page updated 05/04/2005