The Carer’s Post

Social care has long been treated as the poorer relation to health by successive governments. The Chancellor’s latest announcement on scrapping current adult social care funding reforms is a concern. The country cannot afford to keep kicking sorely needed social care reform into the long grass. Social care, including mental health and learning disability services, continues to be under-resourced with significant unmet need and persistent workforce shortages. The most recent Skills for Care workforce estimates indicate 131,000 vacancies in 2023-24, with more than a quarter of people leaving their jobs in social care each year.  The pressures of rising unmet need are here to stay and require a coordinated response. The previous government’s adult social care reforms were far from perfect. The plans were unfunded and ignored important sub-groups within social care, including mental health and learning disability. Yet, scrapping these without replacement, signals the continued de-prioritisation of social care. At Turning Point, we recognise the unsustainable situation many third sector providers find themselves in – soaking up funding shortfalls due to overstretched local authority and NHS budgets. As VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group) recently stated, we urgently need “government reform with a significant focus on improving commissioning coupled with an injection of funding to address the growing funding gap.” There are some signs of progress. I warmly welcome the new Fair Pay Agreement for social care, revealed in the King’s Speech under the Employment Bill, which presents an important step towards recognising the social care workforce. I hope that the government soon commits to fully funding this pay agreement. The government has talked about introducing a Royal Commission to draw up a plan for social care with cross-party agreement – whilst welcome, this would delay much needed reform still further. Delay has a very real financial and human cost.  

Currently working through the new Social Services Regulations and Standards, in preparation for 1 July, when they take effect. For the first time in Victoria, the Social Services Regulator will provide a common set of social services standards under a single, independent regulator. It strikes me that the scheme is similar to the registration process for the healthcare regulator in England and Wales, which I worked under for several years. Of note are the dates that registration commences for each sector: From 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 - services not currently required to be registered with the Human Services Regulator will apply for registration with the new Social Services Regulator.  This will be phased according to the various social service sectors via a staggered registration process. This means the Social Services Regulator will invite providers to submit registration applications. The order will be:  1 July to 31 July 2024 – child protection services and forensic disability services provided by DFFH 1 August to 30 September 2024 – family violence services funded by DFFH will apply for registration from  1 October to 31 December 2024 – homelessness services funded by DFFH (excluding community and public housing)  1 January to 31 March 2025 – sexual assault services funded by DFFH 1 April to 30 June 2025 – disability services funded by the Transport Accident Commission or WorkSafe that are not registered under the Disability Act 2006. You'll find more information about this excellent new scheme here: https://lnkd.in/dWfyYfDU Let me know if I can assist your organisation in preparation for these changes. #SocialServicesRegulator #SocialServicesStandards

For too long, disabled people have been used as a punchbag by the Conservative government. Working for Age UK, RNIB, and later, Macmillan Cancer Support, I have seen first hand, what a difference Personal Independence Payments make to disabled people [when they can eventually obtain them ~ if, indeed, they are ever deemed eligible]. The idea that these payments are paid erroneously, too often, and at too great a scale, ignores the fact more people have indeed become disabled under the Tories, and nothing has been done to stop this as health, social care and public health are decimated in the UK. Too often the charity sector is told [okay, lectured] by the UK government that it has got too political. Well, too right! There is a lot to be political about, including stopping this assault on disabled people and other marginalised communities. Whether it's migrants, LGBTQ+ people or disabled people, the Tories seem to have a penchant for kicking people. Under the cloak of "compassionate conservatism", a government moves ever further to the extremes as one of its former Health Ministers defects to Labour, describing the Conservative Party as a Party (now) of the "nationalist" hard right. It is time to resist these changes, and to campaign for a political economy that is fairer and just. With a General Election looming, there should, one hopes, be scope to do just that!

Purple Collective Update The Purple Collective launched recently and surpassed the 100-member milestone in just a few days! This quick growth highlights the enthusiasm and commitment within the community to make a difference in disability inclusion. Since the launch, we’ve been working closely with the community to make informed decisions based on the early actions we’ve carried out. After some insightful input, we’ve settled on focusing on three key campaigns each quarter to ensure targeted and achievable progress. For Quarter 4 (October-December), we will be focusing on the following campaigns: 1. Social Care 2. Hoists in Hotels 3. Train Travel Campaign 1: Social Care For social care, our goal was to connect with an organisation that elevates the voices of disabled people and ensures those voices are heard by decision-makers. We are thrilled to announce that our partnership with Martin Routledge has allowed us to reach that goal. The collective has already contributed by providing personal insights into what the future of social care could look like. I had the privilege of running a session at the Social Care Futures conference in Manchester with Alice Klein from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). With SCF regularly meeting with the Care Minister, we’re well-positioned to push forward for meaningful changes. Campaign 2: Hoists in Hotels As someone who personally relies on hoists, I’m all too aware of the challenges disabled people face when traveling. Shockingly, while approximately 250,000 people in the UK need hoists, there are only around 10 hotel rooms nationwide equipped with them. Hotels are not yet legally obligated to provide hoists, and the business case for doing so hasn’t fully been recognised. However, we see an opportunity to influence Part M of the Building Regulations, much like how Changing Places toilets have transformed accessibility in public venues such as shopping centres and stadiums. While we’ve made strides by connecting with the right people in this space, we will continue to push forward with the collective voice throughout this quarter. Campaign 3: Accessible Train Travel For accessible train travel, our goal is similar to our social care campaign—we aim to partner with the right change-makers, whether in government or leading campaigns for accessibility. Shaping this campaign is a priority over the next few weeks, and we’re working to ensure that the collective’s voice is heard on this important issue. A Collective Effort Looking ahead, the goal for the Purple Collective is to have democratically chosen campaigns each quarter, with the community shaping the achievable goals. Most importantly, we need the collective to take part in the actions that will move us closer to full inclusion in all these areas. Thank you for your support so far. Together, we’ll continue to create real, lasting change for disability inclusion https://lnkd.in/e_c2vQ3n

The recent statement by Labour’s new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has stirred significant concern among disability rights activists. Disabled people are once again “in the firing line” of spending cuts. Why does this keep happening? Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, pointed out something crucial. She said the chancellor’s comments on economic inactivity “were interchangeable with those of the previous government.” Let’s break this down: → The reasons for more people being unable to work due to disability and ill health aren’t about a poor work ethic. ↳ It’s about an ageing workforce. ↳ High levels of mental distress. ↳ Lack of NHS treatments. ↳ A failing social care system. ↳ Negative employer attitudes and behaviours. When I started MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC, I did so with a vision. I wanted to challenge outdated, profit driven paradigms and promote a more caring and compassionate workplace culture. We educate employers and employees about the strong link between modern lifestyles and mental health. But it’s not just about education. It’s about changing the narrative. Disabled people shouldn’t have to fight for their right to work, to be treated with respect, and to receive the support they need. We need to create environments where everyone can thrive, irrespective of their mental or physical health. Here’s what we can do: • Advocate for better policies that support disabled workers. • Promote mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. • Challenge negative stereotypes and attitudes. • Ensure access to necessary treatments and support systems. We must stand together to make a difference. Because a society that cares for its most vulnerable members is a stronger, more just society. https://lnkd.in/eDS5dWgV

Extract-What the main parties are saying about disability There are 16 million disabled people in the UK – almost a quarter of the population – but many say they have felt “invisible” during this election campaign.. The Conservatives want to “reform disability benefits” and tighten up what it calls a “sick-note culture”, saying people are now three times more likely to be assessed as not fit for work than a decade ago. The party's manifesto says it would create 60,000 new school places and 15 new specialist schools for children with special educational needs (SEND). It says “mental health should have parity of esteem with physical health” and, as such, it plans to increase the number of clinical placements for those experiencing severe mental illness by 140,000 places. The Conservatives want to cut £12bn from the UK’s £69bn welfare bill. Disability benefits alone are expected to rise from £39bn to £58bn in 2028/29… Labour wants to improve access to mental health care with specialist professionals in every school and a recruitment drive for an additional 8,500 NHS mental health staff. It also wants special educational needs (SEN) expertise in mainstream schools. The party wants to get disabled people into work by reforming the Work Capability Assessment, although it has not given details, and by introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting. Deputy leader, Angela Rayner says: “Small changes in the workplace can really mean that you have great assets in the people that work for you who can bring around those profits. “By making sure that employers have to report their disability pay gap, that should reduce, as we have seen in the gender pay gap.” According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the pay gap between disabled and non-disabled employees is 13.8%. There are strong phrases in the manifesto like “there will be consequences for those who do not fulfil their obligations”… Social care is at the heart of leader Sir Ed Davey’s plans. The Liberal Democrats want to reform PIP to stop “unnecessary reassessments” and give disabled people the right to work from home… Many disabled people have care packages but report a lack of carers to employ. According to the King’s Fund think tank, in 2022/23 there were 152,000 vacancies, or 9.9% of available roles. As well as providing free personal care (Scotland already has this), the Lib Dems want to introduce a minimum wage for carers, £2 an hour above the national minimum wage, and establish a Royal College of Care Workers… The SNP manifesto contains one sentence on disabled people: “Scrap proposed punitive welfare reforms for sick and disabled.” This most likely relates to the Conservative plan to tighten up the criteria for Work Capability Assessment, which looks at how capable people are of working. The Tories want to reduce those being assessed by 424,000 by 2028/29… https://lnkd.in/ePmJZyCT

Such important research out today from Newton and the County Councils Network on social care for working-age disabled adults, and ensuring this often-forgotten group are not overlooked. In addition to calling for a significant and very necessary increase in funding for councils to meet rising costs to ensure the quality and safety of care services for working age and lifelong disabled adults is maintained, the report outlines the need for a review of funding arrangements for services and proposes a number of reforms to the system to focus more on prevention and to help people live more independent lives to reduce future costs. The report recommends more specific local authority housing suitable for this cohort alongside new requirements for the greater provision of supporting housing options within the government’s planning reforms and local housing targets. This would help ensure care users with moderate needs can live more independent lives, improving outcomes and reducing costs. It also recommends closer alignment with national and local education and employment sectors to open up education and job opportunities. The report also calls for working age and lifelong disabled people to have a greater say in reforming local services as well as calling on local authorities to better use population data, analytics, market management and best practice to commission services to reduce placement costs. The recent decision to increase Employer's #NationalInsurance contributions simply adds to the cost burden for local authority funders and the charities and businesses providing vital social care for disabled adults. Jackie O'Sullivan Executive Director of Strategy and Influence at learning Mencap and an advisory group member for the report: “This worrying financial forecast reinforces our concern about the growing demand for adult social care and the lack of funding and suitable provision available to people who need it most.   “We are now seeing an alarmingly large number of young people transitioning to adulthood without the support they need to live independently and play a full part in their communities and society at large. We simply cannot allow that to happen.  “The report highlights that you can’t fix social care without working age and disabled adults being at the heart of creating a National Care Service.” https://lnkd.in/ehzayjtk

This is exactly why the conversation around disability representation and accessibility is vital to our society. This morning Rishi Sunak enthusiastically spoke about how he was using his morals to essentially go to battle against anybody who is struggling in this society. Essentially wanting to cull the amount on Personal Independent Payment and other disability related benefits he is suggesting the following: 1) Doctors to be unable to distribute sick notes. Medically qualified professionals who can make a thorough assessment on a person to be side-lined for a 'new service' which will distribute sick notes instead *only* if you fit the Conservative agenda of being unwell and not avoiding 'daily challenges and struggles'. 2) Those with mental illness will have their payments removed or reduced and instead gain access to therapy. Despite the fact mental health services are currently firefighting and can only see those at the epitome of crisis levels. Where are you getting all the new therapists from Rishi? 3) To make a highly complicated, and difficult process even more difficult. Putting accessibility right to the back of the queue. As an individual who receives Personal Independent Payment for a genetic progressive condition I can testify the following - Every three years I have to prove I still have the genetic condition I was born with. Despite the fact genetic medicine has not advanced to cure this particular condition. - Every three years I have to fill out a thirty page booklet giving intimate details into my life. From having to write exactly how I go to the toilet to my entire medical and social needs. - Every three years I have to give permission for the DWP to access my medical records and speak to my doctors to investigate if they so choose. This is alongside already having to provide written documentation from medical team. - Despite having a degenerative medical condition, I can only access the lowest rate of PIP not because I have the ability to work, but because I have 'proven I can communicate clearly. Well yes. I can communicate. I am a communicator. That doesn't really negatively or positively affect my medical circumstances however. So how hard does this government want to make accessing benefits for those who need it? Personal Independent Payment is set up to support disabled individuals to work, to still have a life, not lay on a sofa like Rishi suggests. Madness.

Our final session of the European Social Services Conference 2024 #ESSC2024 will look into the importance of community empowerment and the role of co-creation in social services. Paul Stepczak 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴☠️, shares his ongoing journey of advocating for community voices in service development: "It was only as a community development worker starting out many years ago, that I learned that communities could have a voice, that they could be empowered, and that they could be involved in coproducing services… but even now 20 years later, I’m still fighting that battle." Following Paul Stepczak 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴☠️, we had a roundtable discussion featuring insights from prominent leaders in the field: Katarina Ivanković Knežević, Director for Social Rights and Inclusion, European Commission, highlights "Co-creation at all levels requires listening, understanding, and proactive action. Address local challenges with a user-centric culture, breaking down silos, and ensuring inclusivity." Duncan Dunlop, Independent Expert in Care System Reform and former CEO Who Cares?, emphasizing the dire outcomes for care-experienced individuals due to broken care systems and the need to recognize and unite them as a community: "Care experienced people have the worst outcomes of any section in society in the developed world because our care systems are broken. This is scandalous as they are the children of the richest parent in our countries – the state. Recognise them individually and help unite them as a community. Then get others to listen to them. The result is an overwhelming motivation for change." Alessandra Locatelli, Minister for Disabilities, Italy, highlights: "Italy is implementing a major disability reform to centralize health, welfare, & social services. The new approach focuses on enhancing the talents & potential of persons with disabilities." Oliver Scicluna, sharing insights from Agenzija Sapport on the significance of co-production in services for people with disabilities:"Nothing about us without us is nothing without co production, we should be aiming not just at ci producing with people with disabilities but in giving them the LEAD. " Mayte Sancho from Imserso, shares: "A person-centred approach and active listening are essential. Our strategy promotes deinstitutionalisation, crucial for empowering older individuals toward greater independence and autonomy."

More scary than Halloween is Labour's Budget, with it's disability benefit reforms seeing hundreds of thousands denied help Hundreds of thousands of people with health conditions could miss out on financial support after the chancellor confirmed plans to tighten the disability benefits system. Disability charities have called the plans “devastating”. Richard Kramer, chief executive of Sense, said: “The government’s decision today is deeply disturbing for disabled people. They have chosen to continue the previous government’s harmful plans to reduce access to benefits. “This risks undermining the wellbeing of disabled people, and the consequences could be devastating." "Instead of choosing to give disabled people proper financial support and beginning to transform lives, the government has played into the dangerous narrative that disabled people should be forced to work and tightened the work capability assessment. They did this knowing that not all disabled people can work.” The DWP previously confirmed that the reforms will cut the number of people due to be put onto the highest tier of incapacity benefits by more than 424,000 people, equating to a loss of almost £400 every month per person and saving the government £3billion. The proposals will initially impact new claimants undergoing the work capability assessment, but current claimants could be impacted if their circumstances change, such as if they move house. Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K - Fighting Poverty, said: “Disabled people living in poverty, who will bear the brunt of these cuts, already face some of the poorest living standards in our country. The impact on communities of the removal of this support will be very serious indeed,” “The government said it wants to restore trust between the DWP and disabled people. But by returning to the same old failed approach of cutting benefits, it is seriously endangering these efforts before they have even got started. Further cuts to our threadbare social security system won’t drive growth. They will just deepen decline.” What are your thoughts on the budget and how might it impact you? #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityAdvocate #Budget2024 #DisabilityRights #Equality