Minutes
Direct Payments Forum - All Saints Day Centre – 24.03.2014
Minutes taken by Chantel Gonzalez Page
Present: / Chantel Gonzalez – LBM DP Team Administratorand minute taker.Slim Flegg – DP Customer and Chair
Joyce King- LBM Direct Payments Officer
Roy Dawson – Chief Executive Officer for Merton Community Transport
Richard Downes – Merton CIL (Centre for Independent Living)
Sheila Malone – DP Customer
Patrick Daly – DP Customer
Sarah lubowa – DP Customer
Sarah Dadie – DP Customer
Pat Lennard – DP Customer
Martina Gregorcova – DP customer
Beverly Carter-Allen – DP Customer
Joy Land – DP Carer for Cat Munro – DP Customer
Mrs Hellier–Soffer – DP Carer
John Birkett – DP customer
Apologies received
from: / Stuart Woolley – APS (Advanced Payment Solutions)
Hazel Dennis Porter – DP Customer
Agenda Number 1 – Apologies
Stuart Woolley’sapology was noted. Mr and Mrs Porters apology was received after the meeting had taken place.
Agenda Number 2 - Minutes from the last DP Forum
The last meetings minutes and today’s meeting agenda were handed out to the DP forum attendees. The minutes were agreed. No comments were made.
Agenda Number 3 – Merton Community Transport – Roy Dawson
Roy spoke to the forum about the services MCT provide. Roy explained if customers are using Dial-a-ride they must contact them directly.
MCT’s services are split into four sections. Excursion days, scooter hire, transportation and the Volunteer Car Scheme.
- The excursion club is being funded by Merton Priory Homes. Some of the excursion days this year are going to: Wildlife parks, farms, the Toby Carvery, days out to Hastings and Bognor Regis.
- There are currently 6 Olympic scooters for hire in the borough. The MCT are currently looking for centres to house scooters for their customers to use., some of the places which already house the scooters are: The Wimbledon Guild, Age Concern and Pollard Hill’s New Horizons centre. The MCT provide training for customers who want to use the scooters. The scooters can also be taken home after an assessment has been carried out.
- A new service called the Volunteer Car Scheme has been put into place. The MCT are looking for people to volunteer, who are available to drive customers to places they need to go to in the volunteers vehicle. If volunteers do not have their own vehicle, there arevehicles available to use though MCT.
If you, or any one you know is interest in becoming a Car Scheme Volunteer please contact the MCT by email: or call 0208 648 7727 for more information.
Questions and Answers for Roy Dawson MCT
Q) Will the car scheme’s volunteers insurance be checked?
A) When the volunteers contact MCT to becoming a volunteer, their driving licence and car insurance will be checked by us. We will make sure the volunteers are covered to have you in their vehicle. They would not be able to become a volunteer until everything is in place. If changes are needed to their insurance we would support them in doing so. They will also be given training before being matched with a customer.
Q) Who would pay for the increase in volunteers insurance?If necessary.
A) The MCT are looking for funding to cover the extra insurance costs.
Q) Who can use MCT services? Do I need an assessment before I contact you?
A) You can contact MCT direct for all services if you are self-funding. If you want to use your personal budget / Direct Payment it will have to be agreed by your Social Worker.
Q) How much are your services? Is there an annual membership fee?
A) Yesthere is a £10 per year service membership fee.
£10 for the transport service
£10 for the Scooter hire
£10 for the excursion days
£10 for the volunteer car scheme
Most of our customer only usesone or twoof the services.
Q) Is there a discount if you want 3 or 4 services?
A) Not currently, we can look into that. Most of our customers only use one or two of the services. I will find out if any of our customers use 3 or 4 services and look into creating a discount.
Q) Can I take my PA on the excursion days?
A) Yes.
Q) How much are the dayexcursions?
A) £15 per seat. So if you were to take a PA it would be £30 for the two people.
Q) Lot of time is taken up picking up customer in the morning to take them on the day trips. Could you try arranging a meeting spot for customers to save time?
A) It’s not something we have tried before, but could be a good idea. We will look into it as it may be possible for some customers to have a meeting spot. Some customers are unable to get to meeting spots that’s why we provide the door to door service. We will look into this suggestion as a possible option.
Agenda Number 4 – Merton Centre of Independent Living – Richard Downes
Richard explained to the DP forum what the MCIL is, and what they are aiming to achieve. Merton CIL is a grassroots organisation run and controlled by disabled people.
MCIL Aim: Is to assist disabled people take control over their lives and achieve full participation in Merton & wider society.
MCIL Objectives: To promote the independence and inclusion of all disabled people in Merton. To identify and challenge discrimination faced by disabled people. To encourage disabled people, our allies, carers and supporters to work together to achieve change locally.
Merton CIL celebrates the broad diversity of disabled people and highlights the multiple barriers to participation that many people face.
The MCIL positively engages with people from diverse communities, such as members of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, older people, LGB groups, who often face additional barriers, discrimination and exclusion.Disable people have already succeeded in making positive changes, but the MCIL feel there is still a lot more to be done.There are already self-directed services, Direct Payments, Service Brokerage etc. but the MCIL have other ideas which they feel they need to take forward and make happen.
Merton CIL also engages with people from hard-to-reach & newly emerging groups from a diverse range of backgrounds, to better understand their experiences and to identify effective approaches to ensuring their views are heard.
The MCIL need to know of anything disable customers in Merton want to be changed and would like to hear of any ideas they have. The MCIL is asking for more disabled customers to become members of the MCIL. There is an application form you can fill out to become a member, to receive a copy of the application form please contact 020 3397 3119 or .The MCIL’s website is:
The MCIL have started to have members meetings at 11am – 2pm every Tuesday at in Wimbledon at the Merton Tenants and Residents Association, 328 London Road. Please contact the MCIL if you would like more information.
Questions for Richard Downes from MCIL
Q) I think in regards to DP the crucial part for customers is the assessment, when customers are being assessed I don’t think they get as much as they possibly could out of the assessment. Who can help with this?
A) The MCIL can give people advice. There is also an advocacy service. The advocacy service can provide you with someone to represent you. You could also speak to one of the MCIL’s advice workers who can advise you on the best ways of doing something. We also have peer supporters where you can work directly with a disabled person who has similar experience to you. We encourage people to contact the MCIL so we can see which service is appropriate for you.
Q) I have noticed a problem with a curb / pavement in Merton. Can the MCIL do anything about that?
A) Public transport has changed a lot over the yearsand traffic lights have beenimproved it is disabled people who have made that happen.
There are people in Merton council you can make complaints to about the road / curbs. If you need support doing so the MCIL can offer you support.
Patrick Daly who is a member of the transport group in Merton asks people to report by email or via his website any complaints of the roads / curbs to him. Please include the date and exact location of the problem. Patrick will bring it up the problems at the transport meeting and chase up any complaints people have.
Patrick Daly’s contact details:
Email address:
Website:
Agenda Number 5 - Any Other Business
Q) Can you explain to me what the difference is between a personal budget and a Direct Payment?
A)The personal budget you have been allocated by your social worker is the amount of money you have been assessed as needing to pay for your assessed care services.
Direct Payments is a scheme where you can purchase care services using your Personal Budget. This can be for PA’s, care agencies and cleaning agencies etc.
There is more information on our website here Or you can contact your social worker if you would like it to be explained in more detail.
Patrick Daly informed the forum that he has received a letter from the ILF (IndependentLiving Fund) which explains that the ILF will close in 2015. The Money will be given to councils to distribute, the concern people have is that the money is not ring fenced. There is a Facebook page people can join if they would like more information or see Patrick’s website above.
No Further questions were asked. SF closed the meeting.
The Next DP forum date is as follows:
Monday the 19th of May from 13:30 – 15:30 / CG to inviteAPS to the next meeting
CG to invite ILF to next DP Forum meeting