HULON Meeting Notes 13 January 2016

HULON Meeting Notes 13 January 2016

Notes of HULON meeting – 13th January 2016 at BCOT, Basingstoke

Meeting was chaired by Chris Hall, Parability

Others present:

Ian Speed – All Inclusive

Terry Rhodes – Gosport Access Group & Disability Forum

Rachel Harrison – DPVH

Keith Hatter – WAAFA

Jim Morey – Gosport Access Group

Jennie Musson, SPECTRUM

AbdiElmi, SPECTRUM

1. Review Notes of Previous Meeting and Action Points
2. page 1 – Action/Gerry to draft organisational structure, options paper and circulate in advance of January meeting – ACTIONED.

Page 2 – Action/Gerry to consider funding options and discuss with Sue Dovey and report back to group –CARRY FORWARD

Page 3 –Action/Abdi to make sure that HULON structure and governance is on the agenda for January meeting, with sufficient time allocated for a full discussion – ACTIONED.

Page 3 - Action/Abdi to produce a simpler draft of the Terms of Reference for the group to discuss at the next meeting – ACTIONED.

Page 3 – Action/Gerry to draft a short statement on what HULON is and what the aims of the Network are for the group to discuss at the next meeting – ACTIONED.

Page 4 -Action/Gerry will calculate the relevant figures and circulate a note to the group – OUTSTANDING – CARRY FORWARD

Page 5 – Action/Gerry to upload video to YouTube and circulate – ACTIONED.

Page 6 – Action/Gerry to draft skeleton document with topic headings to help frame the group’s discussion and circulate in advance – ACTIONED.

Page 6 – Action/Abdito make sure “Recommendations to HCC” is included on the Agenda – ACTIONED.

Page 6 – Action/Abdito check availability for people who were not at the meeting and confirm date to everyone as soon as possible – ACTIONED.

1.2 There were no changes to the Notes from the last meeting.

2.Group Discussion: HULON Structure and Governance

2.1There was a discussion about the mentors and who had signed up to use this service and how it was advertised. It was felt that mentors should start coming along to HULON meetings, starting with the next one. Periscope was suggested as a way of involving people in the meetings who could not be physically present.

ACTION/Abdi to speak to Garth and/or Robert Droy re setting up Periscope.

2.1.1 It was thought that the mentoring service could be used to mentor HULON and then HULON could go on to help others, especially in a co-production role with Hants County Council.

2.1.2It was decided to hold an interim meeting in February with the mentors, before the next HULON meeting in March.

ACTION/Abdi to contact mentors re meeting date in February

2.1.3 It was suggested that HULON members bring contacts from other ULOs along to meetings with them to introduce them to the group.

2.2Broadening HULON’s diversity was discussed as well as Hampshire County Council’s definition of a ULO which some felt they could not identify with. It was felt that HULON was not representative with the number of members it had. It was agreed that there was a need to advertise HULON and attract more groups. It was pointed out that this is the reason for the material on the website, but also that there is a need for a co-ordinator to get funding in and also to bring new people into the group and build the group’s capacity. Abdi is working on making contacts with several new groups to make HULON more representative and more diverse.

2.3HULON’s governance was discussed. Feedback had been received via email that some were in favour of having HULON as an unincorporated association. It was agreed that whatever was decided, it should not require a large time commitment as people’s time was very limited. Some felt a structure was important for funders, but others felt that they just wanted a communications network with a Facebook page. It was pointed out that information can be passed round in other ways other than meetings.

2.3.1A point for consideration if HULON became incorporated was the issue of trustees and who would become directors of HULON. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was mentioned as a potential source of help. Another idea was to pay another organisation to help with the admin of keeping HULON going.

2.3.2It was decided that HULON should be an unincorporated association for the moment, but with the option to change in the future if required.

ACTION/Abdi to contact those not present at the meeting and let them know this and also to ask them if they had any objections.

2.4People were keen to hear Gerry’s ideas on how HULON could take funding forward. It was mentioned that Ed Walton wished to know what support Hampshire County Council (HCC) could provide to HULON and the group were asked what they wanted to do so that this information could be fed back to Ed.

2.4.1HULON wants to: mentor 7 organisations over the next 12 months, some events and act as an advisory body to local authorities on how to provide services – access issues are of especial interest. HULON needs to consider whether they want to continue the Newsletter, they need a Facebook page and possibly a website. It was decided that a 1 page document was needed detailing what HULON were going to do in the next 12-18 months and discuss this with Ed.

Rachel and Terry were both happy to be Admins for a HULON Facebook page.

ACTION/Iain S and ULO team to put together paper detailing what HULON wants to do in next 12-18 months.

ACTION/Terry to ask Facebook Admin why they are dropping charities.

2.4.2HULON needs: access to someone in Adult Services and the Transport department – someone is needed in the council to make these links!Kim Walsgrove and Shona Forsythe are Hampshire County Council’s Access Officers and have shown interest in HULON. HULON also needs funding for communication. Gail Tong was another contact in Hants CC as she has many contacts in groups across Hampshire.

Potential Contacts: Kenyans in Hampshire.

ACTION/Rachel to give Abdi details of her contacts.

2.4.3Portsmouth Council and Southampton City Councils were also mentioned as being potential funding sources.

2.4.4The point was raised that HULON should be careful about being in competition with groups in Hampshire and also that if HCC decided to fund HULON, then they would need to see clear objectives from the group with a business plan. Some were not sure if the group could get funding if unincorporated; however it was mentioned that this was possible and a way of doing this would be to use the mentors to help the group apply for funding. The possibilities of holding fundraising events and having a cheap website were discussed, and the potential impact on people’s time of managing this.

2.5It was felt that the benefits of belonging to HULON were unclear and that although the group has been going for a while, it was unsure as to what had been achieved and it was not sure if the central message was right. Jennie reiterated HULON’s objective was to bring together ULOs across Hampshire into a bigger and stronger network. Having a different identity was discussed and it was felt that HULON’s identity was “lost” in the page on the SPECTRUM website as it did not have its own identity. It was felt that many people still felt that HULON was primarily aimed at Disabled People and that the reason for this should be ascertained.

ACTION/Abdi to talk to people and find out if there is a connection with why people think HULON is a Disability group and whether it is its connection with SPECTRUM that is influencing this.

Another option was discussed, which was HCC hosting a website for HULON. It was pointed out that the council has now stopped providing this service.

ACTION/Abdi to ask Hampshire County Council/Ed why they stopped hosting websites for other organisations.

Another option of paying for another website address and using somebody else’s package was suggested.

2.6Having bigger, Hate Crime style events was discussed as this would raise the profile of the network and attract people. However, there are time and money considerations to think about and HULON does not have sufficient funds to do this.

2.7It was agreed that a meeting with the mentors would be held in February with the mentors giving HULON a presentation as to what they offer.

2.8Mission Statement and Terms of Reference: overall people liked the Mission Statement; however, it was felt that “Hampshire County Council” should be changed to “statutory bodies” so as not to limit the remit of the group.

ACTION/Jennie to change wording on Mission Statement from “Hampshire County Council” to “statutory bodies”.

2.8.1 There was a discussion around membership conditions. It was decided that all ULOs would be welcome to attend meetings, but statutory bodies would be associate members and not allowed to vote.

2.8.2It was felt that guidance was needed on writing a constitution. Time constraints around people taking up posts like secretary and treasurer were discussed.

3.Any Other Business

There was no other business

4.Summing Up and Next Meeting

4.1The next meeting will be provisionally on 8th March in Winchester in the morning with Keith Hatter chairing. This will be confirmed byAbdi after consultation with other HULON members.

ACTION/Abdi to come up with dates for future meetings and email this to the group.

ACTION/Chris to ask BCOT if it is possible to bring students along to the next meeting.

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