London Borough of Lewisham
Communities that Care: Investment Fund 2013/14
FUNDING SPECIFICATION 1:
PROJECT TO DEVELOP PERSONAL ASSISTANTS IN THE BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM
1 Introduction
1.1 Lewisham Council is seeking to fund a voluntary community sector (VCS) organisation to recruit, develop and connect personal assistants to adults seeking to use their services. Employers of personal assistants are both adult social care clients with personal budgets or individuals who are funding support services themselves.
1.2 Personal assistants may provide a range of services including domestic support, transport, accompanying people to attend activities and appointments, personal care, administrative support and odd jobs.
1.3 The number of people in receipt of personal budgets is set to significantly increase over the next two years. In order to realise the potential in relation to personal budgets, people need a range of services to choose from that reflect the full diversity of their lives, needs and aspirations. A larger and more diverse pool of personal assistants is critical to achieving this.
2 Aims and Objectives of the Project
2.1 The project will aim to develop a pool of independent personal assistants to support older and vulnerable adults to maintain independent living and a high quality of life.
2.2 The principle objectives of the project are as follows:
· To identify new, self employed, personal assistants to work in the borough
· To deliver a diverse pool of personal assistants to provide a range of services in different parts of the borough
· To provide a mechanism for potential employers to identify personal assistants and for personal assistants to gain employment
· To develop accessible information on how to employ a personal assistant
· To generate opportunities for people to pool budgets to employ personal assistants
· To support people seeking employment as personal assistants to obtain key skills enabling them to deliver high quality, sustainable services
· To promote the opportunities for employment to Lewisham residents, with a specific focus on priority groups.
3 Outcomes of the Project
3.1 Through the implementation of the personalisation agenda and the prevention strategy, Lewisham is looking to provide older people and vulnerable adults with opportunities to maintain their independence and live fulfilling and rewarding lives. The development of personal assistants in the borough will support the delivery of this key outcome. It will enable older and vulnerable adults to:
· Access improved information to be able to make informed decisions
· Exercise greater choice and control
· Engage more fully with their local communities
· Realise efficiencies through opportunities to pool budgets
3.2 Lewisham is committed to improving the employability and skills levels of citizens as well as to fostering enterprise and business growth. This project will support citizens, particularly those from priority groups, to access new employment opportunities, generating more economically dynamic communities.
4 Core Values
4.1 The organisation will need to demonstrate a commitment to the following core values and principles through its policies, procedures, practices and approach to the development and delivery of this project:
· Reducing inequality - enabling all citizens to achieve their full potential, regardless of gender, race, age, nationality, faith or belief, sexuality or disability.
· Delivering efficiently, effectively and equitably - ensuring that all citizens have appropriate access to and choice of high quality local services that enable:
- Improved health and emotional wellbeing
- Improved quality of life
- A positive contribution
- Choice and control
- Freedom from discrimination
- Economic wellbeing
- Personal dignity.
5 Range and Volume
5.1 Lewisham is a diverse inner London borough with a population of 275,885 of which 26,135 (9.5%) are above 65 years of age (data from the 2011 census). 46% of the population are from black and ethnic minority groups. The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 ranks Lewisham 31st of 326 districts in England and 10th out of 33 London boroughs. Populations living in areas of high deprivation experience worse health outcomes than those living in affluent areas. In the 2011 census, almost 20,000 residents reported that their day to day activities are limited a lot. Average life expectancy in Lewisham is low compared to the national average.
5.2 The Lewisham population is predicted to rise to 321,121 by 2021. The number of people over 65 is predicted to fall to 9% and the number aged over 85 is set to remain constant at 1%. This 1% is often the most complex and dependent of patients and therefore bears a very high proportion of care costs.
5.3 Lewisham’s Adult Social Care Service receives in the region of 11,300 contacts per annum. Approximately, 6200 of these people are FACS eligible. 1036 people currently receive direct payments and it is estimated that 30% of these employ personal assistants. The target is to increase the number of FACS eligible people receiving direct payments to 70% within the next year. It is estimated that this will generate demand for in excess of 500 personal assistants.
5.4 In addition to those supported by Adult Social Care, a large number of people self fund a range of services. It is anticipated that demand for these services will increase in the future.
6 Duration
6.1 The project is to be delivered within an 18 month period.
6.2 Monitoring data on the employment of personal assistants will continue to be collected for 12 months after the project ends in order to assess the impact of the intervention in the medium term.
6.3 If the organisation intends to continue elements of the project beyond the funded period, the application will need to demonstrate how this will be sustainable.
7 Delivery Expectations
7.1 Key targets will be agreed with the successful organisation when the grant is awarded, based on the information provided in the grant application.
7.2 The organisation will be required to work closely with Lewisham’s Adult Social Care Service to ensure that the service is:
· Developed in tandem with the transition to personal budgets
· Effectively promoted to support brokers
7.3 The organisation will promote the project widely, using a variety of marketing tools, to reach Lewisham’s diverse communities and ensure a good geographical spread of personal assistants across the borough.
7.4 The organisation will target the following groups:
· NEETs – young people not in education or training
· Unemployed residents aged 50 plus
· Residents affected by the universal credit reforms
7.5 The organisation will be required to work closely with Job Centre Plus and accredited training providers to support personal assistants to develop a range of skills including:
· Self employment / running a small business
· Manual handling
· Customer care
7.6 The organisation will be expected to ensure that staff have the necessary skills knowledge and experience to deliver a high quality service in accordance with this specification. The organisation will be expected to ensure an appropriate management structure is in place to support staff to deliver the service.
7.6 The organisation will actively engage with stakeholder events co-ordinated by Lewisham Council.
8 Monitoring
8.1 The organisation will work with the Council’s designated monitoring officer to agree appropriate reporting systems to evidence how the service has met the requirements.
8.2 Monitoring will consist of quarterly reporting, an end of project monitoring report and a follow up report to include data gathered 12 months after the project ends.