Voluntary Sector Forum (VSF) Meeting
Committee Rooms 5/6

RNIB, 105 Judd Street, London WC1H 9NE
Wednesday, 20th April 2011 10.30- 3pm

Attendees:
Dr Tom Pey, ChairCEO RLSB

Ravi Bhakhri , Sandwell Social Services,

Richard Bowers ,WCB

Mike Brace, VISION 2020 UK

Matt Broom ,VISION 2020 UK Operations Manager

Mike Cassidy, AVICP

Mona Charnley,ABAPTAS

Derek Childs, RNIB, David lark(DC) BRPS

Hans Cohn, NFB UK

Peter Corbett, TPT

Dianne Davies, Stoke

David Evans, DeafBlind UK

Joy Felgate, CHECT

Carolyn Fullard, NBCS

Carol Godwin,Stoke

Fazilet Hadi,RNIB

John Harris,MSB

Pam Jarmain, Nystagmus Network

Andrew Kaye, RNIB,

Anita Lightstone,RNIB

Miriam Martin,Action

Sue Sharp,Guide Dogs

Dan Scorer, RNIB

Tracie Tappenden, VICTA

Sue Taylor, Sight Service Visionary

Brian Watts, Talking News Federation

Peter Wilkins,AVIOS and the Visually Impaired Musician’s Association

David Wright,IGA

Sally Lorraine,(Minutes)Team Administrator RLSB

Volunteers:
Furo Adoki , Kathrin John, Paul Tenconi, Mel Jones, Jacqui Pidgen and Lisa Godsalve

1.Apologies:

Apologies had been received from Emily Brothers (NFB UK), Sue Brown (Sense), Lance Clarke (Visionary), Helen Jackman (Macular), Anne Klepacz (Keratoconus Support Group) , Alison Nield (RLSB), Terry Robinson (BCAB), Graham Smith (Guide Dogs), Angela Todd (Reading), Jude Thompson (RLSB), Michael Wilson (RNIB), Jeff Skipp (DeafBlind UK) and Colin Whitbourn (Action).

2.Welcome and Introductions

Tom Pey (TP, Chair) opened the meeting by thanking Sue Taylor, his predecessor, for her work for the Forum in her time as Chair.

3.Notes from last meeting, updates and matters arising

Notes from the last meeting were agreed.

Updates and matters arising: Sue Sharp (SS) gave a progress report of the 1st meeting of the Transport Sub-group of the VSF. The group had agreed to take forward the priority actions arising from the Transport Workshops that took place as part of Guide Dogs Vision for Equality conference. Those workshops were themed around community engagement. The first action would be to develop a toolkit for blind and partially sighted people who wanted to get involved locally. The group was aware that a number of resources currently existed and were keen to gather information about those to ensure that this work complemented rather than duplicated other efforts.SS invited VSF members to send details of any such resources to Guide Dogs, Transport Policy Officer, John Welsman –

4.Andrew Kaye (AK) RNIB presentation ‘Changes in public service delivery and their impact on organisations for blind and partially sighted people’ followed by table discussion

Andrew spoke to the brief at Appendix 1 to these notes and set the scene for the table discussion for which heset some key questions to stimulate the group discussions:

  • Are we, the VSF, in the right position?
  • Are we equipped?
  • What makes us attractive to service providers?

In the Q&A session which followed Andrew’s presentation the following were raised:
Q. Has the face of blind welfare been changed by the UN Convention?
A. Yes, we need to factor in the significance of this into our mission.
Q. The tax rise is a concern and how is it being delivered - A 10-15% increase in inequality on services?
A. The reforms would have to be taken into account but there is a danger. Local reach needs to be demonstrated by service providers.
Q. Power to challenge - is this going to happen? The transfer of service will become focused on staff rather than the user?
A. We need to remind the Government what they have said and challenge.
Q. Outsourcing some services could prove difficult as some services don’t exist externally. How will these services be fulfilled?
A. Social impact and added value needs to be evidenced.
Q. Value for money?

A. There will be an opportunity in October to make changes. Out sourcing is not always suitable.
Q. The US model, is this the way we are going?
A. Competition should not be a dirty word in order to improve services. Inequality could develop because of the level of income of the service users.
Q. How do we help the self advocate community groups at Government level?

  1. Right or Wrong needs to be put to one side and where we should position the VSF needs to be the focus.

Group discussion

Following the Q&A sessionthe attendees were asked to form four table discussion groups to address the following questions:

  1. How well prepared is the VSF?
  2. Strengths and weaknesses (SWOT)?
  3. What skills does the sector have?
  4. How do we use evidence and maintain competitiveness?

TP summarised the discussion:

Readiness:

  1. We need to be realistic. Not to stop campaigning to influence national agendas but also focus on getting a fair deal for VI people.
  2. Spectrum in terms of readiness is somewhat dependant on current reliance on service/voluntary income.
  3. The agenda isn’t clear cut and Central & Local Government is not one and the same.
  4. Information to end users is critical to empowerment and we need to get smart about how we get information to them.
  5. Self advocacy.

Threats/Opposition:

  • Bit pessimistic re opposition.
  • Opposition to working together within sector.
  • Threats re our relationships with our members i.e. as a service provider VS supporter/advocate.
  • Service quality will be at risk – lowest cost provider.
  • Be prepared to challenge contracts . Ultimately to say ‘NO’.

Competitive:

  • Other potential service providers – Large national private sector organisations are unlikely to have the knowledge/expertise re VI issues.
  • VI sector can build relationships with those – possibly sub contract but take care not just to be lending credibility to sub standard service.

Evidence:

  • Absolutely critical – pooling our resource/evidence.
  • Make use of existing tools in arsenal of campaigning advocacy e.g. UNCPRD at national level.

5.Anita Lightstone (AL) RNIB presentation ‘Update on UK Vision Strategy’

Anita provided an update on UKVS activities, which included:

  • Vision UK 2011 Conference – VISION 2020 UK's annual conference will take place on 16th June at the QEII Centre; 200 delegates have booked already
  • A follow up meeting with the local area leads from across England is planned for the autumn. Phil Ambler, Operations and Information Manager, continues to liaise with the local area leads and gather information for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy
  • Eye care commissioning guidance, developed by a cross-sector collaborative group, led by UKVS, is being developed and will be launched at the Vision UK 2011 conference
  • GP Access and Awareness Project is underway, with the first pilot sessions completed; the sessions aim to raise awareness of the issues that people with sensory loss and learning disabilities face when accessing their GP practice
  • EPIC (Engagement, Partnership, Information, Communication), continues to progress, with local vision strategies and plans in development within each of the pilot areas. A fourth and final round of recruitment for the project will be held in September

Announcement – Sue Brown (SB) SENSE May 11th

March/Rally to lobby parliament by disabled people on cuts and the Welfare Reform Bill.

6.Michael Wilson (MW) RNIB presentation ‘Campaigning update, including issues from delegates re local campaigns’

In addition to organising of the rally on May 11th Michael reported that over the next three months RNIB would be organising regional events comprising 15-20 training sessions for up to 250 people on how to lobby local councils on the Welfare Reform Bill and the migration of funding. MW pointed out that cuts would bite over the next two years and there would be changes to what local councils provide as contract out and merge services. For example, talking books could be cut as a service from local councils as a result of the review of Social Services. There would be child care service changes through consultations.

On the health front MW said RNIB was keen to capture a patient snapshot for their Losing Patientscampaign, and they were also working on:

  • Lost and Found – to meet with service providers to promote and retain services.
  • Accessible streets campaign
  • Getting cars off pavements
  • Transport and travel: responding to cuts to bus services and fare concession schemes.
  • Taxi services

6.Dan Scorer (DS) RNIB presentation ‘Update on benefits issues, e.g. DLA/personal independence payments (PIP)’.

DLA PIP

In April the Government published its response to the consultation, which ran from December to February, on the future of DLA. The document suggests little change in approach, but does set out a number of recent confirmations of policy on key areas:

  • The Government has said that the highest ('enhanced') rates of PIP will be paid at "no less than the higher rate of DLA mobility (£51) and highest rate of DLA care (£74) component". We still have no details on what the 'standard' rates will be paid at.
  • Children will not be included within PIP, when it is introduced in 2013: the Government will learn from how PIP works for adults before introducing any changes for children.
  • People over 65, who claim PIP before they are 65, will be able to continue their claim, as long as they remain eligible. The Government is considering how it will reassess claimants' eligibility for PIP once they are over 65.

The Public Bill Committee considering the Bill should move onto the PIP clauses in mid May. By this time the Government has pledged to publish information on the detailed regulations setting out the PIP assessment.

DS reported that amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill had been tabled in the following areas:
a) DLA/Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

  • Keeping automatic entitlements (Severely sight impaired, deafblind etc)
  • Exempting people who have an automatic entitlement from the 'independent' face to face medical assessment for PIP

b) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

  • Abolishing clauses on the time limiting of contributory ESA
  • Not including the assessment phase for ESA in the 12 months proposed for time limiting
  • Re-setting the time limit for anyone who has moved from the Work Related Activity Group to the Support Group and back to Work Related Activity Group.
  • Not counting time on contributory ESA before the policy is introduced in April 2012

c) Reassessment of Incapacity Benefit claimants

  • 1.5 million people to be reassessed from this month over the next three years – equivalent to 11,000 per week.
  • Changes have just been made by the Government to the Work Capability Assessment for ESA.
  • DWP have said the policy intention is that blind and partially sighted people should still qualify for ESA, but there may be problems. If colleagues can report any instances of blind or partially sighted people being denied ESA, RNIB can raise this directly with the DWP officials concerned and seek a resolution of the individual case.

DS took an action point from the meeting to set out what mechanism has been put in place regarding proving eligibility for the higher rate mobility component of DLA when someone has no recent ophthalmology records and was registered many years ago.

Andy Barrick, Head of Membership and Information, has set out the following background and process:

From 11 April 2011 certain categories of severely sight impaired people are eligible to claim the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

Higher rate component of DLA – eligibility: To get the allowance, people need to be certified as severely sight impaired by a consultant ophthalmologist and be aged over 3 and under65 on 11 April 2011. You must also:

  • have a best corrected visual acuity of less than 3/60, or
  • have a best corrected visual acuity of 3/60 or more, but less than 6/60, a complete loss of peripheral visual field and a central visual field of no more than 10 degrees in total.

These criteria was agreed by the previous Government as a way of ensuring that people who got the benefit under this system would clearly demonstrate that they were unable to orientate independently due to sight loss

The Disability and Carers service have been contacting sight-impaired customers who receive the lower rate mobility component of DLA.

In many circumstances there is no medical evidence available as people may have been registered very many years ago (or never registered if they had no eyes or no sight at birth). In these cases we recommend that the person contacts the DLA Project Team directly, quoting their name, date of birth and National Insurance number. They should then request a local sight test specifically for establishing their eligibility for this benefit change. The DWP have signed a contract to ensure people who have insufficient or no evidence can be tested. The telephone number to call is 08456 000 033.

If there are any difficulties experienced with setting this up, please contact RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 and we will provide support and advice regarding the claim.

7.Miriam Martin (MM) ACTION presentation ‘Universal standards’

MM spoke to the document at Appendix 2 making the following points:

  • The aim of the Universal Standard was to ensure that blind and partially sighted people had access to a range of services regardless of where they live in the UK.
  • The Universal Standard is presented as outcomes rather than services to ensure its relevance across the UK and that services are person centred.
  • Each outcome will be supported by a quality framework to ensure consistency of delivery.
  • We will have to consider how we measure the impact of the Universal Standard in due course.
  • The Universal Standard fits with current government plans and themes.
  • It will support VI people of all ages and those with additional disabilities.

With ten outcomes:

  • Emotional support.
  • Understanding eye conditions and register process.
  • Access to information.
  • Mobility training.
  • Looking after myself, money, home and family.
  • Best use of residual sight
  • Communication skills
  • Education and lifelong learning
  • Employment and Volunteering
  • How you want your service planned around you?

MM said that consultation would take place later in the year from which the group would beasking for endorsement of the standard and support from organisations working with blind and partially sighted people.

In discussion MM pointed out that demonstration of impact would be the next stage and could take 5 years! She confirmed that the group has recognised the importance of early intervention and so reference is made to timely intervention throughout.

MM said that they will be working with professionals in the field to ensure that the quality frameworks take account of those individuals who also have hearing loss. The Universal Standard itself is relevant to those with other disabilities.

In response to a question about statutory rights, MM said that it was
difficult to see what these might be in the future in relation to social care, however this is about working collaboratively across the sector and what we can achieve together rather than saying this is the responsibility of the state. What was clear was that not everything is affordable.

8.Items for future meetings and notices from delegates.

  • Concern about the process of certification and registration:
  • Hospital referral and how people get registered is a matter of concern
  • Ophthalmologists seemed to have different sign off criteria
  • Differences across authorities.
  • Reconfiguration of local authority services was theory but how would it be delivered in practice? How do you get access to the budgets?
  • Partnership working
  • Electronic text books for schools funding is in plan for the next two years to get them up and off the ground. How are we going to transfer skills to clients?

Next Meeting Friday, 14th October 2011

Appendix 1:

Changes in public service delivery and their impact on organisations for blind and partially sighted people:

Voluntary Sector Forum (April 20th 2011)

Précis

The Government is committed to greater competition and diversity in the provision of public services. The Prime Minister is personally committed to the Big Society agenda and putting power in people's hands. The voluntary sector needs to understand the significance of these changes. Organisations working with blind and partially sighted people in particular need to consider the consequences for the people we represent and serve.

1. Background

The Cabinet Office published a Green Paper - "modernising commissioning" - in December. It set out a number of proposals on decentralising power, for example fairer rules designed to help voluntary organisations and community groups bid for public service contracts. The Prime Minister wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph on 21 February saying it was his wish to "release the grip of state control" on the provision of key services. The Government will sweep in a new culture, so that a mixed economy of provision becomes the norm, not just in areas like the NHS and in schools, but in every type of service funded by the State except the judiciary and areas like national security.

Public Service Reform White Paper

The Government is finalising its plans on opening up public services but there is apparently a debate at the heart of government with the two coalition parties at odds over how to create their respective visions of the Big Society and localism.

A key debate in the months ahead will focus on how the breaking up of public services – an industry valued at an estimated £79 billion – will benefit service users, the taxpayer, and employees. There are competing accounts on the best approach. We are likely to learn more about how the Government leans in May, when it publishes its White Paper. Will it lean more heavily towards outsourcing (in other words working with the bigger, tried and trusted private sector providers) or will it express a genuine commitment to localism?

The philosophy

The Prime Minister's chief policy adviser has argued the business of government needs re-engineering. Paul Kirby believes central government needs to reform public services so they permanently pose less of a burden on the Exchequer. This is a sentiment shared by Lord Nat Wei, the adviser to the Government on the Big Society. Their view is that a record deficit and an ageing society make public service reform a policy imperative.