2. Why are we here today?
Today’s event will be part of a series of engagement that informs our business plan from 2012 onwards
Plan our future together and make sure we are meeting the priorities of disabled people
Celebrate our achievements over the last year
Raise awareness of some of the external and internal factors that may impact on our service provision
Introduce myself
For environmental reasons we have not printed out the presentations - All presentations will be available from the Richmond AID website for download or can be ed.
We created our last business plan in It was a three year business plan so we are early for the next Business Plan. Other methods of engagement will be a client survey and other client feedback.
It is important to review things now as so much has changed e.g. economic crises, personalisation, welfare reform
We want to make sure that our service users, staff, volunteers and trustees all have an opportunity to plan our future.
Today we have around 20 service users here, 7 staff, 8 trustees, 8 volunteers (although this is only a small representation of our volunteers), 8 organisations.

3. About Richmond AID
We work with over 2000 clients per year and last year had over 50,000 web hits. We work with people of all ages and all disabilities
Last year we focused on strengthening our internal services and improving some of the things we do
This year we are looking building on what we are good at, looking at gaps in services, involving our service users
We work with people of all disabilities including physical and sensory disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health.
We have a number of services, won’t go through them now but they are listed on the back of our newsletter (on a table at the back??) and on our website.

4. Our Successes Successes Highlights
Sustaining and improving our services
Supporting more people and created good internal efficiencies e.g, new website, database, IT and server, changes to DAAC
Creating a good evidence base e.g client profiling,
Evaluating our services, customer surveys
Deaf Access to Health Services consultation
Consultation responses e.g. DLA response
Start of our Community Involvement Group
Job Club
Children and Families service
Working Age Disability Profile
Inclusion London
Good to have maintained all services in the current climate.
Have focussed in making sure we are working as well and smartly as we can
Have focused on listening – feedback from people that use our services and surveys
Over 50 deaf people participated in consultation around access to health services. Results were presented to NHS Richmond. Some changes made as a result.
There has been over 240 downloads of our DLA consultation response
Job club – 3 people back into work
Working Age Disability Profile means we have more information about out clients group – 10,000 people of working age in LBRuT with a disability, around 10,000 over 65 too.
Initiated Disability Organisations across London getting together - strong voice, good support network – continue to work with Inclusion London

5. Influencing factors Internal External
Financial climate & greater competition for funding
Welfare Reform & greater demand for services
Personalisation
Commissioning
Uncertainty around the future of the DAAC
Value for Money and efficiencies
Securing premises
Extending our reach client groups and geographically
Partnerships and Collaborating
Person centred approach
Financial - Value for Money, efficiency, seeking contracts outside of Richmond Borough
Welfare - Information giving to individuals and organisations, consultations, advocacy, employment
Personalisation - Person centred approach, service user led
Commissioning - Financial audit, Policy and Procedures audit, Quality Marks, Collecting data and evidencing what we do, Preparing to trade, partnerships and collaboration
DAAC is at risk
New ways of working – expanding what we do well – looking at work in other boroughs

6. Local Benefit change impacts
Housing Benefit Cap
Over the 12 month period April 2011 to March vulnerable households would face rent shortfalls as a result of changing LHA rates. Of these 546 (67%) would be facing shortfalls in excess of £20 per week
This includes 108 older people, 64 households with disabilities and 374 households with children who face shortfalls of more than £20 per week.
Impact
The borough has carried out research that estimates the impact of LHA changes in Richmond upon Thames
Over the 12 month period April 2011 to March vulnerable households would face rent shortfalls as a result of changing LHA rates. Of these 546 (67%) would be facing shortfalls in excess of £20 per week.
This includes 108 older people, 64 households with disabilities and 374 households with children who face shortfalls of more than £20 per week.
Options
Discretionary Housing Payments Fund from Housing Benefit for those in accommodation
Negotiation with landlords if shortfall under £20 – may be incentive of direct payments
Planned moves to areas where there is cheaper accommodation
Older person, families with children or households with disabilities

7. Incapacity Benefit to ESA
LBRuT claimants of working age benefits by Statistical Group – August 2009
 In LBRuT the total number of benefits claimants in August 2009 were 9,630 (8.3% of the population
More than half of all people claiming benefits in LBRuT have a disability - 3,980 people of working age people in Richmond received Employment Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit / Severe Disablement Allowance. (3.3% of population). Additionally there are 640 working age people who receive DLA, Attendance Allowance or Industrial Injuries Benefits
An estimated 1,840 working age people receive both DLA and ESA/IB/SDA
2,590 were job seekers (2.2% of the population)
1,250 were lone parents (1.1% of the population)
More than 3000 people transferring from IB to ESA from 2010 to 2013
Issues with the ATOS medical assessment – large numbers of appeals
Most people will have a reduction of income and will need to seek work as part of new benefit

8. Personalisation
‘The Government’s word for the new way of organising public services. Everyone who uses support should have choice and control over that support.
As the name suggests ‘personalisation’ is primarily concerned with how to design support arrangements so they are more personal - which means they need to fit the person, to be suitable for them and to give that person as much control over their support as they wish to have.’
Locally recipients of social care have been moved on to Personal Budgets or Direct Payments which mean that people have more control over how they choose their care.
Amanda will explain a bit more about her experience of receiving a personal budget later on.
People with a community based service – Feb 2011
No with a service 1302
No with a PB/DP 1118 (86%)

9. PERSONAL BEST: Personal budgets will revolutionise social care delivery, but only if local authorities are fully prepared…”, DEMOS 2010
Demos: Personal Best
Highlights from the report
Surveyed/interviewed 770 service users and carers across 10 local authorities
Focused on what people wanted to change about their lives and the support they might like to use. Across Personal Budget and Direct Payment users, council funded (non SDS) and self funders. Included all client groups.
On going research. In 2011 the research will have covered over 2000 Service Users.
What people would like to change about their lives – 5 most common areas
Physical Health – 41%
Opportunities for holidays – 37%
What they do on weekdays – 32%
The control over their lives – 29%
Financial situation 29%
What help would people need to make changes in their lives?
Most common = More information about what I can do – 54%
More face to face advice – 52%
Someone to speak to in an emergency – 46%

10. Exploring new service areas
Advocacy
Employment and job clubs, training
Health & well-being
Telephone Befriending
Brokerage
Involvement/engagement work
Timebanking
Social Activities
Have explored this areas already – know there is a need and feel they would compliment what we already do
Some of the services we know there is a need for
e.g. need has been reported via our clients
Need has been report via a survey

11. Ensuring all disabled people have access to our services
Working across all disabilities
Children and Families
Transition
Young Adults
Ethnic Minority Groups

12. Diversifying our funding
Consultancy
Seeking new funders
Charging for some services
Social Enterprise
Working in other boroughs
Partnerships/collaboration

13. Useful documents
Demos report: DESTINATION UNKNOWN: SPRING ‘Tracking the lives of disabled families through the cuts…’
State of the nation report: poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency in the UK Feb 2011
Comprehensive Spending Review and disabled people: a brutal attack on equality, Inclusion London, Oct 2010
PERSONAL BEST: Personal budgets will revolutionise social care delivery, but only if local authorities are fully prepared…”, DEMOS 2010
Consultation Response: Disability Living Allowance reform, NAWRA, February 2011
Some statistics from the State of the Nation Report 2010
There is a greater likelihood of disabled people living in poverty.
For example, 23% of individuals in families where at least one member is disabled are in poverty, compared with 16% of families with no disabled member (BHC).
Children living in families with at least one disabled member have a 29% chance of living in poverty, compared with 20% for those living in families with no disabled member. The additional costs associated with disability mean that a narrow focus on incomes does not fully capture the levels of disadvantage experienced
24% of the working-age population for disabled adults have no qualifications compared to 10% of the rest of the population

14. Any Questions?