In Control trustee Clenton Farquharson and Miro Griffiths, member of our Children’s Programme team have both been awarded MBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.   Clenton, who has been a trustee of In Control since April 2013, was awarded his MBE for services to disabled people and the community in the West Midlands. As well as being a trustee of In Control, Clenton is also co-chair of Think Local Act Personal’s Making it Real sub…

We have published two new papers on integration: ‘Resilience, identity and contribution’ and ‘Creating an integrated, outcome-focused, family-centred offer’.   Nic Crosby, who leads our Children’s programme, has written this blog post on what true integration actually means and why it must start with the person at the centre:   Integration is heralded by many as the answer to limited and ever decreasing budgets as well as inefficient and duplicating systems but how many see it…

Dyslexia Action has launched a new guide for parents to help them understand the changes to SEN provision.   The free online guide will help parents and carers, who support children with literacy difficulties including dyslexia, navigate the changes in special educational needs (SEN) which come into effect in September.   ‘How to…Navigate the changes in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision’ highlights the new legal requirements that schools and colleges have a duty…

  NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens has set out plans for a new Integrated Personal Commissioning (IPC) programme in a major speech at the annual conference of the Local Government Association.   The proposals will offer local councils across England a radical new option in which individuals could control their combined health and social care support.   Speaking at the LGA conference in Bournemouth, Stevens set out plans for the new IPC programme, which…

Care Services Minister Norman Lamb has written to all Directors of Adult Social Services (DASS’) to encourage them to sign up to Making it Real to mark their progress with personalisation and use POET to check the results of personal budgets. POET, the Personal Outcomes Evaluation Tool, has been developed by In Control and Lancaster University to help councils to assess their performance locally and nationally by surveying local personal budget holders and carers about…

My Life CIC is about to launch a new venture to provide meaningful, inclusive day time opportunities for people of all ages and all abilities.   The new venture will be located at Thompson House Farm in Standish, Wigan, and is expected to attract people all over the country, not just the North West. Thompson House is a newly built eco-farm and equine centre spanning more than 80 acres of beautiful farmland. It offers fully…

On May 13, In Control hosted a round-table event to explore personalising the approach to early intervention and better supporting people at times of crisis or vulnerability.   The focused session looked at how the principles of self-directed support can underpin approaches to early intervention, recovery and independence.   The following people attended the session, which was conducted under Chatham House Rules: Jenny Dalby and Tim Keilty, Middlesbrough Rachel Salter and Nick Parker, Worcestershire Pat…

  Parents and young people themselves should be at the heart of checking and improving Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and personal budgets under the SEND reforms according to a new report published by In Control.   The report ‘Measuring the outcomes of EHC plans and personal budgets’ shows how this can be done via a pilot survey of 133 people from six council areas carried out by In Control with Lancaster University, and supported…