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…
An NHS England programme with 28 voluntary and community sector organisations aimed at getting them ‘geared up’ for personal health budgets has started. The national development programme started in June and all participating organisations have been awarded funding to help equip them with the knowledge and expertise to inform their local communities about personal health budgets. The organisaions will also help support eligible people to discuss the option of a personal health budget with…
The ‘Croft Hill Crew’ have kindly provided this short story about spreading a little sunshine – in more ways than one. Early this year I was visiting a friend in hospital and was reading one of her gardening magazines. I came across an article on Seed Bombing – a friendly, enjoyable and cheap way of spreading a little sunshine into other members of the communities hearts in a subtle and fun way. As an avid…
A Potential Diamond has supplied this inspirational story about Steven finding work after being unemployed all his adult life. Steven, 24, is hard-working, conscientious and totally reliable. He’s also autistic. Steven has been unemployed all his adult life. He’s been on many government-funded programmes to support him to find paid employment but none of them have worked for him. When we met Steven in December 2013 we took the time to get…
To coincide with the Disability Rights UK independent living conference, In Control, Disability Rights UK and others have published a review of the Independent Living Strategy authored by Dr Jenny Morris and have put together some ideas on how to restart and move the independent living debate forward. Over the past year a group of disabled people and allies from a range of organisations have been meeting to discuss concerns about the present state and…
