Please note; the following document can be downloaded as a .PDF file by clicking here

MEMBERS’ INFORMATION SHEET NO.5 (October 2008)

THE CASE FOR CHANGE: WHY ENGLAND NEEDS A NEW CARE AND SUPPORT SYSTEM
In May the Government published The Case for Change, initiating a ‘national debate’ on reform of the care and support system. The opportunity to contribute will close in November, but will be followed by a Green Paper consultation in 2009. The debate centres on three questions:
• What more does the Government need to do to make the vision of independence, choice and control a reality?
• What should the balance of responsibility be between the family, the individual and the government?
• Should the system be the same for everybody or should the Government consider varying the ways it allocates government funding according to certain principles?

One of the organisations that has already responded is the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL), whose views are thoughtfully presented in its September newsletter, Independently. It includes a letter from Ivan Lewis MP, the former Care Services Minister, in which he suggests that demographic change is just as big an issue in the UK as climate change. Already there are six million people looking after a relative or friend who needs to be supported for a decent quality of life. It is predicted that in 20 years time a quarter of our population will be over 65 and the number of those over 85 will have doubled. “The current system,” he argues, “is simply not sustainable”, and he flags up the opportunity to contribute to the debate at www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk.

Connect, the impressive newsletter of LTCA (Long Term Conditions Alliance), which is unusual in exploring the political arena, devotes a centre-page spread of its Autumn issue to the review. Social care in the UK, it says, “is provided on the basis of a ‘state-controlled’ assessment of need, which is often less about what someone needs, and more about what is available to give them. Put simply, you can only get it if you really need it; and to get it, you really do have to need it. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people…it is only available if they are willing to pay for it.” The coverage incorporates the views of three of LTCA’s members and takes a wide-ranging perspective, but is on common ground that for those who want to regain and retain their independence despite illness or injury the concern is about “how the individual can be supported to care for themselves, in settings that reflect what they want, as opposed to what the state would like to give them”. Mark Platt, LTCA’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, finds, however, that “the new political landscape for health (and social care) is now wider, and deeper. Nothing is off-limits, everything is open for debate, and everyone is being encouraged to participate.”

The full debate document is available online at: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/
Publications/PublicationsPolicyandGuidance/DH_084725. LTCA is at 202 Hatton Square, 16 Baldwin Gardens, London EC1N 7RJ; tel: 020 7813 3637; e.mail: info@ltca.org.uk. NCIL can be contacted on 020 7587 1663 or office@ncil.org.uk.

NATIONAL VOICES: USERS SHAPING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
National Voices is a new umbrella organisation set up to bring together all national voluntary organisations representing users of health and social care, with the aim of giving them a stronger voice in policy development. It will campaign on behalf of patients, carers and service users from the conviction that they should be at the heart of policy development.

The new organisation held its first conference on 9 September, when over 130 organisations were represented. Its development has been supported by, and it shares its address with, LTCA (see previous article), which itself is an alliance of 100 national voluntary organisations but which recognises that it has hitherto represented only a portion of those who use health and care services.

Liz McSheehy, National Voices project manager, says that they look to “build on LTCA’s influence and achievements in the field of long-term conditions over the years, but also widening the scope to all voluntary organisations concerned with health and social care”. She believes that National Voices will “occupy a unique position in the health and social care voluntary sector” and will “work closely with, but be independent of government; and act as a critical friend to government and opposition alike.”

Membership rates vary according to the size of the member organisation, but encouragingly start from as little as £25 for those with an annual income under £50,000.

For further details phone 020 7813 3644 or e.mail info@nationalvoices.org.uk, or visit the website at www.nationalvoices.org.uk.

NAVEVO UNVEILS SAT-NAV FOR THE DISABLED DRIVING COMMUNITY
Navevo, a specialist GPS software developer, has announced the launch of BBNav, a sat-nav solution specifically designed to support disabled drivers and those caring for disabled people.

To assist Blue Badge holders in finding suitable parking locations and points of interest, Navevo has teamed up with Public Information Exchange (PIE), the UK’s leading publisher of disabled parking guides. BBNav covers 150 major cities and towns across the UK, including all the London boroughs. It includes all of the features found on a standard sat-nav, but has been enhanced to provide detailed information to support Blue Badge holders, including on-street disabled parking bays; disabled accessible car parks and local council Blue Badge concessions, as well as a wide range of points of interest to support people with disabilities. Standard features include NAVTEQ street level mapping covering UK and Republic of Ireland, 7 digit postcode routing and safety camera alerts.

Blue Badge car park and on-street parking database
BBNav’s database of Blue Badge car parks and on-street parking bays can save not only time but also take out the uncertainty when driving around and searching for a car parking space. Clear colour-coded and numbered icons are displayed on the mapping while driving, and it is easy to search for a car park/parking bay of choice and navigate directly to it.

To find the right type of car park for specific needs, most are graded from 1 to 3: Grade 1 being suitable for wheelchair users travelling independently; Grade 2 for wheelchair users travelling with assistance, and Grade 3 for wheelchair users or those with some degree of mobility, able to walk a limited distance. BBNav also provides information about any height restrictions above 2.2 meters, which can be extremely useful, for example if you are driving a converted vehicle.

BBNav also allows you to locate and navigate directly to over 10,000 on-street parking bays, including Blue Badge and red route bays. With clear icons on the map it’s easy to identify the bays, as well as understand the waiting times or any restrictions.

In addition, BBNav’s mapping is colour-coded to show local council rules applicable to Blue Badge holders, so users can easily identify whether they can park legally on yellow lines, pay and display or in residents’ bays.

Note: Blue Badge data does not cover the Republic of Ireland.

Points of interest data in association with PIE
In addition to over 40,000 UK points of interest, BBNav offers a database of over 20,000 more, tailored specifically for people with disabilities. If visiting an unfamiliar town, BBNav will show where parking is permitted, where the public toilets with disabled facilities are and will even point out the nearest Shopmobility scheme. BBNav also provides details of accommodation with disabled facilities, as well as over 300 beaches with disabled accessibility.

BBNav’s data displays the type of disabled access, with contact telephone numbers, making it easier than ever to plan a stress free trip. Anyone who fancies a detour, can do so with the knowledge that BBNav will be able to offer information to make the trip much easier.

“We have developed BBNav to make travelling far easier for the disabled driving community,” says Nick Caesari, Navevo’s CEO. “We have teamed up with PIE to ensure that we are delivering the most comprehensive solution available that uniquely addresses Blue Badge drivers’ or their carers’ specific needs.”

Availability
BBNav will go on sale in October 2008 priced at £199.99 inc vat from www.bbnav.co.uk and selected retail stores.

For further information about BBNav, please visit www.bbnav.co.uk

YOUR RIGHTS TO FLY
Arthritis News (October/November 2008) reports that new regulations were introduced in July that give disabled and elderly air passengers with reduced mobility the right to be assisted when flying and using airports throughout much of Europe. New laws make airports responsible for providing wheelchairs and lifts in the airport and onto an aeroplane at no extra cost. Aeroplanes are now covered by anti-discrimination laws, which can also benefit people who have had an accident on holiday.

A new guide, Your rights to fly, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a step-by-step guide for disabled and less mobile passengers. To order, download or view the guide visit www.equalityhumanrights.com/airtravel or call the national EHRC helplines (England: 0845 604 6610; Scotland: 0845 604 5510; Wales: 0845 604 8810).

PAYING FOR SOCIAL CARE
I attended the 50th anniversary conference of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on 18 October (as an observer) and was surprised to see social care on the agenda. The explanation was simple. It seems that The Rt.Hon.Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health, had invited suggestions on how a shortfall of £6 billion on funding for essential non-medical care might be found. Unsurprisingly, a motion was passed unanimously at CND’s conference to the effect that scrapping the Trident programme would meet the shortfall with money to spare. Maybe they have a point.

TURN2US
1 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; tel: 020 7396 6690; website: www.turn2us.org.uk
This new charity, founded by Elizabeth Finn Care, has been formed specifically to help people to find out about the charitable grants and state benefits to which they may be entitled. As well as obtaining information through the website, people can also be guided to apply directly to charities for financial help.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INFORMATION ACCREDITATION SCHEME UPDATE
The testing network for this scheme is now up and running. Forty information producers spanning the voluntary, commercial and public sectors are preparing to test the Standard, aid the development of the quality mark and take part in the production of case studies. These case studies will document the testing organisations’ journeys to achieving certification and provide guidance to organisations that may be considering joining the scheme once it is launched next summer.

All 40 testing network organisations were present at a launch event in London on 4 September and were given the chance to meet the people behind the scheme development.

EMPLOYMENT RATES FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES
The Ethnic Minorities Employment Team of the Department of Work and Pensions has published an annual report updating statistics on how our ethnic minority population is performing in the labour market. The report runs to 38 detailed pages examining all facets of recent trends, but it is possible here only to bring out some of the highlights.

In summary, 2007 statistics showed 3.9 million working age ethnic minorities in Great Britain (GB), a figure that had grown by 80% in the last ten years and growing far more rapidly than the overall GB working age population. Ethnic minorities accounted for 14.8% of the working age population of GB and over two thirds were born outside the UK. Nearly 45% of them lived in London. The figures show the ethnic minority employment rate as 60.9% and the gap with the overall rate for GB as 14.1 percentage points.

Composition of the working age ethnic minority population
Indian: 20.1%
Black African: 12.6%
Black Caribbean: 10.3%
Black other: 1.0%
Mixed 7.4%
Pakistani: 13.9%
Bangladeshi: 4.7%
Chinese: 5.6%
Other Asian: 8.9%
Other: 15.6%

The ‘Other’ category has grown particularly quickly: six times more than in 1997, with many immigrants from the Far East (excluding China).

A curious paradox is that ethnic minorities are more likely to have a degree than the overall population, but also more likely to have no qualifications at all.

Employment rates
As mentioned above. the ethnic minority employment rate is now 60.9%, against the overall GB rate of 75%. But while all ethnic minority groups have lower employment rates than whites, this broad average covers wide variations, with particularly low rates for the Pakistani community (47.9%) and those from Bangladesh (41.9%), many of whom work only part-time. In all groups women have lower employment rates than men, but again this is most marked among Pakistanis and Bangladeshis (around 35%).

FIND THE HELP YOU NEED: A GUIDE FOR DISABLED REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS
The Forum has relaunched an updated edition of this guide on its website (but not in print). Although aimed primarily at refugees and asylum seekers, specifying their entitlements, the guide will be useful to any disabled person, with sections on rights, discrimination, benefits, accommodation, employment, the NHS, community care, looking after a disabled person, equipment, education, voluntary organisations, information and legal services. It brings together this wide range of information as a single, downloadable file. Please have a look at it at www.nif.org.uk. Obviously, its effectiveness will depend on people – particularly refugees and asylum seekers and those serving them – knowing about the site, and we hope that members will give the site as much publicity as possible. It is not available in languages other than English, but we encourage community organisations, if necessary, to produce their own translations.

YOUR RIGHTS AT THE END OF LIFE
One aspect of the swelling numbers of older people needing care and support that the Government has so far avoided is the fact that some of us, while mentally competent, would in our last days like to have the option of an assisted death, subject of course to it being a voluntary decision and with a range of legal safeguards. Indeed we see it as a human right.

Dignity in Dying (formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society) has produced an excellent guide Your Rights at the End of Life. In its introduction, CEO Sarah Wootton begins by saying that Dignity in Dying believes that choice, control and access need to be at the heart of end-of-life policy making to ensure dignity at the end of life. The organisation whole-heartedly welcomes the Government’s efforts to push for change in the area of end-of-life care and looks forward to seeing good policy translated into good practice. It believes that a dignified death means having choice, control and access to services: choice about where we die, how we die and who is present, control by planning for the end of life, and access to high quality palliative care tailored to individual needs, as well as access to support for carers and family members.

To make informed decisions about care and treatment at the end of life, she continues, we must have access to expert information on the choices available for end-of-life care, and the booklet aims to help people to get that information by looking at present rights in England and Wales.

Advance Decisions
Despite Dignity in Dying’s undoubted aspiration to extend the law to allow assisted dying for mentally competent, terminally ill adults, the guide sticks strictly within current legal rights. It is both thorough and authoritative, and those of us who do not wish to endure a long drawn out death (even with excellent palliative care) will be particularly interested in the section about making decisions about care and treatment, bringing out that even now we have the legal right to refuse medical treatment, even if we will die as a result. And that we can make an Advance Decision (sometimes known as a living will of advance directive) setting out what medical treatment we would like to refuse, should we lose mental competency or the ability to communicate.

Copies of the guide are available from Dignity in Dying, 181 Oxford Street, London W1D 2JT, tel: 020 7479 7730; e.mail: info@dignityindying.org.uk; website: www.dignityindying.org.uk.

FUEL POVERTY
The April/June 2008 newsletter of the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) focused on fuel poverty, headlining that “People in poverty shouldn’t have to choose between eating and heating!”
The UK uses a definition that draws on the World Health Organisation’s analysis of adequacy: “A household is in fuel poverty, if in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime [21 degrees C for a living room and 18 degrees C for other rooms] it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income (including housing benefit or income support) on all household fuel use.” Based on this definition the Government has calculated that 2.9 million of our people are in fuel poverty. However, the Consumer’s Association and Energy Watch have estimated this figure to be over 4 million and the number will surely rise given huge increases in energy prices, which having risen seem slow to come down now that wholesale oil prices have fallen. Energy Watch has said that Britain already has the highest number of avoidable deaths due to winter cold in Western Europe.

EAPN is calling for urgent EU action:
• To guarantee the right to energy, moving forward on a new horizontal EU framework on service of general interest;
• To recognise the complex causes of fuel poverty and the need for integrated strategies dealing with inadequate income, price regulation and energy efficiency.
Sad, therefore, that from 1 October the specialist watchdog Energy Watch has been subsumed within Postwatch and the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils to form Consumer Focus. Customer complaints about energy must in future be raised with Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
EAPN’s website is www.eapn.eu.

ARTHRITIS CARE
Long-standing member Arthritis Care was recently voted health charity of the year by the Medical Journalists’ Association. Several top health charities were nominated and the finalists included the British Heart Foundation and the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

Arthritis Care won on the strength of the presentation of health issues in campaigns like People like us – which used video diaries to demonstrate the impact of arthritis on people’s lives – for its usefulness to people living with arthritis, and for the quality of its service to health journalists. The award is significant because it comes from specialist medical and health editors in national television, newspapers and magazines, as well as publications for health professionals. “It is fantastic that it comes from the respected, authoritative communicators who influence health and public policy and are influential in reaching the public,” said Rachel Haynes, Arthritis Care’s director of public affairs. “By helping them, we’re doing our job of helping people with arthritis to get their voices heard.”
(from Arthritis News, no.139).

Note: Arthritis Care has also won two more awards from the British Medical Association for the quality of its information. Kate Llewelyn, head of information services, comments “We pride ourselves on producing information that people with arthritis want. We ask people directly what issues affect them. We look at things from a lifestyle angle – after all arthritis is just one part of our lives, but one that can influence how we choose to live our lives. The fact that we keep winning awards for our information shows the success of our approach.” It could also be one from which other health charities could learn.

ACCESSING YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS
More people will be able to access their medical records by computer as part of a new service being offered to GP practices across the UK. Those practices that use the EMIS system will be offered a free trial of the online records system for patients. People whose GP practice is part of the trial can ask to sign up to the EMIS system. This could enable access to test results and other details of consultations.
(from Arthritis News, no.139).

COMBATING AGE DISCRIMINATION
The Government plans to introduce a wide ranging equality bill later this year to combine and extend the scope of many existing disability, age, gender and race laws. While age discrimination has been illegal since 2006, current laws apply mainly to the workplace. At the moment it is still legal to refuse insurance, loans, healthcare and car hire to someone because they are over a certain age.

The bill proposes to include a wide range of goods and services, particularly insurance and healthcare. One of the intentions is to stop insurance companies charging big increases in premiums once people reach a certain age if there is no increase in risk. Exemptions are likely to be that the risks of travel are too high or if doctors believe there are good medical reasons to refuse treatment.

The bill is expected to impose a duty on public organisations to ban discrimination and promote equality. There will also be requirements for public sector organisations to award more contracts to companies with a good record in equality. Services such as free bus passes are expected to continue.
“Plans to make age discrimination illegal could make a huge difference to older people,” said Kate Jopling, head of public affairs at the charity Help the Aged. “But the timetable is still undecided. It is imperative that legislation is enacted without delay in the key areas of health and social care.”

The equality bill will cover England, Wales and Scotland.
(from Arthritis News, no.139).

WE HATE NO.13: REWARDING FAILURE
Derek Kinrade (with Ann Darnbrough)
Golden largesse for feeble performance has become, like lap dancing clubs, 24/7 drinking and casinos, an unsavoury part of the national scene. I refer, of course, to those extraordinary salaries and bonuses awarded to people who have loaned money irresponsibly or, conversely, have invested public money in banks palpably at risk. To people, moreover, who appear to be largely unaccountable for their actions. Obviously no-one has set out to fail. But fail they have: big time. No-one has put it better than Will Hutton (The Guardian, 14 October) who refers to “breathtaking business misjudgment, epic regulatory failure and a 20-year indulgence of now-defunct ‘free market’ principles”. What I hate most in such a context is the indiscriminate payment of excessive ‘rewards’ across the board.

But you may think that it is all very well to be wise after the event: in this case the credit crunch and meltdown of global stock markets. I take that point and rely instead on the remarks of my partner, Ann Darnbrough, in her miscellany A Rebellious Disposition, published, please note, in 2007:

“Though lacking the skills of a trained accountant, I nevertheless have strong views about those sad people who dedicate their energies to acquiring personal fortunes, rather than benefiting the world around them; piling up riches by every this way or that, without thought for those struggling to make an honest living. Some may call it the politics of envy. I prefer to think that it is a basic principle of elementary morality.

“A recent Guardian survey found that over the previous 12 months boardroom ‘earnings’ had risen seven times faster than average earnings. More than 200 directors ‘earned’ more than £1m. Eight chief executives were said to have ‘earned’ more than £1m as a basic salary, quite apart from mind-boggling bonuses, perks and share options. The magic word ‘bonus’ seems to have high ‘earners’ salivating. In 2006, the total of bonuses to be paid out in the UK was estimated at £8.8bn.

“While some attempt has been made to lift the poorest members of our population out of absolute poverty, the disparity between those at the bottom and those at the top inexorably widens as the rich are allowed, indeed encouraged, to become immoderately richer.

Enough is never enough
“Naturally, we all want enough money to keep our lives going and to be able to do those things we enjoy. The trouble is that for so many people, enough is never enough…it all too often seems that once a person becomes rich their main object in life is to become richer. You might say they have caught the deadly affluenza virus that can be almost impossible to shake off.

“The defence for monstrous pay is that it is necessary to attract the right calibre of people. But does this argument stand up? Does outstanding performance necessarily follow financial reward, and is a devotion to high living the best qualification for leadership? Whatever happened to the idea of achievement through dedication as the ultimate prize? Unbridled remuneration simply creates a hierarchy of status, divorcing the leaders from the led. Don’t get me wrong. I know that absolute equality is an impossible dream, not really a dream worth dreaming, and that financial incentives are needed as a spur to achievement. What I am saying is that there needs to be an overriding sense of proportion, a climate of what is reasonable rather than a free-for-all based on supply and demand.

“I believe a healthy nation, one that is prosperous in the best sense of the word, cannot be built on greed. A nation state based on the pursuit of affluence will surely die. True wealth is made up of the contributions of all its citizens to the common good: to each other as neighbours, to strangers around us through kindness and to the wellbeing of the state through fair and equitable taxation.”

Ann was not alone in challenging the culture of greed, but most of us closed our eyes and ears to the dangers of an economy built on excessive debt and weighted in favour of entrepreneurial adventurers. Information about the finances of banks and the ratio of deposits to lending now abounds in the media, but in non-specialist newspapers it was conspicuous by its absence before the bubble burst.

We have drifted into countenancing a society in which the rich get ever richer and the divide between those at the top and those at the bottom has widened to an obscene degree. I may have mentioned (but it is worth repeating) that while people on quite modest incomes pay National Insurance contributions at 11%, high earners pay only 1% on income above £40,040 a year. Similarly, if you cast your eye on your gas or electricity bills, you will find that the price is higher for low consumption. This is surely indefensible.

I rest my case, save that those who have benefited from their mistakes still have an opportunity voluntarily to pay something back. But perhaps that is another impossible dream.

This information sheet has been compiled by Derek Kinrade. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the National Information Forum

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Please note; the following document can be downloaded as a .PDF file by clicking here

MEMBERS’ INFORMATION SHEET NO.4 (September 2008)

This information sheet has been compiled by Derek Kinrade. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the National Information Forum.

CARERS AT THE HEART OF 21ST CENTURY FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES
This 168 page report, published on the 10 June 2008 and downloadable from the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk/en/PublicationsandStatistics), sets out the government’s plans for the future care and support of carers. First among a number of its short-term commitments is that of “Providing every carer with the opportunity to access comprehensive information when they need to. The information will be easily accessible for all groups of carers, and specific to their locality”. The guidance explains that this will be achieved through a carers’ information helpline and website and funding for accessible information provision about the local area.

A summary of the full report is available in English and ten other languages.

SYNERGY
Synergy is the quarterly newsletter of the Association of Social Care Communicators (ASCC), an organisation that links and supports communication officers in social services, health and the voluntary sector and whose work has many parallels with that of the Forum. Its benefits include a members-only access to a website (www.ascc.me.uk), an on-line publications ‘swap shop’, providing an opportunity to share good information and communication practice, and regional meetings where members can meet and network with colleagues. £100 buys corporate membership for a year.

TEN SUGGESTED PRINCIPLES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION INITIATIVES

In the course of our move from Burne House, we came across an early (11/1991) paper proposing guidelines for “the provision of information for disabled people, for their families and carers, and for professional providers such as therapists, social workers and the medical profession”. We’re not sure where it came from, but thought it worth repeating.

WE HATE NO.12 : FOOTBALL

Not, I hasten to say, the beautiful game, nor yet the likes of Accrington Stanley or those who labour enthusiastically on Hackney Marshes. My distaste rises exponentially as we move into the higher echelons of competition.

But at all levels, club football attracts tribal support. The original pretext for one’s particular attachment may be slight, but once implanted it tends to remain entrenched, like religious faith or heroin addiction. And it is irrational and deaf to common sense. At the lower levels of the sport this hardly matters, but at the top it translates to an allegiance and dedication to success literally at any cost.

Thus we have seen, increasingly, an acceptance that success can be bought. It amounts to a collective madness. Given wealthy owners, prepared to commit huge resources, there is virtually no limit to the importation of the talent thought necessary to achieve pre-eminence. And fervent fans have become party to this strategy, apparently unconcerned that, beyond the shirts the players wear, their favourite teams for the most part bear little affinity to the areas they allegedly represent.

Foreign owners, foreign managers, foreign players
Of the big four in the English Premier League, none has an English manager. Only Sir Alex is British. The players are largely drawn from the elite of footballing countries across the world: proven maestros imported to secure supremacy. And the costs are enormous, with massive transfer fees and top managers and players being paid incredible salaries. As we have seen in recent seasons, the result is that the contest has become more and more predictable, with most of the teams in the league destined to be also-rans. This process is reinforced by the inevitable drift of better players from struggling clubs to those challenging for silverware. Soon, unless something is done, I suspect that the big four will become the big two; perhaps even the big one.

Men predominate as the cheer leaders in this outrageous system. I have heard it said that some find the climatic moments in a game as “better than sex”; which is surely a sad commentary on their love lives. Apparently they have substituted the romance of football for romance in their relationships. I think the sad fact is that they bond with other men, and prefer their company to that of their partners. And at such great cost. When I first went to watch Liverpool FC, it cost a shilling (5 pence) to get in and an old penny to store my bike in somebody’s back yard. Nowadays, admission, refreshments, travel (sometimes over hundreds of miles), parking, replica shirts and other accessories add up to a whopping outlay, and for those men with family responsibilities this is inevitably at the expense of their nearest and dearest. Today, even to watch football on television mostly requires a slice of the family income to be diverted to subscription channels. Conversely, people who are hard up cannot afford to participate. It is another example of social exclusion.

Yet another unfortunate consequence of the system, with its over-reliance upon foreign players in our top clubs, is that the home countries are drawing talent from a contracting pool and finding it increasingly difficult to recruit the equivalents of George Best and Billy Wright so that they can field competitive teams. In the pursuit of localised aims we are frustrating national achievement.

Change will not be easy. As Napoleon Bonaparte remarked “There is no place in a fanatic’s head where reason can enter”.

(I swear I wrote this before the acquisition of Manchester City by the sheiks of Abu Dhabi (for the big four now read the big five) and before Andy Burnham’s speech to the Cooperative Party).

WELFARE REFORM
In our last information sheet I was critical of the Green Paper proposals on welfare reform. I feel that the initiative is ill-timed and in some important respects regressive; not least the idea that long-term claimants on Jobseekers Allowance might be expected to take work offered by private contractors or lose benefit. Since then I have been reminded of Article 23 of the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights which, among other things, asserted the right to “free choice of employment”. Does it really make sense to try to shoehorn lame, nervous and work-shy people into any kind of work?

I now read that the Social Market Foundation has a different (and perhaps more realistic) take on the situation. As I understand it, this ‘think-tank’ envisages that because it is planned that payments to contractors will be based on results, those with complex needs who are difficult [or impossible] to place, and who are therefore unprofitable, are likely to be ‘parked’. According to The Guardian, Stephen Timms, the employment and welfare reform minister, has promised to “look closely at the results of the first phase of the contracts and carefully consider if any changes need to be made”. Wouldn’t it be better to think ahead and get it right first time? Perhaps the bar is being set too high.

CITIZENS ADVICE
The Citizens Advice Service is so well known as a respected source of information that we may tend to take it for granted and forget that it is the UK’s largest advice provider. Certainly on reading its latest introductory brochure I was impressed anew by the scope of its work. In England and Wales alone there are 433 Bureaux, providing free information and advice in 3,300 locations. All of them are independent registered charities, while members of Citizens Advice.

The Service also delivers information through a website: www.adviceguide.org.uk, covering everything from benefits and employment rights to housing, consumer and legal matters. The website also has details of the accessibility of each bureau and includes frequently asked questions in seven languages, with downloadable fact sheets.

All bureaux offer telephone advice and a large number also offer e.mail advice. Local addresses and telephone numbers can be found in Phonebooks or on. www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Karen Buck MP comments that “Citizens Advice provides an essential and high quality service, open to all but [  ] especially valuable to some of the most vulnerable people in society. The service helps people make their rights a reality and facilitates improved policy-making.”

The brochure confirms the impact of the Service with statistics: 6.2 million visits to the Adviceguide website in a single year (2006/7); 8.5 million hours of advice provided by CAB advisers. Taking the CABx and website together in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, figures show that 19% of enquiries relate to benefits, 16% to debt, 15% to employment and nearly 8% to taxation: a clear indication that money issues are the priority problem. Nothing is said to indicate significant enquiries about disability, but it is obvious that disabled people are acutely affected by the difficulties experienced in society as a whole.

Volunteers are vital to the work of Citizens Advice. Of the 27,000 people who work in the service, 77 per cent are volunteers. For younger people, volunteering provides work experience, training and a path into work or education. Some 39% of them have gone on to secure a paid job or further education. Older volunteers find that voluntary work for Citizens Advice keeps them active and able to make a contribution to their communities. All CAB volunteers get free training resulting in an accredited qualification, ongoing support and expenses paid.

For further information see the relevant CA website for contact details:
England and Wales: www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Scotland: www.cas.org.uk
Northern Ireland: www.citizensadvice.co.uk

OFFICE FOR DISABILITY ISSUES
Have you wondered what the ODI is up to? Well quite a lot, all aimed at improving good practice within the public sector. One of its initiatives is the publication of guidance on disability inclusion under the title ‘Images of Disability’.

This gives information about how to involved disabled people in planning and delivering communications; how to communicate effectively with disabled people; and how to represent disabled people effectively and appropriately in government communications.

The guidance points out that some of the ways that government and others communicate may not work for disabled people. They may not be able to see the paper, to understand the words written on the page or to hear the radio.

The resources and guidance covers:

Go to www.officefordisability.gov.uk/resources/imagesofdisability.asp

INFORMATION ACCREDITATION
We reported this Department of Health scheme extensively in our former magazine Innovations in Information. It will ‘kite mark’ approved information producers in health and social care who meet prescribed standards, so that people can more easily make judgments about the reliability of information. It is, of course, hoped that by supporting information producers there will be improvements in the quality of information.

The scheme has currently entered its testing phase with 40 organisation spanning the voluntary, commercial and public sectors preparatory to a launch in 2009, when relevant organisations can apply for membership.

For further information go to: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/PatientChoice/Choice/BetterInformationChoicesHealth

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Unless you advise to the contrary we will continue occasionally to send you information of this kind. Conversely, we want to give you the opportunity to network with other member organisations through our information sheets. Please let us know if there is a more personal e.mail address by which we can reach you. Membership is now free.
 
Ann Darnbrough and Derek Kinrade

UPDATED October 2008