February 2011

This update includes

Monthly Update 21 articles on the following
topics:

Dear Members,
ecdp news
February is an important month for our members
and indeed disabled and older people more 1. Making personalisation
generally. happen – User-Led
Organisation on SCIE’s
The consultation on Disability Living Allowance Social Care TV
(DLA) ends on 14 February. Many people are 2. ecdp insight member
concerned about what the resulting changes will training
mean for them. You can read about our work in 3. ecdp enterprise
this area in more detail on pages 10-11, where Disability Equality
you can also find information about how to Training
contribute to the consultation responses being 4. Free training from ecdp
sent to the government. pass

As ever, ecdp will continue to ensure the voice of

disabled and older people is heard on this issue
and others that affect them.
local news
A good example of more positive news is the 5. Essex Inclusive Sports
development of local HealthWatch. These are Enterprise (EISE)
organisations that are being created by the 6. Essex Book Festival
government’s reforms to the NHS and social 7. Making Involvement
care, and are designed to build on the work of the Matter (MIME) training
Local Involvement Networks (LINks). We
attended a meeting about the proposals for
HealthWatch in Essex and Southend and report
on this on page 16. national news
We have a range of training that is available over 8. Disability Living

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

Monthly Update 21 – February 2011

the next few months, the details of which are on Allowance (DLA) update
pages 4 and 5, as well as details of things going 9. 'Stand by me': disability
on in Essex – including the Book Festival that hate crime campaign
runs throughout March. seeks lived experience
10. Choice and Control -
Finally, ecdp was fortunate to be featured as an Office for Disability
example of a User-Led Organisation on Social Issues
Care TV – a web channel which promotes good 11. Rethink webchat with
practice through video and film to people Chris Grayling MP
interested in social care. You can follow the link 12. HealthWatch
on page 3 to view this film if you’d like to.

As ever, we always want to know what your

perspective is on any issue relating to disability.
Please use the contact details at the bottom of
this page to share your views with us.

Best wishes,

Rich Watts
Director of Policy & Development

If you want to get in touch with us about

any of the articles included in this
update:

Telephone: 01245 392 300

Email: info@ecdp.org.uk
Post: Ivan Peck House, 1 Russell Way,
Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3AA

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

Page 2 of 16
ecdp news

Making personalisation happen – ecdp

on SCIE’s Social Care TV
ecdp is fortunate to have been chosen as an example of a User-Led
Organisation (ULO) contributing to SCIE’s Social Care TV series,
“Making personalisation happen”.

The film is featured on Social Care TV’s website and is designed to

show that:
• ULOs support people to have independence, choice and control
over their lives
• ULOs are experts in the care needs of people who use services
because they are managed by people who use services
• By drawing on the experience of their members, ULOs can help to
shape local authority policy and practice
• Carers of disabled people are also involved in the work of ULOs.
• They can provide invaluable support to other carers.

The film, which was created and narrated by Social Care TV, is
available on our website here:
http://www.ecdp.org.uk/home/2011/2/1/making-personalisation-
happen-user-led-organisations-on-scie.html

A fully accessible version of the film (with subtitles) is available on

SCIE’s website here: http://www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/video-
player.asp?guid=bbf37b86-c52f-4dcd-8a4a-716119afe217

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

ecdp news

ecdp insight member training

ecdp insight supports disabled people to use their lived experience as
far as they want by identifying their goals and aspirations and
providing Personal Development Pathways.

If you are interested in using the Personal Development Pathways, or

you would like to volunteer to support someone else to do so, please
use the contact details below for more information.

We provide all members with free training, covering the following

topics:
• ecdp: our teams and services
• Opportunities available on the Personal Development Pathways
• Safeguarding
• Disability Equality and the Social Model of Disability
• Effective communication

Our next training days are:

• Saturday 26 February
• Thursday 31 March

Both days run from 10.00am until 4.00pm and lunch is provided. We
will cover reasonable travel expenses.

For more information, please email insight@ecdp.org.uk or call 01245

392310.

ecdp insight will be holding an open day for residents of Estuary Housing
and anyone else who is interested on Thursday 10 February from 10.00am
until 4.00pm at: Centre Place Family Centre, 15 Prospect Close, Southend-
on-Sea, SS1 2JD

The purpose of this open day is to share information about ecdp services.
To read more about Estuary housing, see their website, here:
http://www.estuary.co.uk/main.cfm

For more information about ecdp insight, see our pages on the ecdp
website: http://www.ecdp.org.uk/ecdp-insight/
February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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ecdp news

ecdp enterprise Disability Equality

Training
The Equality Act is here. Are you taking notice?

Our next Disability Equality Training course will be taking place on

Thursday 7 April and will cover:

• What are the rights and entitlements for disabled people?

• What is it that disables people in society?
• What does the Equality Act (2010) cover?
• What is the correct language and terminology to use?

By the end of the training you will be able to answer these questions.

Participants will also get the opportunity to develop and share practical
guidelines for best practice.

All courses take place at our fully accessible Chelmsford training

centre and are delivered by trainers with lived experience of disability.

For more information please contact Karen Bellerby by phone

01245 392303 or email training@ecdp.org.uk.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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ecdp news

Free training from ecdp pass

ecdp pass are running the following training courses for Direct
Payment Users and Personal Budget Holders in Essex and
Southend:
• Monday 14 February – Food Safety (full day)
• Monday 28 February – Emergency Life Support (half day)

All courses are held in Chelmsford.

For further information on the content of courses, or to book a place

please contact Debbie or Sue on 01245 392321.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

Page 6 of 16
local news

Essex Inclusive Sports Enterprise

(EISE)

EISE is a user-led Community Interest Company who support disabled

people and people who need support in Essex to get into sport, either
as participants or spectators.

Some of the services EISE provide include:

• ‘Supporter/buddy’ service
• Sports events management
• Sports Access Service
• Fundraising and social events

EISE’s recent Sports Users Network newsletter, is available on the

ecdp website here: www.ecdp.org.uk/home/2011/1/31/essex-
inclusive-sports-enterprise-eise-newsletter.html

The newsletter has details of a number of sports, taster sessions and

events going on in the area.

For more information you can contact EISE by email:

info.eise@yahoo.com or phone: 07734 364033.

You can visit the EISE website by following this link: EISE website:
http://www.inclusivesports.co.uk/

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

local news

Essex Book Festival

The 12th Essex Book Festival will run from Tuesday 1 March
-Thursday 31 March 2011.

The festival will offer over 50 chances for readers to meet

favourite and new writers across Essex. The festival is
organised by libraries and takes place in a variety of venues
throughout the county and prides itself on its accessibility.
Events will be held both during the day and in the evening on
everybody’s doorstep and showcasing many writers whose work is
available in audio or large print format.

There will be events on hot topics such as landscape and

environment, current affairs, music, English usage, history and
biography, as well as poetry and storytelling.

Visit www.essexbookfestival.org.uk or pick up a festival brochure from

your local Essex library. The brochure is also available in large print
from your local library, and on audio CD – ask at your library or call
01245 244937 to have a CD sent to you.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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local news

Making Involvement Matter (MIME)

training

Training delivered by service users, for service users and carers

• Monday 21 February 2011 - Initial Training Session (West Essex)

• Wednesday 23 February 2011 - Initial Training Session (Southend)
• Thursday 3 March 2011 - Skills around attending meetings

Initial Training Sessions are about assertiveness skills, building

confidence and learning about how commissioning works.

Facilitation skills can help you to build your confidence around

facilitating meetings and discussion groups, and can lead on to paid
work with MIME.

If you attend meetings to give your views or represent other service

users you might find the training on how to be an effective participant
in meetings useful.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

Page 9 of 16
national news

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

update

In our previous bulletin, we wrote about the coalition government’s

reform of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

In the consultation, published by the government at the end of last

year, it was announced that from 2013/14, DLA will be replaced with
“Personal Independent Payment” (PIP).

Though some parts of DLA are going to stay the same - such as
keeping it as a non means-tested, non-taxable benefits which can act
as a passport to many other types of public support - there are many
changes which will be of concern to disabled people. These include
cutting the number of recipients by 20% and changing the types of
support that DLA can provide.

The Disability Alliance has a full and comprehensive round-up of the

proposed changes on their website:
http://www.disabilityalliance.org/dlatest.htm

We strongly encourage our members and people interested in or

affected by these reforms to share their lived experiences with the
government through their consultation. Our colleagues at the Disability
Alliance are coordinating a response of people’s views via a survey
here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dlareform (the survey will be
open until Thursday 10 February).

ecdp has a number of major concerns about the proposals contained

within the consultation. These include the significant negative impact
these reforms are likely to have on thousands of disabled people, as
well as the huge worry and anxiety it will cause for current or potential
recipients of DLA.

We will be sharing an outline of ecdp’s organisational response,

before submission, giving members an opportunity to contribute their
thoughts beforehand.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

national news

In the meantime, we have done a number of things to promote the

issues surrounding Disability Living Allowance:

• ecdp contributed to an awareness weekend (held on 15-16

January) cakked One Month Before Heartbreak. To read this
contribution, see the ecdp website:
http://www.ecdp.org.uk/home/2011/1/15/one-month-before-
heartbreak.html

• To read more about One Month Before Heartbreak, and to read

the collection of posts detailing people’s stories, visit:
http://onemonthbeforeheartbreak.blogspot.com/

• Rich Watts, ecdp’s Director of Policy & Development, was

invited to speak about the changes to DLA on BBC Essex Radio,
after a man from Colchester had his Motability car taken away
during an adjustment to his DLA. You can read a summary of his
discussion with Ray Clark and listen to a recording of the actual
interview, on our website:
http://www.ecdp.org.uk/home/2011/1/19/talking-disability-living-
allowance-on-bbc-essex.html

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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national news

'Stand by me': disability hate crime

campaign seeks lived experience

This year’s Learning Disability Week will take place from

Monday 20 - Sunday 26 June. During the week, Mencap
will launch a three-year campaign against hate crime,
‘Stand by me’.

‘Stand by me’ will challenge the police, the criminal justice

system and the courts to end hate crime against people
with a learning disability within a generation.

Mencap is looking for people who have experienced hate

crime due to their learning disability for a campaign which
aims to make sure that stopping hate crime is high on the
police and the governments’ agenda.

• Have you or someone you care for experienced hate crime?

• What did people do to you to make you feel unsafe?
• How did the police handle your complaint?

If you think that you could help Mencap please contact Brenda
Shavely in strict confidence on 020 7696 5568 or email
brenda.shalvey@mencap.org.uk leaving your name and a telephone
number so we can return your call.
For more information about Learning Disability Week, see Mencap’s
website: http://www.mencap.org.uk/news.asp?
id=20647&pageno=&year=&menuId=90

Over the last few months, ecdp has been working on the topic of
disability hate crime. Within the next month we plan to run a
roundtable discussion on the issue and will report back to members
on this. In the meantime, you can read about our work on disability
hate crime here: http://www.ecdp.org.uk/home/2010/4/16/disability-
hate-crime-an-ecdp-discussion-paper.html
February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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national news

Choice and Control - Office for

Disability Issues

The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) leads the

government's vision of achieving equality for disabled
people.

One of the projects run by ODI focuses on how

professionals, such as social workers and GPs, can
offer choice and control to disabled people. The Choice
and Control web pages use real examples of best
practice in providing services.

ecdp is working with ODI to enable people to contribute their lived

experience of being given choice and control through the services
provided to them. If you are interested in sharing your story, or for
more information, please contact Holly Wilkins by email:
holly.wilkins@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

To see the stories already included, visit the Choice and Control
webpages and select the ‘real life stories’ link: www.odi.gov.uk/odi-
projects/choice-and-control-for-disabled-people/index.php

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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national news

Rethink webchat with Chris Grayling MP

Thanks to everyone who took part in Rethink's recent e-

campaign, Minister for Employment at the Department for
Work and Pensions (DWP), Chris Grayling, will be joining
Rethink for a live webchat on Thursday 10 February at
11.30am. Anyone can join in.

This is your chance to ask the Minister a question about

welfare reform. We also want you to pass this message onto anyone
you know who might like to ask their own question.

This is a great opportunity to ask the question that you feel hasn't been
answered properly. Submit yours now by visiting: www.rethink.org/talk

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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national news

HealthWatch
Some of you will be familiar with the work of Local Involvement
Networks (LINks), which are groups made up of individuals and
community groups who work together to improve health and social
care services.

In the Health White Paper, the government announced that LINks

would be replaced by local HealthWatch.

HealthWatch will take on some of the roles of LINks, but also acquire
some new ones. Local HealthWatch will essentially be the local
"consumer champion" for health and social care users, promoting
choice and control, influencing the shape of services, and highlighting
issues in service delivery, including through advocacy.

HealthWatch England will provide support to local HealthWatch and

help to understand the issues they highlight at the national level,
working with the NHS Commissioning Board and the Care Quality
Commission.

Though HealthWatch are to be welcomed in general, because they

ensure people remain at the heart of social care and health, there are
a few areas of concern, which ecdp will be keeping an eye on. These
are as follows:

The first is ensuring that HealthWatch focuses equally on social care

and health. In general, LINks have tended to focus on the work of
health organisations – such as hospitals and Primary Care Trusts –
whilst less work has focused on social care.

Secondly, although extra money has been allocated by the

government for HealthWatch, this money is not being “ringfenced”
specifically for HealthWatch. This means that local councils can still
chose how to spend it.

Finally, we want to make sure that there is the right level of appropriate
advocacy available - a role which has not been provided by LINks
before but will be by HealthWatch.
February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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national news

To ensure the voice of our members was heard on these issues, ecdp
attended an event on 14 January 2011 held by the Essex County
Council, to discuss the shape that HealthWatch may take locally.

We will ensure to keep our members updated as and when further

information is available and to contribute the voice of the disabled and
older people we work with.

February 2011: Monthly Update 21

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