Tools
Click any of the following category links to see relevant items
Reference MaterialsToolkits
Welfare & Benefits
Reference Materials
A brief history of disability campaigning
This is an overview of the history of independent living campaigns from the 20th century to present day, collated by BBC journalist Mark Easton, as background to the current activism around the Welfare Reform Bill.
Adult Social Care
The Law Commission has published a report on Adult Social Care. The report makes recommendations including a single code of practice to pave the way for a coherent social care system. Other recommendations include placing duties on councils and the NHS to work together, having a new legal framework to protect service users from abuse and neglect and suggest building a single, streamlined assessment and eligibility framework.
Clinical Commissioning Boards: the future of local health care
CCGs will be the new body commissioning health services for disabled people and other patients and will be consist of all GP practices in an area plus other health professionals. Set to take over in April 2013 shadow CCGs are already in operation in some parts of the South East region. This Public Health Online Forum guide is a useful overview of CCGs. The DH website has more information on their technical operation and your local NHS website will have an update on what is happening in your area.
Independent Living
The Office for Disability Issues has published two reports on demonstration projects around independent living. One is the Support Plan and Brokerage project and the other is the South East Regional Initiative for Older People with High Support Needs.
Mental health and poverty
New research from Mind has found worrying numbers of people with mental health problems living below the Government-defined poverty line1 as they struggle to cope with managing their money. The mental health charity surveyed people with experience of mental distress who are currently in debt and have published a report in December 2011 Still in the Red.
NHS Care for Older People
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman provides a service to the public by undertaking independent investigations into complaints that government departments, a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the NHS in England have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service. The latest report is Care and Compassion highlighting serious shortcomings in NHS care for older people.
Parliamentary Jargon
Find out what the terms green paper, white paper, bills, acts and secondary legislation mean and demystify parliamentary jargon while tracking the progress of legislation through the official website for Parliament.
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty came into force in April 2011 and replaces the three existing duties covering race disability and gender and extends to cover other protected characteristics: age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment (in full). The duty requires public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to consciously consider the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation; advance equality of opportunity between different groups and; foster good relations between people from different groups.
Report on the imact of proposed legal aid reform on disabled people
Legal aid in welfare: the tool we can’t afford to lose is a report by Scope based on the Justice for All campaign which is concerned with proposed cuts to the availability of free legal advice. One of several areas likely to be excluded from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is welfare benefits.
RNIB Survey
An RNIB survey Lost for words reports that in a survey of blind and partially sighted patients across the UK, 95% of respondents said they were never asked about their preferred format for information when in contact with hospitals and other medical services. They therefore have no choice but to compromise their privacy and ask someone else to read the information to them.
Transforming social care: sustaining person-centred support
A new survey on personalisation and self-directed support Transforming social care: sustaining person-centred support carried out by Shaping Our Lives Network and other organisations in conjunction with Brunel University found that while most professionals felt positive about personalisation, 56% felt that council staff lacked understanding and 80% that services users did not understand it.
Your local authority and the cuts
Scope has launched a report Coping with the Cuts: Can local authorities protect disabled people’s services? The report measures the impact that council cuts are having on disabled people and disability services. We have also produced an interactive map which details how each council across England and Wales is coping with cuts. Visit this interactive map to see what the research says about cuts in your area.
Toolkits
Accessible Travel: Information for Disabled and Less Mobile People
Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee have a guide to accessible travel. DPTAC's aim is that disabled people should have the same transport choices and freedom to travel as non-disabled people. This comprehensive guide covers all aspects of travel in and from the UK including where to go for more information.
Becoming a User Led Organisation
East Sussex Disability Association have published a support pack to help Voluntary and Community Sector organisations wishing to develop as ULOs. This is a comprehensive guide which explores questions and hurdles about becoming user led as well as containing practical 'how to' guides. The information in the pack was pulled together from the experiences of the organisations taking part in the East Sussex User-led Organisations (ULO) Demonstrator Site Project. The pack was funded by the Department of Health.
Can you carry on in an emergency?
Business Continuity Management is the anticipation of a crisis or emergency that affects your organisation’s ability and capacity to carry out its normal business activities. Unplanned events can have catastrophic effects and the disruptive incidents can come from accidents, criminal activity or natural disasters. London Prepared has a 10 minute toolkit to help assess how far your organisation has come in preparing for an interruption in service.
Designing services with users
Involving users in service design not only results in better services but helps save money too. Governance International works with central and local government and non-profit organisations to facilitate partnership working with stakeholders.
There is a useful explanation of service co-design on the website.Disability video resources
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) which provides the online TV service Social Care now has over twenty videos on topics such as personalisation, disabled children and young people and support for carers. The videos can be watched online. There is also supporting material and related information on topics covered by the videos.
Disabled Children: a legal handbook
The Legal Action Group publishes Disabled Children: a legal handbook which gives a comprehensive overview of the law relating to disabled children and their families. It makes clear what local authorities have a duty to do and what they may do.
Help with getting PR for your group
The Media Trust have a handy guide called How to Hit the Headlines full of practical tips on how to generate good PR for your group or charity.
Human Rights resources
The British Institute of Human Rights has a Human Rights Toolkit which is an introductory resource on human rights in the UK.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has an online resource about human rights to help public sector bodies in England and Wales and organisations carrying out public functions and advocacy. It draws together learning materials about the human rights obligations of the public sector and how to successfully implement these. The resource also includes details about supporting the rights of particular groups such as elderly and disabled people.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and Evaluation on a Shoestring is a free guide which can be downloaded from the Charities Evaluation Services website. It aims to help organisations to develop their monitoring and evaluation practices so they can prove their effectiveness more easily to funders.
Rights for Disabled people - resource kits
The International Disability & Human Rights Network has produced seven resource kits. They are designed to enable those working for the rights of disabled people to organise themselves more efficiently and make their campaigning more effective. The resource kits are: Media Information, Consultation & Influence, Campaigns, Organisation Building, Fund-raising, Disabled Women, an International Resource Kit and Civil Rights Law and Disabled People.
Web accessibility and the law
As much information is now available via websites it is good practice to make them as accessible as possible to all users. LASA has a brief summary of the main points to consider in their fact sheet Web Accessibility and the Law.
Welfare & Benefits
Welfare Reform Act and Personal Independence Payment
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is being replaced with a Personal Independent Payment from April 2013 onwards. The details of PIPs, who will qualify and assessment criteria are currently being finalised as part of the implementation of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
Disability Rights UK keeps abreast of all the Government policy announcements on the proposed PIP and has a webpage which it updates with announcements on DLA reform. It has produced a free downloadable factsheet on Personal Independence Payment proposals which is regularly updated. INDI has a Welfare Reform Act briefing.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is the government department is the official source of information on proposed changes. The DWP are now consulting on the detail of these assessment criteria, until June 2012.
The DWP also has a Frequently Asked Questions document on the DLA reform proposals including the official Govenrment response on why changes are being made.
A Guide to Completing the ESA 50
The ESA 50 forms part of the Work Capacity Assessment, which assesses whether someone has limited capacity for work and whether they can remain on Employment and Support Allowance. Swansea Social Inclusion Unit has written a guide for workers such as support workers, social workers or other professionals to refer to when completing the form with clients.
New Enterprise Allowance
New Enterprise Allowance -NEA gives extra help to unemployed people who wish to start their own business. NEA is available to Jobseeker Allowance claimants who have been claiming JSA for more than six months. Recipients with a viable business proposition will have access to a business mentor, financial support at the level of their JSA and access to start-up capital.
Disability Rights UK
The Disability Rights UK has an advice service for member organisations available Monday to Friday. The main focus is on tax credits and benefit matters, but the service also provides generalist advice covering welfare issues. It is aimed at helping our members answer complex queries.
Tribunal Support for Benefits Advisers
Disability Rights UK has a Tribunal Support Service for benefits advisers who need advice on going to tribunal. This new service offers advice and assistance with all stages of the appeals process, from analysing decisions and identifying grounds for appeal, through to support in preparing for and representing at hearings. The service is mainly for London based organisations, but they will also assist advisers outside London.
Information on Tax Credits and Welfare Benefits
Review magazine from London Advice Services Alliance – LASA, contains the latest information on tax credits and welfare benefits. A sample issue can be downloaded free. A year’s subscription is £19 for voluntary organisations and individuals.