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Scottish Council on Deafness Bulletin | Bi-Monthly Magazine for SCoD Members
International Youth Day
The International Youth Day will take place on Saturday 12 August 2017. Are any of you celebrating the day or doing anything special to acknowledge our terrific young deaf people?
SCoD is 90 years old this year – Parliamentary Reception
The West of Scotland Deaf Children’s Society and SCoD are in the process of finalising invitations to send out to our members and MSP’s. We are hoping to get invitations out by the week beginning Monday 7 August 2017. We are planning more events with our members and information will follow.
National Council
The next SCoD National Council meeting will be on Tuesday 5 September 2017. Please keep this date in your diary. Papers will follow out to members soon.
Cross Party Group on Deafness (CPGD)
The next CPGD will take place in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 13 September 2017. The first part of the meeting will be the 2017 AGM and the second part will be the ordinary meeting. Papers will be sent to all representatives soon.
SCoD’s Autumn Training Programme
All sessions will take place in Glasgow City Centre
Human Rights, your business and your customersTuesday 12 September 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm
Inclusive Communication and Accessible InformationMonday 18 September
12.00 noon to 4.00 pm
Deaf Awareness (K101) and Communication with Deaf & Deafblind People (T101)Wednesday 27 September 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Masterclass – Integrated Joint BoardsMonday 9 October 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm
Human Rights, the law and how to apply it to practiceFriday 27 October 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm
Deaf Awareness (K101) and Communication with Deaf & Deafblind People (T101)Friday 8December 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Inclusive Communication and Accessible InformationMonday 11 December 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm
More information will follow and will be available on our website -
We are offering AwarenessBITES online deaf awareness training – more information in the training part of this bulletin.
Membership
As you know we are 90 this year and we are planning to celebrate with our members. I would like to thank all the members who have paid their fees so far and remind those who haven’t that they should pay as soon as possible so that they can be involved in our birthday celebrations and the future of SCoD.
We are a working man organisational membership recruitment drive and we are keen to involve new members in our work especially on:
- BSL language development
- Communication barriers and solutions
- General awareness
If you want to know more about joining SCoD and being part of the Deaf Sector, please contact us on or telephone 0141 248 2474.
If you are a BSL user, you can use contactSCOTLAND-BSL to contact us.
SCoD’s “Connect & Collaborate” Conference 2018
Our Conference is on 8 March 2018. Have you all got this date in your diary?
The theme will be “Connect and Collaborate” and will be around the topic “Integration, Inclusion and Wellbeing”. We will announce shortly the programme and “early bird” tickets will be on sale from September. Watch this space!
Disclosure: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG)
SCoD is registered as a Countersignatory body with Disclosure Scotland. If you have staff who will be working with children and/or vulnerable adults they will need to be a member of the PVG Scheme. If you are not able to sign the forms yourself why not get SCoD to do it for you!
For more information about booking an appointment or general information, please visit our website:
Best wishes
Janis & the SCoD Team
GENERAL NEWS
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) update
Atos Healthcare, the company that has responsibility for the PIP Assessments in Scotland has changed its name to “Independent Assessment Services – delivered by Atos”. To go with their name change, they have launched a new website with information about the PIP Assessment, including a list of the assessment centres it provides. The web address is
“Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is ending” leaflet
An updated ‘Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is ending’ leaflet is now available. The leaflet gives information about DLA ending and also includes information about making a claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Leaflets are free of charge and can be ordered by organisations that help and support DLA claimants. You can order printed copies of the leaflet – up to a maximum of 10 packs of 25 leaflets (total of 250).
For details of how to order go to gov.uk
To order leaflets email: . Please put ‘DLA/PIP leaflet order’ in the email subject box and provide the following details:
- recipient’s name
- organisation
- delivery address
- a contact telephone number
- number of English leaflet packs required (code DLA/PIP 01)
Second Independent Review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment
The Second Independent Review of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment carried out by Paul Gray was published on 30 March 2017.
The Government welcomes the Review and will publish a detailed response in due course. The report outlines a number of recommendations many of which focus on areas where the Department is already making improvements, such as a pilot of audio recordings of face-to-face assessments which has been undertaken and findings are now being evaluated.
The recommendations in the Review cover four main themes:
- Quality and consistency,
- Further evidence,
- Assessment, and
- Transparency and Trust.
Audio Recording Pilot
A pilot has recently been undertaken to test the audio recording of PIP face-to-face assessments. This was something that was in the Paul Gray Review and the Department had already started this work. The pilot included around 400 claimants and took place in Birmingham by Capita.
Capita contacted those claimants who had a face-to-face assessment scheduled and invited them to take part in the pilot. Participation was entirely voluntary and participants were required to sign a consent form to take part and were given a copy of the recording on a CD if they requested one.
The DWPis continuously looking at ways to improve the claimant experience and this pilot will allow us to examine whether there are any benefits to audio recording face-to-face assessments.
The DWP is currently evaluating the findings from the pilot to determine next steps.
SCoDcomment: Since the possibility of recording the PIP assessments was first discussed at the DWP PIP Implementation Stakeholder Forum, Mandy has been asking what will be put in place for deaf people who cannot hear an audio recording and for BSL users who should be able to film the assessment. As yet, there has been no decisions on how deaf people will have equality of access with their hearing peers. The minimum should be that an audio recording takes place and the DWP provides a transcript for people who are Deafened or Hard of Hearing; and a transcript and a BSL/English Interpreter to explain it for Deaf and Deafblind people. Ideally, the assessments would also be filmed.
Although the Scottish Government will in time take over PIP in Scotland, the DWP still decide on process until that happens. The equality and accessibility of this pilot could be raised as a matter of urgency with the APPG on Deafness.
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Ideas for Ears - Hearing well on the phone
A message from Sally Shaw;
“Hello all,
I wonder if you might support me on something. The organisation I run, Ideas for Ears, is circulating a questionnaire to capture data regarding people’s experiences of making and receiving phone calls. I wondered if you could complete it and pass it on to others who might be interested?
The questionnaire asks about use of mobiles, landlines and other forms of communication. We are working to influence phone service providers about the need for new solutions to help more people hear well on the phone. The findings from the questionnaire will help to influence the telecoms industry as to where to put their time and money.
We need people with and without hearing difficulties to complete it.
Not being able to hear conversation clearly during a phone call is an issue faced by many. Unfamiliar accents, background noise and variable clarity or volume can cause frustration, and sometimes even fear, when having phone calls. The questionnaire will help us to understand and quantify the issues that people are experiencing.
Here is the link to the questionnaire. The more responses we get, the more data and evidence we will have to influence the industry specialists. The questions may be less relevant to those who have very little or no hearing.
Everyone who completes the questionnaire has the chance to win £300 in Amazon vouchers! Closing date is midnight 13th August 2017.
This is a genuinely good opportunity to help bring about improvement for those with hearing loss. My thanks in advance for any support you can offer.”
Are you interested in influencing our work and the impact of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Scotland?
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is Britain’s national equality and human rights body. We operate in Scotland, England and Wales.
Our job is to help make Britain fairer. We do this by safeguarding and enforcing the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect.
We are looking for people from a wide variety of backgrounds and life experience and who have a passion and commitment to furthering equality in Scotland.
The EHRC Scotland Committee is a statutory committee which advises the Commission on its work in Scotland. It is chaired by the EHRC Scotland Commissioner, Dr Lesley Sawers. We are currently recruiting for new members of the Committee to join the team to support and advise in key areas of equality and human rights in Scotland.
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Children and Young People (Information Sharing) (Scotland) Bill
The Scottish Parliament has issued a call for evidence in relation to the Bill. It has also issued a call for views on the illustrative draft Code of Practice using a short survey.
The call for evidence and survey on the illustrative draft Code of Practice can be found on the Scottish Parliament’s website. See link here under ‘Evidence’ We would encourage you to engage with the call for evidence and survey and to encourage others to do so.
The call for evidence closes at 5pm on25th August 2017.The Parliament have indicated that it appreciates that this consultation is taking place over the summer holidays and so it is amenable to accepting requests for comments to be submitted after the deadline. Further information can be found on the Parliament’s website.
The Getting it right of every child Policy Team and the Bill Team will continue to engage widely as the Bill progresses through parliament. If you have any questions about the Bill or would welcome a conversation with us please get in touch via the Bill Team mail box
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Scotland’s national Conservatoire is delighted to announce that applications will be opening shortly for its 2018/19 intake of students on its innovative programme, BA Performance in British Sign Language and English.
The BA Performance undergraduate degree teaches students to be both actors and makers of work, exploring the most innovative ways of creating performance through British Sign Language and English. During your three years here, students benefit from the distinctive environment of RCS and study a rich blend of performance modules.
This course is designed around the learning and teaching needs of deaf performers and is the only course of its kind in Europe. The programme has been developed in association withSolar Bear Theatre Companywith input from a range of theatre, education and deaf professionals. We aim to enrich the talent pool within the UK, whilst making training available to deaf artists.
The working languages of the programme are British Sign Language (BSL) and spoken English. You will have fully-qualified BSL interpreters in class, on stage and in rehearsal.
The small class size ensures you will have the opportunity to work closely with our teaching staff and visiting professionals. You will also benefit from our many collaborative and professional partnerships including Solar Bear, National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Opera. You will develop skills in acting, movement, dance, signing on stage, improvisation and puppetry as well as explore highly visual and physical performance styles. We will teach you the skills you need to prepare you for a career in film, television, theatre and more.
We are looking for students who are enthusiastic, dedicated and who display potential and commitment to a career in the performance industry. We have an Open Day on Friday 20th October where you can find out more about the programme, or we have various free workshops happening in Edinburgh throughout the Fringe. Please contact for more information on these events.
For more information about the application process, or to be added to our mailing list for an application form once we open, please contact our Admissions team at or on (+44) 0141 270 265. We look forward to hearing from you!
Applications Close Date – 31st January 2018
Email –
Websites:
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Hearing Link & Hearing Dogs Merger
A message from Lorraine Gailey Chief Executive:
“I hope you will forgive the general nature of this message but I wanted you to be among the first to know about some exciting developments for Hearing Link, and this is the only sensible way for me to reach several people all at once.
Following months of talks, I am delighted to let you know that Hearing Link and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People will merge, following the public announcement after the Hearing Dogs AGM today attended by our shared Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal. Our merger was formalised during this meeting with a completion date of 01 August 2017.
In common with many small charities the challenging and competitive fundraising environment has proved extremely difficult for Hearing Link. By merging with Hearing Dogs, and incorporating Hearing Link as a distinct service within the larger charity, we have secured the future of our work and can plan with confidence to deliver our life-changing services to ever increasing numbers of people, releasing our very small paid staff team from the need to devote most of their time to fundraising.
Hearing Link’s name will not change, and our vision remains a world where everyone can enjoy life and participate fully and confidently, whatever their level of hearing. Hearing Link’s services will continue to run as before, but with the stability of a much larger charity to strengthen our work. We look forward to continuing ‘business as usual’, retaining our identity, logo and UK-wide offices, and working with our volunteers and staff to provide our usual Helpdesk, specialist programmes and services, website and social media platforms into the future.
We will be working on the details of the merged structure over the next few months, but it has already been agreed that Michele Jennings of Hearing Dogs will be the Chief Executive of the merged organisation, while I will become Chief Operating Officer reporting directly to her with responsibility for all Hearing Link activities. All our Hearing Link staff will transfer to the merged organisation and continue their roles and responsibilities there for the foreseeable future.
This is a natural move for both organisations, with our values and aims already so closely aligned. For Hearing Link it means that the future of our services is assured, and for Hearing Dogs it means that their service to hearing dog recipients is enhanced. Between us, we have over 100 combined years of experience in helping people with hearing loss and we intend to build on that together. I hope you will share my excitement as we celebrate this new stage in our development”
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me by email or by phone (07534 563451), or to contact my colleague Alison in our Edinburgh office (copied into this email) at , already known to many of you.
Consultation on the role of the Scottish Health Council: Strengthening people’s voices in health and social care
The consultation on the role of the Scottish Health Council is now underway and is being led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. This follows a reflective exercise undertaken by the Chair of the Scottish Health Council, Pam Whittle CBE, earlier this year. It is well-recognised that services can only improve when they are informed and shaped by people who use those services, their families and carers, and local communities. Whilst there has been progress made in engaging people, we believe there is more that can be done to improve people’s experience of engagement, whether at individual, community or national level , and to demonstrate more clearly the difference that their engagement has made.