Personal Budget Users Forum(Haringey)
Tuesday 14th March2017 at 1pm at Winkfield Resource Centre, Winkfield Road, N22
Present: Graham Day – Chairperson
22 Forum members
Eleni Stephani – Minute Taker
1. Welcome and Apologies.
1.1. Graham welcomed everyone to the meeting and in particular Joyce who was attending her first meeting in about 2yrs. There were a total of 22Members in attendance.
2. Minutes and matters arising from AGM – 6th December 2016.
2.1.(Item 2.1) With regards to Metropolitan Care and Repair, there is a yearly membership fee of £30.00. A charge of £15.00 per hour applies for all handyman jobs with a maximum of a 2 hour slot to book the handyman service.
2.2.(Item 6)Carer/ employee will still be paid for hours they work at at their normal rate whenever they are working on holiday.
2.3.Members agreed the minutes were an accurate record of the meeting.
3. Presentation on Newly Qualified Social Workers by Marianne Ecker.
3.1. Marianne did a presentation on newly Qualified Social Workers Programme.
3.2. Marianne explained newlyqualified social workers are put on a specific programme for a year. The aim is to enable theCouncil to monitor their performance. Social workers are required to work to a good standard during their first year of practice. The programme has been set up to look at newly qualified social workers strengths and their ability to produce high quality reports on their work.
3.3. Social Workers have to report on how well they are doing three times a year. A Survey will be done where a sample of work is produced and reviewed.The work will be observed by an Assessor who will also observe interactions with Service Users. It is a National Scheme.
3.4.Marianne explained Carers and service users are involved in thetraining process, giving feedback on the reports which the social worker produces.Service users will never meet social workers face to face as this is just a paper exercise designed to ensure newly trained social workers receive the best possible training during the first 12 months of service.
3.5Members asked how often they would be required to report on the social workers. Marianne thought the time involved in this project was about half an hour a month with the majority of the report writing being carried out online. Members expressed concerns about the young age of a newly qualified social worker who potentially could have a significant impact of their lives.
Marianne concluded the presentation by saying if anyone is interested in carrying out the reviews of newly qualified social workers they should let Graham know and he will pass on their details to her.
4. Update on Forum Business.
4.1. Graham informed the members that theCommittee had met once last month.
4.2. Funding for manual handling training and first aid training has been confirmed by the National Lottery.
5. Review proposal for new Direct Payment Policy.
5.1.Charlotte couldn’t make the meeting; Anne Marie Gray and Abdul Sahercame in her place and briefly explained there is currently a new Direct Payment Policy being written and her visit to the Forum today was to seek the views of members present with regards to their Direct Payment
5.2. Anne-Marie asked members a series of questions from a questionnaire she had brought with her and which she hoped the Forum Members would complete.
5.3 Anne-Marie asked what worked well in the Direct Payment. All present felt their Direct Payment allowed them choice and control over what they could use their Direct Payment for and it could be delivered at a time to suit them.
5.4 When asked what didn’t work well members were unanimous in saying they would prefer to have anamed social worker with whom they could build a relationship with.
5.5 Anne-Marie asked members if they knew what services were available in the market place. Members stated they often learn about services available from talking to other Direct Payment holders at the Forum meeting.
5.6 Anne-Marie asked if members would recommend a Direct Payment to anyone eligible for services. All members unanimously stated they would recommend a Direct Payment.
Anne-Marie left copies of the questionnaire and asked members to submit them via Graham
6. Questions to the Personal Budget Support Service.
6.1A member stated she has only just been informed her carer has been paid below the minimum wage since December 2016. Nikki stated as an employer it is your responsibility to ensure carers receive a salary which is either in line with or above the minimum wage relevant for that person.
6.2 Nikki informed members there has been an increase in the hourly rate and this will be applied when an annual review of services has taken place.
6.3 A member stated she had recently received a renewal notice from Fish Insurance for the Employers Liability Insurance and she wanted to know what to do with it. Nikki stated all renewal notices for insurance should be sent to the Personal Budget Support Team as Haringey now pay’s the cost of the insurance.
7. First Aid and Manual Handling Training for Carers
7.1. Graham said that funding has been received from the Lottery Fund for carers togo on aFirst Aid and Manual Handling Training.It will be a one day training course for up to twenty places for First Aid/Manual handling. Graham anticipated the training would be carried out at Winkfield. He will shortly be sending out further details about how to enrol your carer on the training. Carers would receive £10 expenses for the day.
8. Any Other Business
8.1.A raffle was held at the end of the meeting. Twenty- seven tickets were sold. The winners were Joyce, Anne-Marie and Bertra. Proceeds will go to the Forum.
9. Date of next meeting Tuesday 20th June 2017.