Frequently Asked Questions on the Sheffield Short Break Consultation

Frequently Asked Questions on the Sheffield Short Break Consultation

The following information is provided as this information has been commonly asked about the short breaks consultation.

This list will be regularly updated.

If you have a question which is not answered here, please contact us on email or call 0114 273 5611.

About short breaks

What are ‘short breaks’
There are lots of different kinds of short breaks services and they can be provided by short break carers, volunteers and paid workers. Short breaks can be in the day, evening, overnight or weekend activities and may take place in the child's home, in the home of an approved carer, in a residential home or a community setting.
Short breaks can also include an element of childminding; befriending by another young person or adult who can help the disabled child or young person to access community activities; and community and leisure activities such as play schemes, Saturday clubs, or after-school clubs.
Short breaks can run from just a few hours to a few days or longer, depending on the type of break and the needs of the child and their family.
Short breaks provide opportunities for disabled children and young people to have enjoyable experiences which help them become more independent and form friendships outside their family. They also give parents and carers the time to do normal things which other families take for granted, like doing the shopping or going for a run.

About the consultation itself

Who is doing this consultation
This is a Sheffield City Council consultation.
What the consultation is about
We are consulting on proposals for the delivery of short breaks in Sheffield. The questionnaire is for all parent carers and children/young people who currently use, have used, or plan to use short break and/or respite services in Sheffield. This consultation is about the potential impact of the different proposals, how they will affect families.
We are consulting on three areas of service delivery:

• Short Break Grant
• SNIPS - Saturday, holiday or after school short break activities in mainstream Clubs
• SNIPS - Saturday, holiday or after school short break activities in targeted clubs for disabled children only.

How to take part
The consultation will start on 4th December 2017 and close on 9th March 2018.
Families who currently use the short breaks grant and SNIPs clubs have been contacted by post.
You can also complete the survey online at
All responses must be received by midnight 9.3.18 to be included.
How to get more information
We have provided answers below to many of the questions parent/carers may have on the consultation and the different proposals, but if you would still like more information, or help, please get in touch by email or telephone 0114 273 5611 and we can discuss what help you might need. The council will work hard to support families from many different backgrounds to take part in the consultation.
If English is not your first language
We have provided answers below to many of the questions parent carers may have on the consultation and the different proposals, but if you would still like more information, or help, please get in touch by email or telephone 0114 273 5611 and we can discuss what help you might need. The council will work hard to support families from many different backgrounds to take part in the consultation.
How to access help taking part
We have provided answers below to many of the questions parent/carers may have on the consultation and the different proposals, but if you would still like more information, or help, please get in touch by email or telephone 0114 273 5611 and we can discuss what help you might need. The council will work hard to support families from many different backgrounds to take part in the consultation.
Why we are asking for personal information
By collecting this type of information we can make sure we are hearing from the people who use and need our services, and identify where we are not. The information that you give us helps us make sure that everyone has had a chance to have a say and that all groups of parents are treated and heard fairly. The information you provide is anonymous and will be kept confidential and secure.
Is this a vote?
This is a consultation, it is not a vote. The information gathered from the postal and online questionnaires will be reviewed to inform any decisions.
What will happen to the feedback given
All the comments and feedback received will be given to decision makers, who will consider these before any final decisions are made about the services.
This will be written into a report which will be made available on the short break and respite website and paper copies will be available on request.
How to keep up to date
The short break webpage will provide up to date information on activities and events taking place in the community to support you to take part in this consultation. Please check this regularly as new events may be added.
This will include information on the when any decisions will be made.
How decisions will be made
Parent/carers’ views will be considered before any decisions are made. Any recommendations for change will be submitted to the council leadership team for approval before being implemented.
We will also consider service data which tells us who uses the services at the moment.
Officers in the council will make recommendations to senior leaders. Through the decision-making processes, these will be explained and a final decision to be made.
All families who use the services will receive a letter explaining any changes to services and when these will come into place.
In terms of implementing changes we would intend to make the changes from 1st April 2018, where possible, or as soon as is possible after this time. So any changes to the Short Breaks Grant would apply for the 2018-19 Grant round.

About the proposals

What information we have looked at to help inform these proposals
To make sure that we are making well informed decisions, we have gathered together two key lots of information:

• The views of parent carers about what is working well, what was not working very well, what could be better and suggestions for how services could be improved and some costs reduced
• A Needs assessment for Sheffield

-The number of children and young people who live in Sheffield and have a disability or additional needs
-The number of children and young people using short break and respite services
What steps we have already taken to try to save money
As a council we have done a number of things to try to save money so far, for example we have: removed Community Assemblies; refinanced the Streets Ahead contract; changed our contribution to the city’s bus partnership; changed how some of our libraries are run; and are targeting youth support to young people who are most at risk. We have made many smaller decisions to minimise the impact on any one service.
Who will be affected by the changes
Families who would be directly affected by the proposals are:

• Parent carers who do, or may, apply for a short breaks grant
• Parent carers who use weekend and/or holiday daytime short break clubs (SNIPS activities), or may do in the future

We have used data from service users accessing services in 2016/17 and used this to assess the potential impact of the proposals.
As part of the final report, we will analyse this data again for 2017 and part of 2018. We will also use this data to identify where families may be affected by more than one of the proposed changes.

Proposal 1: Eligibility for a short break grant would stop on a young person’s 18th birthday

What this means if your son or daughter is over 18
Once your child reaches 18, they will not be eligible for the short breaks grant.
Young people aged 18 or over can progress into Adult short break services.
Help is available also via the Sheffield Carers Centre, including the Time for Me grant.

Proposal 2: To change the offer of the short break grant

If I cannot have a short break grant and another short break service, what other short break or respite services does this include?
This includes all other short break and respite services provided by, or accessed through the Council, as we already pay for these short break services. This includes:

• Daytime Short Breaks accessed via the SNIPS service, including:
• Mainstream leisure clubs such as guides, scouts, sports club (tennis, football, swimming, karate, etc) where children without additional needs or disabilities also attend
• Short break clubs for disabled children only
• Foster care overnight or daytime short breaks
• Overnight respite short breaks in a residential home
• Direct Payments

Family income and means-testing
Family income is the combined total income into your household. You may know this as ‘means-testing’ - a means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for assistance, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help. If services are means-tested, this means that your eligibility will depend on your income and how much capital you have.
DLA is non-taxable and is not counted as income for means-tested benefits and does not count as part of your household income in these proposals.
What information is classed as family income
Family income is another term for Household income; it is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence.
The types of income we take into account are:

• PAYE – including commission, bonuses, overtime
• Self-employed income (taxable profit for financial year ending between 6 April 2015 and 5 April 2016)
• Income from property
• Pension income
• Means-tested benefits
• Other benefits
• Interest from bonds, trusts, bank/building society and any investments
• Dividends
• Other income – including maintenance payments

DLA
DLA is non-taxable and is not counted as income for means-tested benefits. DLA does not count as part of your household income in these proposals.
For people on means-tested benefits,
such as income support or job seekers allowance
If you are on a benefit listed below, your income will not be assessed. You will need to show that you are receiving the benefit(s), and you will need to apply as usual for a short break grant, and meet the other eligibility criteria.

• Universal credit
• Income support
• Any element of child tax credit (except the family element of working tax credit)
• Any element of an income-based jobseeker's allowance
• Any element of an income-related employment and support allowance

What impact would means-testing have on timescales?
This is hard to say exactly as it would depend upon how many applications need assessing, and the level of information. In 2016/17 nearly 2000 people applied for a short break grant. There can be delays when not all the necessary information is provided upon application. We will consider timescales in our final proposals.

Proposal 3: Parents would pay the cost of the club activity for daytime short breaks in mainstream club , e.g. archery, football club, horse-riding, sports club, the same as parents of non-disabled children.

Mainstream and targeted clubs
Mainstream clubs usually have a number of children attending, not all with disabilities, and are open to the general public. Targeted clubs are delivered for disabled children only and are not open to the general public. If you are unsure which clubs you use, please ask the club or contact your SNIPS mentor.
The cost of the activity in the clubs
The club your child attends will be able to tell you the cost of their activities.
In the past we used to pay for the club activity cost. Why is this changing back?
Subsidising the whole activity cost was introduced as a pilot 4 years ago. Since this time the council has had a significant reduction in government funding, and through the conversations with parents, suggestions to go back to the original way of paying were suggested.
What to do if you cannot afford the activity cost
Check if you are eligible to be exempt from charges.
If your child attends a club that you find too expensive to pay on an ongoing basis, you may be able to find a lower cost alternative. If we receive feedback that this is often the case, we will do some work to try to increase the number of clubs available at different costs.

Proposal 4: Parents would contribute toward the cost of the activity for daytime short breaks in targeted clubs, which provide short beaks for disabled children only.

How it has been decided whether families should contribute
Asking for the same contribution, across all clubs, is the easiest and most straightforward approach both for families and for the short break clubs. Having different amounts for each club could mean an increased administration costs that would not be helpful.
Attending a targeted club only for disabled children could cost between £50 and £120 a day.
A general mainstream club runs on a staff ratio of one staff member to between 8 to 15 children. We fund our disabled-only children’s clubs on a ratio of one staff member to either: one child, two children or 4 children. So the costs for disabled only children’s clubs are much higher.
How to pay for the clubs
We will be discussing with clubs the options for this and ensure we publish details before any contribution process is put in place.
We think that paying in blocks is the best approach for both families and clubs and will be best for ensuring services can be maintained. This is generally how mainstream clubs operate also. No decision has been made at this point though.
If you have more than one child using clubs
Where families have more than one child attending a targeted club, families will make one payment of £10 per session.
If you have children that attend different services please ensure you answer all the questions relevant to all the services you use. Depending upon the outcome of the consultation, it may mean you paying for the mainstream club activity session, and a contribution to the targeted club. Unless you receive benefits or are below the income threshold, in which case the service may be free.
If your child does not attend, for example you are on holiday, or s/he is unwell
You will still have to pay for the activity. The clubs employ staff to work at every session to ensure trained staff are available to meet the children’s needs. The staff must be paid whether children attend or not. If a session cost is not paid, this would leave the club short of sufficient money to pay staff wages. This is just the same as a non-disabled child attending a tennis club, or an adult having a gym or club membership, the sessions are paid for whether the person attends or not.