News Archive

The Rowan Organisation is pleased to announce that it will be providing support for the Direct Payments scheme in Conwy, North Wales as from April 2006.

Milton Keynes Direct Payments Support Scheme change

On February 1st 2006, the responsibility for providing support for the Direct Payments Scheme in Milton Keynes transferred from the Rowan Organisation to the Dunstable Resource Centre. The telephone number of the Milton Keynes local office will remain in place for the time being (01908 550595).

We would like to thank those Rowan staff, who have now transferred to their new employer, for their hard work and excellent service.

Independent Living Trusts and Care Standards

An issue was identified back in May 2005 in relation to the operation of Independent Living Trusts which have been set up to support the use of Direct Payments. The initial response to an enquiry submitted by the Rowan Organisation to the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) appeared to suggest that any Trust involved in appointing staff (PAs) to work with and provide personal care to the direct payments recipient, would have to register as a domiciliary care agency.

We became very concerned about the implications of such a requirement and made a formal approach to CSCI and the Department of Health (DH) to discuss further.

We are pleased to say that after a series of discussions and a meeting with the DH Direct Payments Steering Group, CSCI has formally informed us that it will be advising its staff that Independent Living Trusts will not require registration.

CSCI has further added that where a direct payments support organisation is helping a person to employ PAs (including PA registers), CSCI will need to consider the nature of the help given to decide whether or not registration is required. They believe that in some cases this will be straightforward, but that in others, greater clarification is needed.

CSCI plans to explore such issues further, through consultation to help identify whether the current regulatory framework needs to change in the future.

Direct Payments Support in Denbighshire

From the 1st October 2005, the Rowan Organisation will provide support for the Direct Payments scheme in the county of Denbighshire. The support team is currently being recruited and further details will be announced at that time.

Direct Payments Support for older people in Dorset

We're pleased to announce that The Rowan Organisation will provide support for direct payments for older people in the county of Dorset. The service is due to start on 1st August 2005. We will be recruiting two Independent Living Advisers , so please look out for the vacancies which will be posted shortly.

Direct Payments Sign Language Video (or DVD)

The Rowan Organisation is pleased that our BSL video about Direct Payments is attracting very positive feedback. We were requested to make the video (entitled 'Direct Payments: An Introduction') by Staffordshire Social Services (which also part-funded the project). It was studio-produced by The Royal School for the Deaf, Derby which also supplied the signing (BSL) actors. The video, which lasts approximately 25 minutes is also sub-titled with full voice-over commentary.

The information is presented in a way that is accessible not only to deaf people, but also to many other individuals. It would serve as a good introduction to anyone interested in the opportunities that Direct Payments can offer.

The video can be purchased by local authorities, voluntary organisations and local support groups. It is available as a VHS video cassette or DVD.

Price List: (includes post and packaging)

Single copy VHS £8.50 Single copy DVD £5.50

5 VHS copies £40 5 DVD copies £25.00

10 VHS copies £75 10 DVD copies £45.00

Copies for individual members of the public are free.

To order copies, please contact the Information Service on 01827 718972 or via email to the Information Service.

Direct Payments Support in the Vale of Glamorgan

The Rowan Organisation is pleased to announce that it has been successful in its bid to provide support for the Direct Payments scheme in the Vale of Glamorgan. Recruitment for the team of Independent Living Advisers is underway (please see Vacancies) and they will hopefully be in post during April.

New disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures

October 1st 2004 saw the introduction of new legislation that sets out the minimum procedures that every employer must have in place to manage discipline, dismissal and grievance issues. Each employer is obliged under law to ensure that every employee is made aware of these procedures.

If you are a service user supported by the Rowan Organisation, you should have already received detailed information concerning this (if you have not, please contact your local Rowan Independent Living Adviser).

Further information can be obtained from the DTI ( www.dti.gov.uk/er/) and ACAS ( www.acas.org.uk, and there is also an article in the Autumn 2004 Newsletter.

Three new Factsheets now available

Three new Factsheets have now been added which cover Employer's Insurance, Transport Considerations and Employing People Legally. Please click on the link to take you directly to the Factsheets menu.

Employing P.A.'s legally - amended legislation

On 1st May 2004, amendments to the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 come into force. These amendments require all employers (without exception) in the UK to make basic document checks on every person they intend to employ.

They also require that the employer makes a copy of original documents (from a prescribed set of Lists) belonging to the employee so that they can prove they have undertaken the relevant checks.

The changes will not make a major difference to the type of checks employers are already required to carry out to meet their responsibilities under the law. They have been drawn up so that people who do have the right to work in this country can prove this quickly and easily.

It’s important that people who use Direct Payments or ILF money for recruiting and employing P.A.'s are aware of these requirements and that failure to undertake the checks is a criminal offence (should the employee later be found to have no right to work in this country).

Lastly, the amended Act obliges employers to ensure that their recruitment practices don’t discriminate against individuals on racial grounds. Therefore it may be invalid to refuse a person employment just because they have not yet been issued with a National Insurance Number (more on this at a later date).

The requirements are explained in detail in the official Home Office document, ‘Changes to the law on preventing illegal working: short guidance for UK employers’. This can be viewed on the Home Office website : www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers.Their web site states that all PAYE registered employers will be sent this document after mid-April 2004. Further information will be made available via our quarterly Newsletter and possible a new Factsheet.

New Contract for Services in Warwickshire

We're pleased to announce that as from 1st April 2004, The Rowan Organisation will be responsible for supporting the Direct Payments Scheme on behalf of Warwickshire County Council. In addition, we will provide the Advice and Information service across the whole county. Previously, the Rowan worked only in the borough of North Warwickshire. The services highlighted above were originally sourced through The Council of Disabled People (CDP) and DIAL. A number of staff from these organisations will be joining the Rowan to continue support for these services and we will be welcoming them shortly.

This web site is now enabled with Browsealoud

As part of our commitment to ensuring that information is accessible to everyone, we’ve just enabled a facility on our web site that could be of benefit to people who have reading difficulties.

‘Browsealoud’ is a website speech enabling service provided by a company called TextHELP Systems Ltd., which makes web content accessible to anyone with reading difficulties. It is designed to be simple for Users, requiring only a short download of the free program.

‘Browsealoud’ not only speech enables website content, it also speech enables the menus and hyperlinks to ease navigation of the website. Simply by scrolling your mouse over the text that you want read to you, ‘Browsealoud’ will speak what is written and also thereby help you navigate websites more easily. Users also have a choice of voice, pitch and speed, making navigation of websites easier and more meaningful than ever before for anyone with reading difficulties.

An increasing number of organisations are enabling their web sites with Browsealoud, including the BBC, Yahoo, Google to name but a few. The software is Microsoft Certified and will work on any PC with Internet Explorer 4.0 upwards or Netscape Navigator.

If you would like to download this FREE software, please click on the logo below which will take you to their download page.

Award of Direct Payments Support contract in Solihull

We're pleased to announce that the Rowan Organisation has been awarded a contract to provide support for the Direct Payments Scheme in Solihull (West Midlands). We're currently in the process of recruiting new staff and it is anticipated that they will be in post by December 2003. The service will commence January 1st 2004.

Rowan Organisation is awarded funding from the Department of Health for Direct Payments development project

The Rowan Organisation has been awarded approximately £405,000 by the Department of Health to undertake a Direct Payments Development Project. The following local authorities supported our application:

Blackburn with Darwen, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, Milton Keynes, North Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Thurrock and Wiltshire.

The project will specifically target those groups of people that are currently under-represented within the take up of Direct Payments and will seek to identify the barriers which limit their involvement by working directly with groups and individual service users. It will also promote P.A. work as a career opportunity and address the training needs for all those involved. In undertaking this work, the project team will work closely with local authority staff, local voluntary groups, peer support groups and individual service users. The particular areas of focus will be older people, mental health, learning disability, ethnic minority groups and children & families.

The project team will be comprised of a project manager, six service development workers and an administrative support officer. Initially, this funded project will run for a period of eighteen months.

Direct Payments support in Richmond upon Thames

The Rowan Organisation took over responsibility for the Direct Payments Support Service in Richmond on 1st August 2003 and we’re pleased to welcome Jackie Jones as the Senior Independent Living Advisor. Recruitment of two further Independent Living Advisors is underway.

Information Service funding from the DoH

Earlier this year, the Rowan Organisation was successful in it's application for funding from the Department of Health to develop the Information Service. The award, based on a three year plan, will enable the development ofthe national service and a more effective information infrastructure. As part of this plan, two new Information Officers have been appointed (Imogen Gallop, full time and David Kersey, part-time) and will join Roger Hunt, the senior Information Officer based at our new offices in Ratcliffe Culey.

New Regulations make Direct Payments a mandatory option in England

New Regulations come into force on 8th April 2003 which are relevant to all local authorities in England. The Community Care, Services for Carers and Children's Services (Direct Payments (England) Regulations 2003 clarify a number of previous concerns regarding the awarding of Direct Payments.

In particular, from April 2003, it will be mandatory for each local authority in England to offer Direct Payments as an option to an eligible person provided that they have met the assessment criteria for receiving a service (defined under section 46 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, section 2 of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 or under section 17 of the Children Act 1989).

There are other enhancements which help to clarify the position regarding the employment of spouse, close relative or person living in the same household.

The new Regulations have not yet been endorsed by the Welsh Office and so such existing issues remain unresolved at this point in time. It is expected that Scotland will implement it's own version of the Regulations in June 2003.

The William Molson Centre, N.E. Lincs

The Rowan Organisation is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the contract to manage the William Molson Day Centre in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. On April 1st 2003, existing staff will transfer to the Rowan Organisation. The Centre will be based upon the same ethos and principles as the Day Services at Atherstone and Fordsfield. Stuart Farmery is the Centre Coordinator and Keith Pearson is the Administrator. Further information will appear in the Spring Edition of our Newsletter.

Please see the Contact Us page for e-mail details.

Direct Payments Scheme in Thurrock

We're pleased to announce that having recently been awarded the contract to provide support for the Direct Payments Scheme in Thurrock, the service itself became operational on March 17th 2003. Mike Poppy has been appointed as full time Senior Independent Living Advisor. A further position will be advertised shortly.

Please see the Contact Us page for e-mail details.

New Direct Payments Support service starts in South West Wales

We're pleased to announce the start of the Direct Payments Support Service in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. The team have been appointed and we would like to welcome the following new members of staff:

Carole Kuhlmann, who is the Project Manager with overall responsibility for the service and staff in the three counties
Veronica Lewis, Independent Living Adviser, Ceredigion
David Evans, Independent Living Adviser, Carmarthenshire
Elaine Nicholas, Independent Living Adviser, Pembrokeshire

Please see the Contact Us page for e-mail details.

Police Checks : So who can request a Disclosure ?

You may remember that nearly eighteen months ago, The Rowan Organisation raised the issue of being able to request Enhanced Disclosures on behalf of our service users who recruit their own P.A.'s. Throughout that time, we've exchanged letters with Home Office Ministers and had discussions with both the Criminal Records Bureau and a meeting with the Home Office (AACDU) team.

The end result of this has come as a disappointment to say the least and at this point in time, disabled employers continue to be excluded being able to access the in-depth checking systems that are available to other employers (Enhanced Disclosure).

It has emerged that, not only are we (as a registered Umbrella organisation), unable to request an Enhanced Disclosure on behalf of our service users, but that as the law stands, neither is any other an Umbrella organisation !

The issue revolves around the fact that existing law prevents anyone from asking exempt questions on behalf of an individual who is not entitled to ask exempt questions. Put another way, a disabled person (or parent/guardian/manager of a child or vulnerable adult) seeking to employ a P.A. is not entitled to receive information about a person's criminal history that would help them to make a decision regarding suitability of employment.

Clearly, the implications are of great concern.

One of the main benefits of setting up the Criminal Records Bureau is to help improve the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. It's now clear that this objective cannot be met in the case of disabled people who employ their own P.A.'s.

The most alarming consequence now realised is that Local Authorities that may have registered as an Umbrella organisation do not have the authority to ask exempted questions on behalf of it's individual service users. Of further concern is that currently, most local authorities are not aware of this and indeed, some are insisting that this service should be carried out by the organisation contracted to provide support for the Direct Payments Scheme. Clearly, Umbrella organisations (such as ourselves) cannot perform this role either.

The Home Office (AACDU) team are currently exploring a 'work around solution' involving the setting up of 'vetting houses' to request Disclosures. It appears that it might be possible for an organisation to register as a 'vetting house', whose sole purpose would be to countersign Disclosure applications. However, it seems that more work needs to be done to get the Local Government Authorities to take the idea on-board. Further more, we have enquired whether we could obtain insurance to provide a vetting house service and have been told by our Insurers that we could not.

Even this 'work around solution' would not entitle the service user to receive information regarding a person's previous criminal record. The vetting house would only be able to recommend (or otherwise) whether a person is suitable for the job (and not give reasons or details). We feel that this continues to disempower the disabled employer, not least in that they would remain excluded from accessing a service available to other employers.

It seems to us that the main issue will not be resolved in the short term, and indeed, will require a change in current legislation. This we have argued during the last year through consultation and proposal.

Our main concern is that disabled children and adults can feel secure in the knowledge that their employees have been appropriately checked as part of determining their suitability for the post. At this point in time, parents are being forced to take on P.A.'s for their children who have not been Police checked and, particularly as some local authorities seem to be unaware of the situation prohibiting Umbrella organisations from providing this service, the situation is not likely to improve in the short term.

We have recently written to John Denham and Lord Falconer with a plea to resolve the situation as a high priority. We're hopeful that in realising how this issue is affecting disabled people, parents of disabled children, Social Services and their Direct Payments Support organisations, the matter will be addressed with some urgency.

Watch this space !

More on people's experience of Direct Payments in the Spring issue of the Directions Newsletter

The Spring 2002 edition of the Directions Newsletter is now available on this web site. Following the interest shown in people's experiences of Direct Payments contained in the last Newsletter, another set of articles have been included in the latest issue.Please click here to access these.

Good news on Employers Liability Insurance for 16 / 17 year old young adults

We have heard officially today from Fish Insurance that their underwriter (Faraday) has agreed to underwrite the risk for Employers Liability Insurance policies for 16 and 17 year old young adults. This insurance cover is available with immediate effect and at the same cost as the policy available to adults. The news is most welcome after months of uncertainty about whether certain legislative issues would prevent such a policy being offered. Our thanks must go to David Powell (Association of British Insurers), Bob Elam (DTLR) and in particular Pam Byrnes (International Underwriting Association), who have been instrumental in seeing that this matter was resolved.

This does mean of course, that those local authorities who offer Direct Payments to 16 and 17 year old young adults, can now do so in the knowledge that proper employer insurance protection is available, at least through Fish Insurance.

New contract awarded by Wiltshire County Council

We are delighted to announce that the Rowan Organisation has been selected by Wiltshire County Council to provide support for the Direct Payments Scheme. Contract details are currently being finalised and transfer of the existing service is expected to take place by April 2002.

An issue with Employers Liability Insurance for 16 / 17 year old young adults

The Carers and Disabled Childrens Act 2000 has enabled Direct Payments to be extended to include sixteen and seventeen year old young adults. This development was widely welcomed. However, in October last year, investigation by the Rowan Organisation highlighted an issue with Employers Liability Insurance and it's availability to young adults. With Staffordshire Social Services close to launching the scheme in that county, considerable effort has been applied to obtaining the true legal position.

As things currently stand, no Insurance company that offer Employers Liability seems able to offer cover to anyone under the age of eighteen. Clearly, such a position denies the young adult to take out ELI in their own name when setting up their Direct Payments.

The Rowan Organisation has raised the issue with a number of parties, including the government department with responsibility for this insurance legislation, the Association of British Insurers, the International Underwriting Association and the Social Services Inspectorate.

After significant discussion, it now appears that the underwriters of the policy offered by Fish Insurance are assessing risk and reviewing policy. Everyone concerned is awaiting the result and hoping that it will eliminate the need for legal review. Please click here for Newsletter article. (Please see most recent news above, dated 14th February 2002)

People's experience of Direct Payments

Although much information about Direct Payments can be found on this Web Site, a far greater appreciation of the benefits to individuals is often best gained from people's own experiences. The Winter 2001 (Issue 14) of the Newsletter contains three articles from service users who have been using Direct Payments. Please click here to access these.

Criminal Record Checks - disappointment for Direct Payments Users

After highlighting a major issue which excludes disabled people from requesting a criminal record check when recruiting Personal Assistants, the Rowan Organisation is now in a consultation process with the Home Office. As part of this we have just issued a document to the relevant government departments that presents a possible solution. For the full story so far, please see the article in the Summer 2001 Newsletter

Stakeholder Pensions

Stakeholder pensions are new, low cost, private pensions which became available from 6th April 2001. If you employ five or more people (e.g. Personal Assistants) then you must offer a Stakeholder Pension Scheme (unless you are exempt). Please see Factsheet 13 for more details.

Single copy VHS	£8.50	Single copy DVD	£5.50
5 VHS copies	£40	5 DVD copies	£25.00
10 VHS copies	£75	10 DVD copies	£45.00