On Thursday 11th February, Argyll & Bute Council met to discuss its budget for the forthcoming year. The council has been under some degree of financial pressure for a number of reasons.
A number of changes were proposed as it tried to address historical problems in its provision of services for people with learning disabilities. One issue that it was trying to resolve was the problem of provision for transition of young people from children’s services into adult services. As the same time as doing this it was proposing to reduce funding to two other services, Neighbourhood Networks and Local Area Coordination. (see below for more details on these services)
The challenge to the local authority was how to manage a restricted budget but rather than discuss and plan changes as part of a full Learning Disability Service review, they suggested these cuts as a “Quick Win”. A fuller review has been on the cards for over 2 years with a number of service users and carers being asked to take part but then never followed up.
It would appear that council officials expected that their proposals would meet with limited concern as they genuinely felt these services were “non essential”. In their report they identified the closure of a respite unit as likely to generate public concern. Again their failure to consult service users meant there was little information at the centre about the value of these services.
Low impact services offer support in a special way. By meeting needs about social isolation, mental health and self esteem when they first emerge, individuals gain support in a way that prevents escalation into a crisis. Disabled adults suffer disproportionately from these challenges and cannot access mainstream services in the same way as others.
Campaign - As it became clear that silence from those affected would not be the case, a rapid but poorly put together defence was prepared. Equality Impact Assessments were started on these services on the same day that Jackie Baillie placed a motion in the Scottish Parliament on the cuts to Local Area Coordinators. Briefings to the press put forward a slightly contradictory case that argued that these services weren’t needed but even if they were then there were alternatives available.
Over a short 3 week period, two parallel campaigns were launched to save both services. At the heart of these were people with learning disabilities who used and benefitted from both. Petitions were collected, two demonstrations were held outside council headquarters in Kilmory, councillors were lobbied and legal advice taken on the action of council officials.
Information in a number of different ways was provided to councillors and council staff. Leaflets, written submission, DVDs, lobbying, emails, phone calls and bumping into in the street! Argyll & Bute is a large area but full of small communities – both campaigns took full advantage of this.
EIAs -The Equality Impact Assessments were particularly under scrutiny. A legal requirement to carry these, a body of case law is beginning to build explaining how these should be carried out. The “Harrow” and “Ealing” cases have been helpful and other cases are in the pipeline.
The most helpful point is that local authorities must have proper regard to equality legislation undertaking proper equality impact assessments at the formative stage of the decision making process and be able to demonstrate how they have done this.
They should also take into account evidence of additional indirect discrimination which services are designed to address any include assessment of the implication of these in its Equality Impact Assessments.
The doubt created by the legal issues and the how the why of the EIA helped to reinforce powerful presentations given by Paul McCann (LAC), Catriona Campbell (LAC) and Marion Ballantyne (NN) at the Council Budget meeting. Few would have failed to be moved by that. Other members of the deputation provided economic, moral and policy arguments to support the arguments. This balance is important as it covers a range of needs in persuasion.
In a long debate councillors listened and acted. The Lord Provost made clear that this was one of the fullest debates that they had had in many years and showed the council was a listening and a caring council. Councillors made 32 contributions on this issue trying to understand and deal with the challenge.
The outcome was a unanimous agreement.
Local Area Coordination – Half the funding is retained. Given that out of four, one worker was due to retire and another was on secondment this felt reasonable. The principle of Local Area Coordination has been retained. Further discussions will need to take place on how to implement a reduced service across the area. SCLD and LDAS were invited to take part in this planning.
Neighbourhood Networks – Funding was retained for another year while there will be a fuller consultation. This gives the opportunity for individuals to make sure the council has accurate information about their needs and what help they get from the Networks.
Conclusion: There will be a challenge for both services, though to demonstrate how they deliver good outcomes for vulnerable adults. Senior council staff hold to their views about the future of these services. With a genuine consultation we believe both services will win through.
Scottish Government initiatives like Talking Points outcome system can be taken up by the voluntary sector to demonstrate a standard way of looking at what they do. The system puts service users at the heart of the evaluation process and can be part of a new relationship between users of services and those that provide them.
Notes:
Neighbourhood Network Members, their families and communities - have a range of often untapped resources of time, knowledge, skills and relationships that are available at no additional financial cost to the Council. So, in addition to the paid support Members receive from their local Community Living Worker, the distinctive approach of Neighbourhood Networks fosters and facilitated their capacity to support each other through mutual or peer support, and the capacity of their communities to provide further support through inclusion and acceptance. 25 people directly benefited from this service in Oban and Mid Argyll.
Local Area Coordinators work with significant numbers of individuals and families, building their potential and working with other community groups and organisations to support them to include people with learning disabilities.
This is a complex and diverse role – it not simply about putting someone in touch with their local community centre. It is a multi-faceted role that works with the person and their family as well as their community. It is about building sustainable responses to local circumstances.
In Argyll & Bute LACs work with
- 150 individuals
- 42 families
- 7 community groups
- 100 community members
