National network will provide new voice for disabled people battling councils over social care

Disabled people and allies are hoping that a new national network will support service-users who are constantly battling their local authority over their social care packages.

The Care Net is particularly focusing on disabled people who use direct payments to arrange support in their own homes.

It is hoping to act as an umbrella network for local groups of disabled people who want to come together as “one strengthened voice” to campaign for better support from their local authority.

The network was the idea of Iggy Patel, a direct payments-user and managing director of advice, training and advocacy consultancy Halo Able Tec.

He finally decided to act after seeing Disability News Service (DNS) coverage of a report by Disability Law Service, which found that disabled people across England were continuing to face unlawful discrimination and inequality on an “unparalleled” scale due to “unjust” social care charging policies.

That report also showed that few councils were consulting with disabled people and their organisations when taking decisions on care charges.

Halo Able Tec is backed by the user-led organisation Being the Boss, which supports disabled people who employ personal assistants (PAs), and two grassroots carers’ organisations, Adult Social Care Warriors and Bringing Us Together.

Together, they hope to support and develop a network of local groups of direct payments-users around the country who will be able to speak out locally – and eventually nationally – to promote and protect the rights of disabled people who rely on direct payments, which currently “are constantly forgotten about”.

The immediate campaigning priorities are to secure improved support for the direct payments system and higher pay for PAs.

Patel (pictured) told DNS: “The people we speak to regularly say they feel alone, unsupported, and that no one listens to them in local authorities or the government.

“We have already been working with small groups locally; we want to expand this so everywhere has a group, and the voices of all these groups can be amplified.

“The larger the voice, the more likely it will be heard.”

He added: “Talking to people every day there is a lot more knowledge with disabled people than in the care system.

“Working with each other as peer supporters can get rid of the loneliness people feel and share knowledge and resources.”

Among these resources is the disability-related expenditure guide, which has been accessed more than 12,000 times.

The Care Net argues that a properly supported system of direct payments allows choice, independence and control, but is also a much cheaper option because it cuts out the profits demanded by private sector care agencies.

Patel said that his own local authority refused to provide a pay-rise for his PAs, which meant for two years he could not recruit the care workers he needed.

Instead, the council suggested he use an agency to fill the gaps, which would have cost far more than allowing his PAs a pay rise.

He said: “We keep hearing about austerity and that local authorities have no money, yet a lot of money is spent unnecessarily.”

He said local authorities could also take other measures to cut costs, such as allowing self-assessments, and streamlining paperwork, instead of cutting social care budgets.

He said: “Anyone on a direct payment knows this, but individually our voices are too small, and have little power.

“We hope The Care Net can amplify these voices and try and get a more commonsense approach to social care.”

The network wants to hear from disabled people around England who are interested in setting up their own local organisation of users of direct payments.

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