Welcome to the November newsletter from the Independent Living Group (ILG). Providing news for Individual Employers and Direct Payment support staff across the UK.
Creating a space for Personal Assistant Employers to share experiences, get support and unite their voices in order to help shape health and care services.
A quick reminder that the ILG community wants to unite individual employers and professionals working in the sector across the UK
As a member of the ILG community you will be invited to join the Individual Employer Facebook group. Here you will find genuine peer support from individual employers, Direct Payment advisors, the ILG Community steering group and the ILG Support legal team.
Join us below if you want to be part of the community and get involved.
ILG Community Steering Group Update
The ILG community steering group is keen to meet and forge networks with other peer support groups. If you represent a local, regional or national group, please do get in touch by email to – support@ilgcommunity.com
Meet the steering group here.
NEW ILG Support guide note – Living with Covid post restrictions (England)
ILG Support are receiving lots of enquiries from employers concerned about the removal of Covid restrictions in England and the impact this will have on their ability to stay safe and Covid free.
In response they have put together some new guidance, Living with Covid.
Similar guides to follow for Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland which will be posted on the ILG Community, Individual Employer Facebook group.
You can find a copy of this document (along with our other guide notes) on the ILG Community website here.
London SDS Forum and LITRG looking at employment status
The London Self Direct Support (SDS) Forum and the Low-Income Tax Reform Group (LITRG) have temporarily joined forces with HMRC and the department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BEIS) to examine PA employment status and consider the different models of care provision currently proliferating the market.
People need choice and there is a shortage of available PAs. To what extent can self-employed PAs fill that gap and how can we best understand the associated risks. This piece of work will aim to answer some of those questions and draw on other stakeholders along the way.
The London SDS Forum is an independent organisation representing professionals working in the Direct Payments sector including Local Authority’s, the voluntary sector and support organisations. LITRG are also independent and exists to make the tax system fairer for all while making tax information available to people who cannot afford professional advice.
We will keep in touch with this crucial piece of work and continue to feedback here and via the Facebook group.
Direct Payment paper from TLAP
Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) have recently published a document looking at improving Direct Payments by identifying and removing some of the barriers that prevent it working as well as it can.
TLAP are a national partnership of organisations committed to transforming health and care through personalisation and community-based support, including local and central government and the voluntary and community sector.
Skills for Care research – opportunity to contribute
Skills for Care is running a research project looking at how they support Individual Employers to address recruitment and retention challenges.
If you are an individual employer, you can sign up to one or more of the following activities, by completing the short online form here:
- A telephone interview (approx. 30 minutes) – anytime before Fri 18 Mar
- A remote experience mapping workshop (approx. 2 hours) to take place on Wed 9 Mar & Tue 15 Mar
- A remote design workshop (approx. 2 hours) – to take place on Tue 29 March
Once you have registered your interest here, Skills for Care researchers will be in touch regarding next steps.