Strategy for information, advice, advocacy and brokerage services
Overview
Adult Social Services is producing an information, advice, advocacy and brokerage strategy. This sets out our ambitions for information, advice, advocacy and brokerage services. It says what the council should do and fund, and how it can best work with partners, communities, volunteers and individuals. It sets out how Adult Social Services intend to invest in these services over the next 3 to 5 years.
We want to ask some questions about the strategy, which can be found on this page. If it is easier for you to listen to the strategy on a CD, or you need it in another language, please tell us.
If you are a provider of services we are asking you to talk to your customers about this strategy and report back on their views as well as your own.
Why we are consulting
Information, advice, advocacy and brokerage services are essential for all adults and their carers who need, or may need, services and support in order to lead their lives. This includes people with the full range of needs and financial means.
We want to involve the people who use information, advice, advocacy and brokerage in the design and monitoring of those services.
We will be looking for up to 12 representatives to be part of a reference group to develop the strategy and also in the procurement of the new service. We think the group will need to meet once every month until the end of 2011. We would like the majority of the group to be people who use these types of services. Please let us know if you are interested in taking part.
What happens next
We will summarise the feedback we get and post it on this page. Your suggestions will be considered and the strategy will be re-drafted to reflect the feedback.
Following this, the strategy will go to Cabinet Resources Committee for Member approval in the summer.
Related documents
Results
Four formal responses were received to the consultation. This would seem to reflect a broad acceptance of the principles of the strategy discussed through presentations to networks and boards. A number of groups stated that they did not intend to make a formal submission.
The majority of questions following the presentations concerned the next steps and in particular the steps for procurement.
The responses were concerned with the following areas;
- individuals with particular needs or a requirement for specialist support
- the need for the service to work closely with Health Watch (currently Barnet LINk)
- the importance of choice within the information and advice market
- the importance of variety of information channels including face to face communication
- the risk around losing engagement of clients with trusted ‘brands’
- the speed of change and the capacity of BCIL to deliver this support
Partnership Boards and customers are represented on an advisory group to engage with the implementation of the strategy over the coming year. The advisory group plans to meet each month.
Some of the responses to the consultation on ‘Proposals for Re-commissioning Prevention Services’ Summary of Responses which ran from November 4 to March 31 2011 are relevant as they consider this sector. There were five responses from 6 organisations. In general, responses supported working in partnership with other organisations and with Barnet Centre for Independent Living.
The Information, advice advocacy and brokerage strategy will be redrafted to incorporate consultation responses. The revisions will focus on the areas listed above.
An updated version of the strategy will be made available online along with the specification for the Information, Advice and Advocacy service. These are currently available on the council’s main website for final comments.
Links:
Feedback
- We Asked
- for your comments on the draft Information, Advice, Advocacy and Brokerage strategy. We asked for your ideas on the areas for development and whether we had missed anything.
- You said
- that some individuals with particular needs would need specialist support and that some clients were worried about losing engagement with trusted brands. You als said it was important that there were a variety of information channels. Responses supported Barnet Centre for Independent Living but expressed that they would need support and to work with others to ensure they had the expertise and capacity to deliver the service.
- We did
- We integrated your comments into the final document and particularly strengthened the section on the vision.
