Adults and Communities Budget Consultation - Community Offer: our proposals to support residents to live independently at home

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This consultation has now closed.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey, without whose valuable input the consultation would not have been possible. We also wish to thank those who took the time to attend the public meetings and focus groups, and shared their views readily.

You can give how we have acted on the results so far under 'We asked, You said, We did'.

Overview

As you’ll be aware, the Government’s spending review has reduced the amount of money available for the council to spend over the coming years. Barnet, like all local authorities, is faced with making some challenging decisions on how best to continue services with reduced resources, while trying to minimise the impact on residents. Over the next two years the council is proposing savings of around £39 million, so all service areas need to make budget reductions.

For 2014/15, Adults and Communities need to find further savings of £8.3million. The proposed savings are set out in Appendix B of the Cabinet Report. Many of these savings have been found from efficiencies and will not affect our frontline services. At the same time as needing to make savings, demand for our services continues to increase as the local population who are over 65 years old and the number of young people with very complex needs grows.

The Government nationally is also making changes to how social care services should be delivered, to increase independence for people who need social care support. These changes are set out in the Care and Support Bill which is due to become law next year.

So both locally and nationally, we need to make changes to social care services to make sure that they:

  • are flexible and can be tailored to meet the needs of individual residents
  • provide value for money in a time of national austerity. We have put together some proposals for how we can meet this challenge in Barnet.

We are calling these proposals our Community Offer, as they cover how we plan to support people in their own homes to live as independently as possible, using facilities in their local community. You can find details in our consultation document. We would like to hear your views on these proposals.

We have already been making changes to our services in line with the national policy of personalisation and national programmes of enablement, but we now want to increase the number of people who are able to stay at home for longer. National research shows that people are happier and live longer if they can stay in their own home. Our aim is to support people to do this, whilst making sure support services provide value for money for the council.

We are keen to give everyone the opportunity to have their say on our proposals, and to suggest alternative ways that we might meet our aim of supporting more people in their own homes. To find out more about our proposals, please take the time to read our consultation document.

Your views and opinions are important to us and will help us to make the right decisions.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey, without whose valuable input the consultation would not have been possible. We also wish to thank those who took the time to attend the public meetings and focus groups, and shared their views readily.

You can give how we have acted on the results so far under 'We asked, You said, We did'.

Overview

As you’ll be aware, the Government’s spending review has reduced the amount of money available for the council to spend over the coming years. Barnet, like all local authorities, is faced with making some challenging decisions on how best to continue services with reduced resources, while trying to minimise the impact on residents. Over the next two years the council is proposing savings of around £39 million, so all service areas need to make budget reductions.

For 2014/15, Adults and Communities need to find further savings of £8.3million. The proposed savings are set out in Appendix B of the Cabinet Report. Many of these savings have been found from efficiencies and will not affect our frontline services. At the same time as needing to make savings, demand for our services continues to increase as the local population who are over 65 years old and the number of young people with very complex needs grows.

The Government nationally is also making changes to how social care services should be delivered, to increase independence for people who need social care support. These changes are set out in the Care and Support Bill which is due to become law next year.

So both locally and nationally, we need to make changes to social care services to make sure that they:

  • are flexible and can be tailored to meet the needs of individual residents
  • provide value for money in a time of national austerity. We have put together some proposals for how we can meet this challenge in Barnet.

We are calling these proposals our Community Offer, as they cover how we plan to support people in their own homes to live as independently as possible, using facilities in their local community. You can find details in our consultation document. We would like to hear your views on these proposals.

We have already been making changes to our services in line with the national policy of personalisation and national programmes of enablement, but we now want to increase the number of people who are able to stay at home for longer. National research shows that people are happier and live longer if they can stay in their own home. Our aim is to support people to do this, whilst making sure support services provide value for money for the council.

We are keen to give everyone the opportunity to have their say on our proposals, and to suggest alternative ways that we might meet our aim of supporting more people in their own homes. To find out more about our proposals, please take the time to read our consultation document.

Your views and opinions are important to us and will help us to make the right decisions.

This consultation has now closed.

  • Feedback updated

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    We asked

    We asked what residents thought of our proposals for supporting people at home, including:
    • Increasing use of technology and equipment in the home, short-term enablement support, and support for family carers.
    • Increasing the use of Direct Payments so people can arrange their own support.
    • Looking at how someone's independence can be maximised when they have their Annual Review
    • Changing the way respite is provided to people who care for a friend or relative.
    You said

    You generally agreed with the proposal to look at new ways to support people in their homes. However, you said it was important that individual circumstances be considered to avoid people feeling isolated. Community facilities should be accessible to all. You said that some people may need extra help to manage Direct Payments, and to understand how they can be used. You also said that where respite was concerned, the needs of the carer should be considered on an individual basis.

    We did

    We will take into account the concerns you raised when implementing the proposals, and we have a legal duty to assess people's needs on an individual basis.

    We will be re-establishing a Forum for Direct Payment Users and Carers to support them with using Direct Payments. We will also be looking into ways that we can improve accessibility to community facilities for all.