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February 2013 Registered Charity No 1148256 Free: donations welcome! Independent Living Fund - councils to get the last word - 2 Anyone Fears that more disabled people will fall into poverty - 4 for tennis? SDN December meeting - Blue Badge, hate crime and help in India - 6 Sport and Disabled slam Ludlow buses - 7 IG NIGHT disabilities Carers in Shropshire and Telford - 8 !! SDN’s B T’S MAGIC S I OR DETAIL page 3 ‘The bedroom tax’ - 9 OUT - P4 F COUNTING DOWN Welfare experts spell out what the TO CHANGE! future may hold It is only a matter of weeks until the Government’s welfare reforms start to kick in. Before long PIP, Universal Credit and much else will be more than things we just read about in the papers. They will be changing our lives, our incomes, and possibly even the way we see ourselves. In recognition of the seriousness of the issues, SDN joined forces with Damian Carter of Shropshire Council (above right ) and one of the audience groups, with the Community Legal Advice Service a BBC Radio Shropshire reporter recording the lively discussion. At left, Colin Smith of the DWP makes a point about PIP. The other two speakers were Kairen Francis of Job Partnership, the Pan Disability Centre Plus and Jackie Jeffrey of Citizens Advice Shropshire. Forum and the VCS Assembly to bring together four experts to explain Audience member Evelyn Sonia Roberts, chair of SDN and of Suszko spoke for many and answer questions on key the VCSA, called the event a great when she said to one success and praised the four speak - aspects of the new welfare system. speaker: ‘It needs to be simplified. People need to ers for their input. ‘They all brought a ‘Welfare Reform: The Big Debate’ be able to see on a single great depth of knowledge in their took place at Shrewsbury Town Foot - piece of paper what they subjects and audience members get now and what they will were able to tackle them on impor - ball Club on January 17, with speak - get in the future.’ ers from Citizens Advice Shropshire, tant but little understood topics,’ she the Department of Work and Pen - The topics were said. ‘We hoped it would be an in - sions, Job Centre Plus, and Shrop - oSupporting People formative and educational event and oPersonal Independent Payment (PIP) shire Council. that’s how it turned out. This is the oUniversal Credit first of many dialogues we are oRelacement schemes for Housing having across Shropshire. We have Rather than each taking a turn to and Council Tax benefits speak formally to a large room full of a meeting on 13 March for SDN people, the audience was divided opportunities for comments, ques - members to hear the latest update into four and the speakers moved tions and frank discussion. There and will continue to publish informa - from group to group. That maximised was plenty of the latter! tion on our website and newsletter.’ 2 ILF clients concerned over switch to councils Councils are to gain control of the Sue Bott, chief executive of the ‘We would be very concerned if the Independent Living Fund's budget National Centre for Independent ILF just shuts up shop and all in England after the abolition of Living, has raised concerns about current funding is distributed to the Social Care Agency in 2015 - transfer of ILF cash to councils. local authorities.’ with no guarantees that disabled clients will have their funding ‘It really makes a difference to local She fears a repeat of the closure of maintained. authority budgets how many people the original ILF in 1993. Two new with high support needs they have funds were subsequently created, The ILF provides cash payments to in their area,’ she says. ‘That can merging in 2007 into groups one almost 20,000 disabled people. Its skew budgets and it's not reflected and two. clients tend to have large weekly in the funding that goes to local care packages. authorities. ‘Money was distributed (in 1993) to compensate local authorities who A funding crisis led the ILF to close ‘People with high support needs were expected to make a contribu - to new applications in June 2010 should either continue to be funded tion, but it wasn't ring-fenced and and later that year the Department from a national pot, or the funding the vast majority did not go to for Work and Pensions said it would that goes to local authorities should disabled people,’ she said. be abolished in 2015. The DWP will reflect the real number of people in protect existing care packages until that situation. [From Community Care, 12.2012] April 2015 but not beyond. Justifying the abolition of the ILF, the ent ways by the transition. More than "We are particularly concerned that DWP said running a parallel social 80%, who became eligible after any reallocation of ILF funding to care fund to local authorities has led 1993, already receive council local authorities could lead to dis - to duplication of functions, unneces - funding as a condition of their ILF abled people not receiving the same sary bureaucracy and a lack of payments and have their needs level of support," said Neil Coyle, integration of care around the jointly reviewed. They may be director of policy at Disability Rights service user. eligible for council funding for their UK. whole care package. The DWP rejected ring-fencing the He also raised concerns about how budget, on the basis that this would However, some 3,000 ILF users the ILF budget in England would be prevent councils using their (group one) became eligible be - distributed to councils, given that resources flexibly to meet local tween 1988 and 1992 when council take-up is much higher in some needs. Councils strongly opposed funding was not a condition of sup - areas than others. ring-fencing in their responses to the port. consultation. Almost half are not recorded as By making space available for paid advertising ILF users have receiving a local authority contribu - SDN hopes to offset the costs of the printed their care needs tion to their care package. version of YourVoice, which is proving a great reviewed every two years. From The DWP says this group will find asset to readers who do not use computers. now onwards the transition to council funding these will be ‘particularly challenging’ and the This is a basic advertisement space - conducted as transition review will be ‘particularly 98mm by 66mm. It costs £10 per issue, and ‘transfer reviews’ important’. advertisers get a free design and copywriting but ILF funding will be unchanged The DWP is to produce a code of service. Their product or service will be seen until 2015. practice on how councils should both by our print and online readerships. support ILF clients during the transi - It’s a bargain! Interested? Users will be tion process. Many councils want the affected in differ - DWP to fund the reviews 3 This is an extract from an article by As I serve, he stands stock-still, hyper Annalisa D’Innella. It was 20 years alert. Not a muscle moves until that ago when she last hit a tennis ball. first, tell-tale bounce. Then he is She says that to do it again made her propelled into action, like Basil Fawlty feel superhuman... trying to swat a fly. ‘I’m at the National Tennis Centre He laughs at me too – particularly at holding a child’s short-handled tennis my girly screams as I inadvertently racket and crouching like Venus career into walls, nets and nearby Williams. Across the court my oppo - players. But we do more than just nent, Sid, is limbering up to serve. mock one another here at Soundball Panting rather too loudly in the London, which is part of a charity corner, his guide dog Dotty is in called Metro Blind Sports (they also danger of putting me off my game. do cricket, although I have yet to I’m 35 and I haven’t played tennis in discover quite how). 20 years. The reason for this is that I have retinitis pigmentosa, a degener - On the court next to us are Amanda ative eye condition that can result in and Odette. Odette is reigning extreme tunnel vision. My patch of national women’s sound ball cham - sight (four degrees) is a tiny fraction pion. She has no central vision, only of the 160-degree field enjoyed by peripheral. Amanda is totally blind on most people. Sid is completely blind. Annalisa D’Innella takes a master class in her left side. Odette hits all the balls blind tennis from blind tennis coach Odette Battarel of Metro Blind Sports at the National to Amanda’s left side. Amanda is When Lord Coe made his speech at Tennis Centre (Picture: Gretel Ensignia) hitting everything to Odette’s centre. the Paralympic closing ceremony last These ladies are fierce. Amanda and year, he said the Games had ‘lifted Odette have been playing this game the cloud of limitation’. I was so taken Playing for five years and are responsible for with this that I typed three words into bringing it to London... Google: ‘Blind sports London’. I wasn’t alone. During the 11 days of ‘Isn’t it so liberating to be able to play the Paralympics, the Parasport web - a real without your eyes?’ says Odette as site (www.parasport.org.uk)received we stop for a break. ‘Isn’t it great not 37,500 visitors, 25 times more than having to apologise for yourself the over the same period the previous blinder! whole time?’ I am too out of breath to year.

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