Minutes from the Steering Group Meeting
19th March 2009
1. Who Attended
Paddy Burke – Co – Chair
Michael Jones – Co – Chair
Jonathan Hurley
Ian Greenwood
Stephen Smith
Sean Dempsey
Kamran Arif
Bill Heron
Derek Russell
Mark Shackleton
Ibrar Riaz
Alex Heywood
Darren Rimmer
Joanne English
Catherine Rafferty
Sharon Lees
Janet Adams
Katherine Donnelly
Helen Lomax
Helen Crabtree
Dave Spencer
Dene Donalds
Jason Rhodes
Gary Barnes
Danny Burke
Paddy Burke
Michael Jones
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2. Apologies
Shakil Ahmed
Lee Scott
Geoffrey Garlick
Suzanne Garlick
James Hughes
Hazel Arda
3. Review of Last Minutes
Ibrar read through the first 2 pages of the
minutes. Mark read through the next page and
Stephen read through the rest of the minutes.
4. Review of Regional Forum Conference
Mark said that he was unhappy that Anne
Williams was not there. Dene said that Anne
works for the Department of Health and does
not control her own diary. Her secretaries
control her diary and Anne was very unhappy
that she missed the conference. Joanne said
that if we tell Anne that we are not happy she will
make sure she comes next time.
Paddy said that the “Big Bosses” don’t like to get
challenged because it is people like us they are
scared of, because we ask the tough questions.
Jonathan said that the voting was a disgrace because
the groups got the votes instead of a vote for each
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person. Jason said that giving votes to groups was “in the interest
of fairness” because if it was done the other way the areas that
sent more people would be sure to get people from their area
voted on.
5. “No Secrets” Information
Dene said he would send an electronic copy of the “No
Secrets” information to Jason and he will e – mail or post
it to anyone who wants it.
Dene said there are two reports. One is Easy Read and
the other is the whole consultation.
6. Jobs Consultation
Dene said that Anne Williams’ office has had a
consultation on jobs. This was put together within a
week and the National Forum was not pleased by being
given such short notice. Jason put it together and 26
people attended.
Dene said that the people at the consultation said that
some people do not want to go into full time work
because it will affect their benefits. They also said it
would be a good idea to change the benefit system.
Paddy said that maybe later in the meeting we could
tell him things that the Group wanted to take to the
National Forum and put it on a poster.
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7. Valuing People Delivery Plan
Dave said that the conference was brilliant. And the
important thing is all the hard work that is done and
what comes out of it. Dave said that we could make
the Partnership Boards better by getting them to do
self assessment (judging themselves).
Jason said at the conference the same Big Issues seem to
come up year after year. Dave said that now Valuing
People are stopping asking us what the Big Issues are
and asking Partnership Boards what they are doing about
them.
Dave said that we should be checking that what the
Partnership Boards are saying is agreed by self
advocates, families and professionals. Those who are
not doing what they say will be “named and shamed”
and these records will be publicly available.
Jonathan said how do we make sure we are being represented on
the Partnership Boards. Dave said we expect the
Partnership Boards to support people to come to the
conference them we can get the views of all the
Partnership Boards all across the North West region.
Dave said that it is a law that says that the
government is giving you money to do these things
and we will be checking and you cannot opt out of it.
Dave said this has gone out to all the Directors
telling them what they have to do. Joanne said she
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had heard al the government departments were signing up to this.
Dave said by itself it is not a law but it is a bringing
together of other laws and the main thing is making
sure people with learning disabilities are included in
it especially in health.
Dene said on 23rd April we will have more
chance to talk about this. Joanne said that
Liverpool is well represented but the
Partnership Board has given them nothing.
Dave said the plan is made up of rules and laws and
when it is put together it is a “must do project”. Paddy
said good Partnership Boards talk to the bad Partnership
Boards and show them the way it should be working.
Dave said that the Regional Task Force is changing
to become The Regional Programme Board but we
need to find the right people and they will need
training.
Gary said that the Valuing People website is being redesigned and
there could be a regional page on it. Dave said that Partnership
Boards should network with each other and the group agreed.
Dave said that we will not invite the Directors of
Social Services every time, only when we need
questions answering. Dave said that if one of them
won’t come to the meeting then the Board will
come to one of their meetings because the director
will be signed up to Valuing People Now because there is no way
they cannot be.
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Helen said it is about giving self advocate organisations “more
teeth”. Dene said that we can talk about all the
things Dave has said at the meeting on the 23rd
April which will last from 10:00 - 3:00.
Dave said he will make a plan and share it with us once it has
been agreed by all the Directors of Social Services to make sure
the Partnership Boards are working.
Dates for Your Diary
Regional Task Force Pre Meetings:15/05/09
10/07/09
Regional Task Force Meetings:22/05/09
17/07/09
20/11/09
8. Any Other Business
Each of the three tables made a poster of issues for
Paddy and Michael to take to the National Forum.
Then they asked one person from each table to read
them out.
Dene said the two things the National Forum are working in is
jobs and hate crime. What are the councils doing about hate crime
and what is happening both the good and the bad because Dene
said that the North West region is very good at telling the
National Forum and Anne Williams’ office what is going on.
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So once again the three tables wrote down what they thought so
Dene could take that to the National Forum.
Helen said that Blackpool council are planning to
launch a DVD on Hate Crime on Hate Crime Week in
November. Joanne said could Derek find out and tell us
if it is local or national.
In Lancaster and Preston they are putting up more CCTV
cameras. In Toxteth there are more police on foot patrol.
There is a Hate Crime officer but nobody knows who it is.
Sean said that the Chair of the Partnership Board needs feedback
because it is very important to have a plan and pass it on to the
Regional Task Force and National Forum so they can link up
together.
Joanne said that when Dave goes round visiting all the
Partnership Boards he will make sure Salford
Partnership Board have received the information and
know how to use it.
9. Day, Date and Time of Next Meeting
There will be a Steering Group Planning
meeting held on 23rd April 2009 at the NWTDT
office in Accrington dates will be set for the rest
of the year then.
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