ULO's what happened?
What happened to Disability User Led Organisations?
Here’s an extract from gov.uk website it does say withdrawn but the question remains what happens to them and why?
DPULOs have an important role in:
changing perceptions
giving disabled people a stronger voice in the local community
providing peer support in areas such as social care, financial services, employment and volunteering
The programme began in England in July 2011, in Scotland and Wales in July 2012, and in Northern Ireland in June 2013. The programme ended in March 2015."
So what happened? Many still exist in one form or another most barely hanging on. The basis behind them was and is still strong. In my view the ideas and principles are still sound. Unfortunately the support just wasn't there. Many turned in to small enterprises whose main concerns tended to be the need to be sustainable rather than as practical resource for the users it needed to serve.
With all the funding cuts and a broad sweep of threats to disability benefits, it is a shame that most of these groups have lost their funding and support.
There is a deeper concern though, as we have found locally. These organisations where set up to give a voice to those people that needed it and this is one of the main reasons I got involved. In fact I was actually asked to run the group by the local authority. However it soon became abundant clearly with a lack of support not just financially but physical support that the Gov and local authorities where only interested in hearing one side of the story. They were happy to be patted on the back if it was anything else, advice, criticisms, or asking for changes they just did not want to hear or respond. As an example one of our groups was asked to consult on introduction of payment cards. The group advised in writing showing legal reasoning that payment cards where to be a choice not an automatic path as defined by the statutory guidance under the Care Act this was completely ignored and the policy written as it was the only option to be provided in the future.
It seems to me that the whole reason we were set up for was subsequently taken away when they realised we did have something to say and make a point and we did know what we were talking about. It was only a couple of years after the introduction of user led organisations that the government asked all local authorities to introduce terms in their contracts which became in essence gagging causes. This is just some of the recent reasons our group has stayed away from Local Authority funding.
Any money we have earnt via consultations or work we did was used to keep the organisation running mostly on a free or no charge basis to service users. With cuts at every level and clear indication from major disability charities about the cost of disabilities on service users and the continued increase in cuts for venerable and people with disabilities it was felt a charge for basic advise was a slap in the face from organisations whose main purpose had been to help. Spare money our user led organisation received was always ploughed in to local groups so that they could be helped in keeping running. Unfortunately even these groups are now struggling and a few have had to close locally.
It's not all bad I know of some user led organisations have done quite well, these tend to be those work more on a regional level and beyond. A number of these groups have stepped in and organised some great events bringing organisations together who support disabled people. My question to these organisations who charge for stall spaces and organising, is what or how do the local small disability organisations benefit from this? As the majority of income is returned back to the user led organisation to keep it going. It might be a nice day out and most people will have even heard of these organisations but the bottom dollar is how do the people benefit? Where’s the voice, where is the real reason why we were set up? It was never to make money or create jobs for those who could benefit from it.
Here’s an extract from gov.uk website it does say withdrawn but the question remains what happens to them and why?
DPULOs have an important role in:
changing perceptions
giving disabled people a stronger voice in the local community
providing peer support in areas such as social care, financial services, employment and volunteering
The programme began in England in July 2011, in Scotland and Wales in July 2012, and in Northern Ireland in June 2013. The programme ended in March 2015."
So what happened? Many still exist in one form or another most barely hanging on. The basis behind them was and is still strong. In my view the ideas and principles are still sound. Unfortunately the support just wasn't there. Many turned in to small enterprises whose main concerns tended to be the need to be sustainable rather than as practical resource for the users it needed to serve.
With all the funding cuts and a broad sweep of threats to disability benefits, it is a shame that most of these groups have lost their funding and support.
There is a deeper concern though, as we have found locally. These organisations where set up to give a voice to those people that needed it and this is one of the main reasons I got involved. In fact I was actually asked to run the group by the local authority. However it soon became abundant clearly with a lack of support not just financially but physical support that the Gov and local authorities where only interested in hearing one side of the story. They were happy to be patted on the back if it was anything else, advice, criticisms, or asking for changes they just did not want to hear or respond. As an example one of our groups was asked to consult on introduction of payment cards. The group advised in writing showing legal reasoning that payment cards where to be a choice not an automatic path as defined by the statutory guidance under the Care Act this was completely ignored and the policy written as it was the only option to be provided in the future.
It seems to me that the whole reason we were set up for was subsequently taken away when they realised we did have something to say and make a point and we did know what we were talking about. It was only a couple of years after the introduction of user led organisations that the government asked all local authorities to introduce terms in their contracts which became in essence gagging causes. This is just some of the recent reasons our group has stayed away from Local Authority funding.
Any money we have earnt via consultations or work we did was used to keep the organisation running mostly on a free or no charge basis to service users. With cuts at every level and clear indication from major disability charities about the cost of disabilities on service users and the continued increase in cuts for venerable and people with disabilities it was felt a charge for basic advise was a slap in the face from organisations whose main purpose had been to help. Spare money our user led organisation received was always ploughed in to local groups so that they could be helped in keeping running. Unfortunately even these groups are now struggling and a few have had to close locally.
It's not all bad I know of some user led organisations have done quite well, these tend to be those work more on a regional level and beyond. A number of these groups have stepped in and organised some great events bringing organisations together who support disabled people. My question to these organisations who charge for stall spaces and organising, is what or how do the local small disability organisations benefit from this? As the majority of income is returned back to the user led organisation to keep it going. It might be a nice day out and most people will have even heard of these organisations but the bottom dollar is how do the people benefit? Where’s the voice, where is the real reason why we were set up? It was never to make money or create jobs for those who could benefit from it.
For those who still exist we must keep being the
voice of our service users, and the people we represent.
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