Leeds Involvement Project

Disability Reference Group

Who we are

We are a group of disabled people working together to improve health, social care and general living in Leeds. We are part of the "Modernisation Team" for Disability. The Team has representatives from different organisations - Housing, Environmental Health, Social Services, Health, Primary Care and the Voluntary Sector - and is responsible for planning, developing and reviewing services for disabled people in Leeds. We send representatives of our Group to this Team. We have been working together since December 1999.

Our role, as a Reference Group is to:

• Comment, and advise the Modernisation Team, on proposed work and ways of working;
• Monitor, evaluate and comment on work being done (or not being done) by the Team, or appropriate sub-groups;
• Bring ideas and sugestions for new areas of work to teh Modernisation Team, or appropriate sub-groups.

Any documents, which are presented to the Modernisation Team, also come to our Group.

We have put foward our ideas and views about many issues including: Community Care assessments, homecare services, gardening services, Direct Payments, training for taxi drivers, housing, community-based health service,s employment and many more...

We welcome the views of other disabled peoplein Leeds to contribute to the work we are doing.

Our meetings - when, where and what happens

Ourmeetings take place once every month at Leeds Centre for Integrated Living. The meetings are usually the second Tuesday, with a refreshment break. An agenda and any other papers are sent out in advance so that people have time to see what will be discussed.

There is always an agenda for each meeting which includes items like:

• Minutes from the last meeting and any matters arising from them;
• People giving feedback from meetings or events they have atteded on behalf of the Group;
• Looking at changes to services and giving our views to take back to the different authorities;
• Having presentations from invited speakers from agencies to talk about their work;
• Requests for representation from the Group;
• Requests to and from the Modernisation Team.

People are welcome to raise concerns about the services they receive. If someone has a problem with the service they receive as an individual, we try to refer them to a person or agency who can best advise them. Our main focus is to look at the services we receive as a whole andhow they can be improved.

Aims and Objectives of the Modernisation Team - Disability

We work for the Modernisation Team - Disability which aims:

• To work within the Social Model of Disability, remain flexible and able to respond to changes inteh national and local agenda for disabled people with physical and sensory impairments.
• To influence other agencies in order to raise the profile of the issues surrounding disabled people.
• To work to the principles for service planning and delivery identified by the disabled peoples movement.

About our funding

The Modernisation Team - Disability pays for the running costs of the Reference Group. This includes:

• Out of pocket expenses (such as travel or child care costs)
• Attendance fees for those coming to REference Group meetings
• Training or conference fees
• Costof personal assistance or other support needed at the meetings
• Paying for a taxi account
• Support received from Leeds Involvement Project

Support for the Reference Group

In addition to having funding, we receive extra support to carry out our work from the staff at Leeds Involvement Project. This includes:

• Help, advice and facilitation at our meetins
• Briefings for members attending other Groups
• Administrative suport - sending out mailings, keeping our membership list up-to-date, help producing publicity and promotion materials
• Arranging support for members to take part - booking advocates, Sign Language interpreters, personal assistants, transcriptions into Braille or on tape
• Arranging training, transport and replacement care costs
• Providing a communication link between service users and professionals.

For more information, contact Rachel Stanton.