I am delighted to be leading an independent review into how the mobility needs of people living in residential care are met and funded.
In the 2010 Spending Review the Government announced its intention to remove the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, soon to become Personal Independence Payment, from people living in state-funded residential care.
There has been a wide ranging debate over the impact of the removal of these payments. The purpose of this review is to hear from the widest possible range of individuals, groups and stakeholders. Together with the review’s steering group I will consider all the evidence we receive, both written submissions and that taken in oral sessions.
We will be presenting our findings to government including key recommendations on how the mobility needs of people living in residential care should be met.
The call for evidence has been issued, and I and the steering group look forward to hearing from you.
Lord Low of Dalston, CBE
Who we are
The review was set up to make recommendations on:
§ how the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance is being used by care home residents and impact of loss of benefit.
§ funding arrangements for personal mobility needs between local authorities and care home providers.
§ responsibilities of care home providers in relation to the personal mobility needs of residents.
The Low Review is being led by an independent steering group and will report on its findings by the end of October 2011.
Lord Low of Dalston, CBE
Colin Low has been a lifelong campaigner for the rights of blind and disabled people, especially in the field of education. He has been a member of the ExCo of ICEVI since 1987 and was made President in 2010. He has been President of the European Blind Union (EBU) since 2003 and is a Vice-President of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), having held the position of Chair from 2000-2009.
Having been appointed to the UK House of Lords in May 2006 for his work as Chairman of RNIB and as a long-time campaigner for disability rights, he was President of Skill (the National Bureau for Students with Disabilities), until 2011, an organisation he helped found in the 1970s. He is also President of the Disability Alliance, which works to combat poverty amongst disabled people. He has also undertaken important roles in a wide range of other organisations, including the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and the Disability Rights Commission.
Steering group
The group is made up of representative stakeholders from a range of backgrounds but with a common interest in ensuring the mobility needs of people living in residential care are appropriately met
Gary Vaux
Gary Vaux is an experienced welfare rights officer and manager, with 35 years direct local government experience, mostly spent in social services settings. He also chairs the Social Security Advisers Group at the Local Government Association (LGA), and represents the LGA and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services in policy discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions
John Adams OBE
John’s background is in adult social care provision; having worked in both the voluntary and statutory sectors. Since 2005 he has worked independently and is the General Secretary of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) an umbrella body for third sector provider organisations and until recently was also the Chief Executive of a small national charity for children with congenital hemiplegia. John is a Social Worker by training and was formerly a long-serving Director at Scope
Pauline Bardon
A forty-something mother of three from North London. Paulines daughter, Gabriella, is 18 and has Rett Syndrome. She is her full time carer. Pauline is also a Governor at a special needs school and treasurer of their PTA. Prior to becoming her daughter’s carer she worked in IT developing accounting software.
Dr. Peter Kenway
Dr. Peter Kenway is co-founder and director of the New Policy Institute, an independent think tank set up in 1996 to promote evidence-based analysis of social problems. NPI is best known for its annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Wendy Tiffin
Wendy is an active campaigner on local and national disability issues. She has campaigned locally to improve pavements for wheelchair users and through placing pressure on the local council has succeeded in getting pavements widened, the camber reduced and potholes filled in. Nationally she has been a vocal opponent to the proposed removal of mobility payments living in residential care.
Call for evidence
The review invites anyone with an interest, particularly people living in state funded residential care, care home providers and local authorities, to share their views and insights on how personal mobility needs are met for people living in residential care.
The Call for Evidence can be downloaded below. Your responses should be sent by email to info@lowreview.org.uk or by post to Leonard Cheshire Disability, 66 South Lambeth Road, London, SW8 1RL.
Call for evidence (Word document)
Call for evidence (PDF)
Call for evidence (Easy read version)
Or you can fill in your answers to call for evidence online, by follwoing the links below
Questions for Local Authorities
Or you can call 0203 242 0373 to tell us your response.
The Call for Evidence will be open until midnight on 10th October 2011. Any responses received after this time may not be considered.
Confidentiality
Submissions will be published on our website. Please inform us if you do not want your name or your submission to be made public. If you are submitting information on behalf of an organisation, please include details of the relevant person to contact should we wish to discuss issues raised in your submission.
If you would like to submit your views but are unable to meet the deadline, or if you have any questions, please email info@lowreview.org.uk
To view the easy read version of the Low Review Call For Evidence please click here:
Low Review Call For Evidence Easy Read August 2011
To view the terms of reference for the Low Review please click here: