PPlog

I received this e mail today: Dear Mike, just as a point of clarification I would like to set the record straight in that the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation is a very long way from being part of the private sector and indeed it was unfortunate that you missed the introduction in which you would have heard that ESPO are a consortium consisting of 7 local authorities and indeed have no separate legal entity from those councils. Norfolk County Council are in fact the largest member of this consortium and they act as a virtual extension of my procurement team. In this instance the fact that they are also supporting the LINk procurement for other councils means that we can share the learning from our colleagues elsewhere and save reinventing the wheel where possible, whilst obviously Norfolk CC are doing their utmost to ensure that the solution for the Norfolk LINk is appropriate to our specific local needs. Also it is the contract notice that is going to the European Union soon ...

More temporary work opportunities We are looking for one or more people to be able to fulfil two temporary roles within NSUN. Communications Officer We are looking for someone to work two days per week for a period of 3 months to fulfil a number of communications roles. The main focus of this work will be on: Keeping our website up to date. Producing Newsletters and maintaining the associated mailing list It is possible to do this in combination with some of the other freelance opportunities that were recently advertised – but not necessary. Administrative Officer We are looking for one or more peopled to provide admin and finance support and contribute to the day-to-day running of NSUN. Again we are looking for people who are able to commit to working for 3 months and for at least 2 days per week. People who are interested in filling both posts are also welcome to apply. Both posts are being offered at £20,000 pa pro rata. It is also possible to fill these posts on a freelance bas...

I’ve just got back from the second of the only meetings preparatory to LINks organised by Norfolk County Council. To get there I had to arrive late (disabled by the early start) and run up a personal cost of 42 miles. No public transport could have got me to the venue. Hardly best practice for social inclusion or as the Norfolk LINks lead said: “a strategy essential to engaging those people hard to reach.” The meeting was aimed at covering two main topics: host procurement and interim arrangements for LINks. Overall I think the meeting was well conducted with the bulk of the time allowing the attendees to speak rather than being spoken at (although there were some essential bits for this), and requests for a real ‘bottom up’ consultation. I left with some concern that the majority of people attending were existing PPI Forum members. I suppose this is only natural as forum members are the people who are most conscious of the issues around patient and public involvement in health. How...

I have asked the Rural Health Forum to publish this: Here in Norfolk the public authorities stubbornly stick to their view of local rural communities being regarded as suburbs within a five mile radius of Norwich, Norwich being roughly in the centre of the eastern half of the county. The real position, which public authorities studiously ignore, is that some of our rural communities are as much as 42 miles from Norwich, with those on the eastern border being a mere 20. The present position is that by far the largest number of social and health services are centred in and around Norwich. There are very few health or social services sited locally, resulting in the fact of the further away people live from Norwich, the more profound the exclusion. And those difficulties of exclusion are multiplied exponentially for disabled people with sensory deficits and problems; elderly people who are housebound; people with mental disorders which have personal neglect and withdrawal, sociophobic a...

I have now asked my constituency MP to become involved in this. I mailed him (Richard Bacon Conservative MP for south Norfolk) as below, forwarding the text of my previous pplog entry. “Hello Mr Bacon. I have forwarded my mail to Keith Ashcroft, Legal Officer for the Equality and Human Rights Commission for your attention and action. Can you please pass these details on to Ivan Lewis, Minister of State for social Care and keep me advised of any responses/developments. The brief history of this is that on November 11th 2007 I made an inquiry to the on-line EHCR helpline asking the question italicised in red below amongst two others, one of those about the EHCR's intentions to use their power to prosecute public authorities in breach of the DDA as EHCR's predecessor, the Disability Rights Commission had positively declared it would do. I received no response at all. On 22nd November I posted the questions once again to the EHCR helpline, this time asking them to treat my inqui...

I’ve had this in response to my last communication: “ Dear Mr Cox   Thank you for your letter dated 23 January received by us on 30 January. I am sorry that you did not receive a response to the web enquiry you made on 11 November to the Helpline section on the Commission’s website.   The Helpline section is the appropriate place to direct your enquiries. This should enable you to talk directly to a Helpline adviser. The number is 08457 622 633. The number I gave you in my letter dated 10 January was incorrect. If you have difficulty in getting through then their address is EHRC Disability Helpline, Freepost, MIDO2164, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9BR.   Finally, I should add that the EHRC does have the power to take proceedings in respect of breaches of the general and specific equality duties and will exercise that power when it thinks fit to do so.   Best wishes,     Keith Ashcroft - Legal Officer   Equality and Human Rights Commission Fourth Floor Arndale House Arndale Centre Manches...

I have just sent this mail: Hello all (Pauline, can you please forward this mail to Abraham). This attached policy has just come to my notice (scanned front page image only): The document came to me via the mental health trust Service User Council but, 0n the surface, it looks like it has been presented to the SU Council as a fait accompli. Nowhere does it say that their Service Users had been consulted in the planning and development of the policy. There is certainly no mention of service users in the `Key Inter-Agency Personnel` list inside the document. More pertinently to us, nowhere in this document is there any reference to pan-disability or the Police, MH trust, or County Council Disability Equality Schemes, or to any consultation with pan-disability service users - particularly the Constabulary/Police Authority Disability Equality Duty Forum!! Additionally, the document, dated February 2008 and to be reviewed February 2009 makes only one brief mention of the Mental Health Act 2...