The medical assessors for PIP are still provided under contract with Atos in this part of the country.

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1 Sedgemoor Disability Forum Notes from the meeting held on 24 th May 2016 The Canalside, Huntworth Nr Bridgwater Arranged by Compass Disability Services Compass Disability Network Project Introductions Mandy Seaman welcomed those present and introduced the speakers for the day. Item 1: Carol Harmon Partnership Manager Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Carol updated the group on recent changes which included: Employment support Allowance (ESA) for people of working age that are sick and unfit for work. Previously called Invalidity Benefit or Incapacity Benefit. The Work Capability Assessment has to be undertaken. That was being done by Atos, whose contract has now ended. It is now Maximus, The Central Health Disability Centre, who have been doing it for 18 months. They have now caught up with reassessments, and they have started again. If individuals haven t been contacted for a while, they will be contacted in the near future for re-assessment. Once you have had that, you will probably not get another for two years. If you are in the support group of ESA, that is likely to be 3-year assessment. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) came to an end and has been replaced with Personal Independent Payment (PIP). They are now in the full rollout of switching people to that. So unless you are 65 by 8 April 2013, then you will be reassessed to PIP. Selection for re-assessment is quite random and is being managed according to the capacity of the medical assessment centres involved. DWP have centres in Taunton, Yeovil, Ilminster, Burnham and Wells and are looking at more provision in West Somerset and Frome. Those required to attend a medical assessment will attend at one of those, perhaps not the one closest to you. Some people with more complex issues might have to go further to see someone with specialist knowledge in that condition. But, if you are asked to go for medical assessment and you cannot leave the house, a home visit can be made available to you. The medical assessors for PIP are still provided under contract with Atos in this part of the country. If you haven t been contacted, and you get your letter, you MUST claim PIP or your DLA will end and you end up with nothing. 1

2 The new state pension in April this year changes were made. If you already receive the state pension you will not be affected. You continue to get the one you were getting, with an annual increase in that. You get the highest of the Retail Price Index, Consumer Price Index or 2.5%. This will stay in place until the end of this Government. If you are new to claim state pension from April this year you will get the new state pension. A fixed rate of BUT to get that sum, you have to have 35 years of contributions, instead of the old 30 years. Or you must have 10 years to get anything. Before you had to have just 1 year. The Government has decided from April this year, your contribution record will be looked at, calculated under first the new rules and then the old rules and they start with the higher figure. Carol talked through examples of when you may have a shortfall in contributions and what you may get. Many people will not have accrued enough to get the 155 and won t be able to work long enough to make up the difference. So although you will read that everyone is entitled to 155, this is not case, especially if you ve been contracted out. You can apply online on checkmystatepension and ask for a statement. Visit: Tel: (statements and enquiries) Textphone: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm Carol suggested that it is worth checking this if you are over the age of 50. Otherwise you will need to make some private provision. Pension credit this is the top-up to the state pension. This is a means-tested benefit to top-up what other income you have. Until April, there was a guaranteed amount, to bring you up to the minimum amount. And then something called savings credit, which was very complicated. It meant the Government ignored some of your private income and let you keep some as savings credit. This has now changed and there is no longer savings credit for new customers. If you already get it you will carry on, but the threshold is not to increase. So your state pension will go up by the 2.5% and your savings credit will come down. From this month DWP now use real-time information for this and will know what income is being declared to HMRC occupational pensions and wages etc. So if there is anything that doesn t match between DWP and HMRC computers, then the customer is contacted. Universal Credit Effective in Sedgemoor from 25 th May, this will affect customers of working age. Not customers of pension age at the moment. For the last year single unemployed people have had to claim Universal Credit not 2

3 unemployment benefit. From 25 th May anyone who would have claimed the six benefits of Job Seeker s Allowance; ESA; working tax credit, child tax credit, housing benefit and income support now have to claim Universal Credit. Housing benefit is currently dealt with by local authority; working tax credit and child credit dealt with by HMRC. So DWP workload will increase and they will see new customers. If you currently claim these things you are not affected, it only affects new claims from 25 th May. However, if your circumstances change for example if you currently claim as unemployed, Jobseeker s Allowance, and next week you become unfit for work, so would have changed to Employment Support Allowance. You would now move to Universal Credit. Lots of examples like this will force you to stop claiming your current benefits and claim Universal Credit. Universal Credit is digital by default, you can only claim online using the website. In training they have tried it; it takes 20 mins to half an hour for a single person to complete, longer for a couple with children. Housing Benefit won t be claimed from the local authority any more, individuals would claim Universal Credit now. Universal credit doesn t cover council tax support. So anyone claiming universal credit has to make a separate claim for council tax support if they have to pay council tax. This is a huge change for the DWP and customers. Current claimants will become affected when the government starts the migration moving people off current benefits across to Universal Credit. The understanding is that that will not start until 2018/19. Unless a change in circumstances forces you to claim that, you won t be migrated yet. Questions from the group included: Will housing benefit be paid directly to you now? Carol: Yes, it is paid monthly in arrears, so a new claim to Universal Credit means it will be six weeks before the first payment, and your housing element is included in the Universal Credit. What if you are on ESA? Carol: You will be migrated at some time in the future but for now you stay where you are. 3

4 When you migrate, everyone will be responsible to pay their own rent directly? And if you are in arrears? Carol: Yes, monthly. The first payment takes longer; you will get plenty of notice about that. You will have to attend a jobcentre interview, or you could have a home visit. They are unsure about how it will work at the moment it may be online or by telephone. People working full time but claiming top-up will not be free to come in to the office. Alternative payment arrangements can be made for vulnerable customers who cannot manage monthly payments e.g. where financial abuse has taken place, payments can be split and arrangements can be made to pay rent to the landlord if there are vulnerabilities or customers are in arrears. A discussion took place about the closure of the local tax office (HMRC). Benefits are currently paid in to a bank or post office card account. The contract with the post office was due to end it was renewed but DWP are working to get people off post office card accounts and to have their money paid to a bank account. Customers will receive a letter from the Pension Service Centre in Cosham. They will ask you to use your bank account or open an account. Nine large banks have had to make provision for basic bank accounts for those who ve had difficulties with that. So there shouldn t be problems with this. There are lots of scams going on with people ringing you about bank accounts. You will get a letter from DWP about this. But DON T give information about bank account details without checking it s really the DWP. Q: What if you have difficulties with access to internet? Carol: There is a project called Digi link that has internet access in centres in Bridgwater; (details below). Libraries and Jobcentres have computers you can use, and so do the social housing landlords. They all have support workers with computers available. Comment: Bridgwater library sometimes it s difficult to get computer access. Carol: There will be availability somewhere. If you are really stuck, go to the Jobcentre as there are computers to use there, but only for the purposes of claiming benefit. Free drop-in sessions to improve skills: Tuesdays 9.45am 11.45am Victoria Park Community Centre, Victoria Rd, Bridgwater. Wednesday s 10.30am 12.30pm Citizens Advice, Clarence House, Bridgwater. 4

5 Wednesday s 10-12pm The Skills Café, Westfield Church. Thursday s 10-12pm Hope Baptist Church, Highbridge. Friday s 10.30am pm Citizens Advice, Clarence House, Bridgwater. Q: I m 72 this and receiving DLA, should I be OK and not re-assessed? Carol: At the moment, yes, but there could be new rules in the future. Q: Does the age change for men and women re pension ages? Carol: For both men and women now it s 66, it is according to when you were born. There is a calculator on the website. Legislation is in place for ages of 66, and 67 and 68. If you were born after 6 Oct 1954, then it s definitely 66. So if you are after that - you should be able to put your date of birth in that calculator and see when it is your retirement date. Q: Do you know the date when the post office card will change? Carol: No, but everyone is being contacted. If you know its coming and you have a bank account, you can ask for that to be changed over soon. Most banks where you would go to cashpoint, you can do that in the post office as well now. Martin Giles from Sedgemoor District Council confirmed that the key thing about Universal Credit is that is only for working age claimants and new claims and if you are already on one of the benefits you will stay on it until migration occurs. From a local authority point of view there are concerns, there has been years of trials and tests but explained that the claiming process looks easier than was first thought. Q: If you go to Universal Credit and your rent is in arrears, how will that be affected? Speaker: When you make the claim, you put the details of your rent and it asks if you are in arrears. When you have the assessment, they will ask you. It might mean that DWP will pay your rent element, but because you are in arrears, the housing association may ask us to make a deduction from the Universal Credit to pay off the arrears. So you might end up a bit worse off, but it won t hold up you getting your money. Customers are supposed to provide proof of rent. If we don t have that in time, we pay their normal benefit entitlement without the housing element and when they provide the proof, we add it in and pay what they are due. Martin and Carol agreed to answer individual queries during the breaks. Citizens Advice is also available as a contact for any queries. Item 2: Nick Plumley - Strategy and Development Manager, Sedgemoor District Council Nick explained the areas of work he is currently looking at including Housing, with new builds in Burnham and West Huntspill, the first new build of council houses in the area for 30 years. 5

6 Nick showed the group a diagram (copy enclosed) showing the work that the council are prioritising ahead. The challenge is how the council can communicate this without having too many documents. They wanted to have a one-page visual summary of what the council is trying to achieve and perhaps have on display in reception or an exhibition. The document is called the Corporate Strategy. Nick gave an overview and asked for feedback from the group on first impressions, how it could be improved and how it could be made as accessible as possible. The council s core values and priorities were shown. There are three priority themes: Customers & Efficiency Growth & Infrastructure Housing, Health & Wellbeing. Nick explained that one of the key aspects of the council s strategy is that they support other agencies in working together e.g. Hinkley Point, The Police, Other Councils and agencies. The strategy refers to the growing local economy this involves providing employment opportunities for businesses to move to Sedgemoor and ensuring there is housing in the right areas for new jobs. Housing is one of the council s main priorities. Without housing to provide a stable environment, people will not get the best out of their schooling. So there are many links. A target has been set for 1000 new homes. Comments from group: Comment: Reference building new homes. How about building bungalows/flats that are ground floor? The council is thinking of families and needs to think about people who are disabled who can t get out of their 3 bedroom houses because there isn t suitable accommodation. Not just families all the time and one-parent families. Many may also need a two bedroom property if they have a carer living with them and there isn t suitable accommodation. Nick: We work closely with Homes in Sedgemoor and are on the same page in understanding the needs of our tenants. We are committed to ensuring we provide the right kind of accommodation. We are building 18 this year and 7 are one bedroomed. With Hinkley the one bedroom accommodation will become more challenging. We are ok for family housing. The housing stock is broad with lots of bungalows and flats. We are 6

7 trying to deliver the maximum we can. We insist that 15% of new developments are affordable. We are building our own council housing for the first time in 30 years and we are trying to encourage builders not to sit on land but to develop it. Comment: What about the effect on hospitals? A lot of patients can t get home as their properties are unsuitable for their needs. Nick: We need to work with the other agencies to address that and ensure homes are suitable and get the works done. Nick went on to talk about being effective to enable them to put money into services and being able to adapt. The council is changing how they generate income and aim to set up several private companies, doing work to generate income for the council to spend on public services, purchasing older people s accommodation and commercial new builds for profit. All that will be ploughed into public services, to ensure they don t have to make more cuts. The council plans to do work on dilapidated areas, play areas, public space, things people want to see in a community and continue to ensure that the good work of the Somerset Rivers authority is sustained. The back of the sheet provided more details with the aims restated and outcomes (what they want to have happened when they finish) e.g. jobs created, houses built and then a link to their equality objectives and how it will be developed. In terms of day to day council activities e.g. collecting bins, theses have not been forgotten. They are trying to create a customer charter which tries to capture the level of service they will provide to the community. They will ask if this feels about right and publish it in a charter setting out how they respond to communication etc. Nick hopes to attend in future to discuss this. The diagram was put together from consultation results, statistical analysis and the experience of elected members and senior officers at the council. Question: Where are the new houses? They are not in Burnham. Nick: The council owns quite a lot of land, amongst council-owned properties and are trying to use up patches. There are two garage sites in Burnham, Rosewood Close and Quantock Close and they are garages currently, falling down and not well used by residents. We are removing those and building homes. There is a bigger site at West Huntspill. Ringstone with an older estate there, at the back was a big grotty garage site and a not well supervised play area. We are removing that and building properties by the river. 7

8 The next project is likely to be Bridgwater. The idea is to use up all the little patches of land we own, particularly if they are grotty or subject to antisocial behaviour. Let s see what we can do to put land to good use. Question: What about where the sports field is in Berrow? I ve heard they are to build there. Nick: There are three potential ways for housing to happen; The council builds it ourselves. Registered social landlords like Knightstone or Yarlington building properties for affordable rent, similar to local authorities but larger scale. And then developments like Bovis or Taylor Wimpey, buying up land. They will wait until the prices locally are high enough for them to make best profits. The council can t do that as the housing need is now. We have to find a scheme not linked to those profitable purposes and are trying to find ways of taking it forward. Members of the groups then discussed again the needs of disabled people asked what the waiting list is now for people who need accessible accommodation or ground floor, bungalows etc. One member commented that this wasn t being addressed. Nick advised that the waiting list is big and growing and local need is rising with the council s revenue budget going down. So money has to be made through new initiatives. Whilst he couldn t give figures for allocations for disabled people, he advised that Homes in Sedgemoor carry out works on their own properties and the council has a budget for adaptations for stair lifts etc. However they are aware that the problem exists. Question: What about new schools? Nick: This is the responsibility of the County Council. Question: Please can you explain the Hinkley housing initiative? Nick: When EDF put in for the extra reactor, they had to agree a Section 106 agreement where the council demonstrate the impact of their development on the community and they have to come up with funds to address that e.g. it could be there is a need for 1500 bed spaces and they have to address that. There is one document for the ground preparation and one for the build. There are lots of initiatives involved. Some are for Sedgemoor, bringing empty properties into use, new builds, kick starting local schemes with grant funding. Also roadworks, making junctions more able to cope with Hinkley s impact. Residents close to Hinkley have had double-glazing or adaptations to mitigate the effect. Nick agreed to give the individual his contact details for more information. 8

9 Nick encouraged the group to give their feedback in small groups and ask any further questions. Item 3: Sue Butler Station Tour Guide from Hinkley Point B Sue gave an update on recent visits to Hinkley Point by a couple of members of the forum. One member took part in a tour using a manual wheelchair assisted by a local student, another trialled a listening device and toured with their hearing assistance dog. Students from Star College in Gloucester have also visited and photos were shown to the group. They have also held awareness raising days in the visitors centre in Angel Place Shopping Centre in Bridgwater such as one with the National Autistic Society as part of Autism Awareness Week. Item 4: Parking Update - Councillor Gill Slocombe - Portfolio Holder Health & Wellbeing, Tom Dougall- Transport Policy Officer, Doug Bamsey Corporate Director Councillor Slocombe introduced herself and explained her role as portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, and advised the forum of the importance of their views, she also explained that her husband is a blue badge holder and is aware of some of the difficulties he encounters. Some other local authorities now charge blue badge holders for parking and are surprised Sedgemoor has not. All council have deficit budgets and financial pressures. 5% of all car parks should have blue badge parking spaces. In Bridgwater there are 30 spaces, Burnham 24, Cheddar 6. There are 18 spaces on street in Bridgwater. Gill explained about the recent consultation that Compass were asked to undertake for the council about charging blue badge holders, and addressed some of the issues raised; 89 people responded out of 155 that were sent out. Regarding administration costs for the blue badge ( 10), comments were made regarding this. Somerset County Council receives all the administration costs from this, not the district council. Many people have said ticket machines are too high and about Taxis parking in bays. The council will look into this. 9

10 Respondents also said that Builders use disabled bays; again the council are looking into this. Many people said they would park on the street rather than pay, and most said they wouldn t do the mobile phone payments. Many people said they would not like to pay, 16 said they would, 67 said they wouldn t. Many people said it s not about the paying, but it s the providing. Important to have a safe space with space each side. That s what s important. An option has been suggested which may be a challenge to the council, that you get additional hour free on-top of the paid for time. It would be interesting to know the views of the group. The council have no plans at this time to introduce parking fees. They need to look at the full consultation views before any decisions are made and demonstrate they have looked at all areas to ensure they are spending resident s money wisely. There is a need to consider the needs of an ageing population with housing etc. Gill explained that Sedgemoor District Council are a caring council and wish to look after their residents. Gill introduced Tom Dougall from Sedgemoor District Council and encouraged the group to give their feedback. Tom explained that other councils are charging for blue badge parking, and give the concession of an additional hour free on top of the paid fee. Sedgemoor District Council hasn t charged disabled people to encourage drivers to park in car parks not on double yellow lines where blue badge holders have 3 hrs parking. Tom invited the group to give their views and share any difficulties they have with parking in Burnham, Bridgwater and Cheddar and how individuals see the future for parking for badge holders. Questions from the group included: Changes to parking outside the main postal sorting office in Bridgwater - You can no longer park outside as there is now designated residents permit parking 10

11 directly opposite meaning that you cannot park there now as you would block the road. The nearest place involves a walk and you need to be able to park outside. Tom explained that this was the responsibility of the county council to implement this. Following the meeting Tom advised that this falls under the responsibility of Councillor David Fothergill. A free hour to start with then you pay would be useful. One member said they often spend half an hour trying to find a space that they can get their wheelchair out of their car from. People don t take any notice of the sign that says access needed, so the risk is not being able to get into your car. Having been to the Taunton Deane disability forum where parking came up in a big way, the council hadn t taken some disabled drivers needs into account. People park in a disabled bay as it s a short distance from where they need to be. If you pay for parking you have to keep paying each time you transfer to another park. Some payment meters were also unsuitable for wheelchair users who can t reach and there are difficulties with putting a ticket onto your dashboard if you are in a wheelchair. The issues hadn t been considered. Councillor Slocombe commented that attending the meeting had brought some of the issues faced to her attention, such as side and back access to vehicles. More car parks would mean charges to pay for them but if what they currently have is adequate they can ensure best use. The first hour is a good idea but you have to change meters and do other things. Other authorities have just decided they want the revenue. Comment: Parking bays in Burnham are down the side streets and have been moved from the High Street. Why is that? Councillor: This is the responsibility of the County Council but contact will be made with them to look into this. Comment: If you have a ramp you can t get your wheelchair out safely onto a road or pavement and the rear exit can be blocked by other vehicles. Are there plans to cut the number of hours you can park with your badge from 3 to 2? 11

12 Councillor: We re not saying so in the future but currently it s all the same. Comment: There are relatively few spaces for disabled drivers, so how could this possibly help towards the Councils budget? Councillor: Every car park in the district has to have 5% for disabled people. Which is being met in Sedgemoor and meets national guidelines. Tom advised that the spaces in Mount St are usually full because it s near to the town centre. In other car parks, half the numbers are full. People with badges can park free in ANY space, so if they all paid, revenue would increase by 3-5%. On a 1m income each year from car parks, that s significant. Comment: Is there any way that the disabled spaces could be left for the wheelchair users and not people who are disabled but able to walk, who use the spaces. I can t use the narrower spaces and don t go out because of it. Tom Dougall: The blue badge is issued for a range of issues so there can be no distinction between those that need wheelchairs and those that don t. We can t have wheelchair user only spaces. Once the person has gone from the car and is displaying a blue badge, we don t know if they are a wheelchair user or not, so it can t be enforced. Comment: For disabled people who can use normal bays. I ve watched parking bays in the town disappear for disabled, being taken over by taxi ranks or just the disabled sections are gone; down by the library they are down the other end, the furthest away. Even in council car parks, you said we can go into ordinary bays, but not everyone can get out of the car. I have to have the door wide open to access my car. An ordinary space is not feasible. The Mount Street car park is too far from town. Dampiet Street you can never get into that one. Councillor Slocombe advised that they did an analysis last week and the only car park with blue badges spaces full was Mount St East, other places had one or two spaces most of the day that were free. Mount St East is the old Splash. Members said this was too far and discussed Dampiet Street, which was also full. There used to be lots of bays on the High Street, now there aren t so many. There is no point in having spaces at the Splash if you want the other end of town. 12

13 Councillor Slocombe recognised this and said it was good to have the feedback. Comment: In the last couple of weeks, I read an article in national press regarding authorities elsewhere, because of the increasing ageing population; lots of tickets have been issued to people with dementia or bad memory. Another member added: I had such an incident in Taunton, by the time I got my wife out and ready to go, I forgot to put up the badge and got a fine. I can t see there s an easy answer but it could become a greater problem. Tom: If an enforcement officer sees a car without a badge unfortunately he doesn t know someone s forgotten. We usually waive such an offence for a first offence. It costs the council 8 for each one cancelled, so we do like people to display the badge if they are taking advantage of the free parking service. Mandy commented that several people have spoken about the idea of having a transferrable ticket due to distance you have to move around when you are shopping. The representatives agreed to keep the group informed of the Executives Decision. A member who couldn t attend asked what was happening about blue badge spaces being put near Nat West bank (Strings and Things) Bridgwater. This has been raised with Highways before and County Council Highways had agreed to look into this. Mandy to chase. Following the meeting Tom Dougall has been in touch with Somerset County Council and relevant Town Councils (Burnham/Bridgwater) to raise some of the issues. Other Issues/Future Speakers Radar keys One member said that they couldn t use their radar key when they went to Cornwall. Mandy to look into as keys should be universal. sent to Disability Rights UK (Previously Radar) and Disability Cornwall. Disability Rights UK replied to say that they were aware that the council changed it locks on the toilets that it operates. The RADAR key still fits around 9000 locks across the UK and will still work in RADAR toilets in Cornwall no operated by Cornwall Council. 13

14 Disability Cornwall advised that the council have advised them that some of the toilets will be having radar keys removed so everyone can use the toilets and not just people with radar keys, they will be locked out of season/in the evenings. Millbrook Wheelchair services Sharon Taylor Somerset Wheelchair Services Manager was unable to attend the meeting but contacted Mandy to advise that Millbrook are setting up some service user groups to obtain feedback on the service. If anyone is interested in this Mandy is happy to forward details. Highways / Police future speakers Occupational Therapy currently there is a long waiting list to access OT s weeks, can someone attend from Adult Social Care to discuss? Speakers on conditions such as Dementia when individuals with dementia go into hospital and haven t got carers to go with them what provision is there and what are the obligations of the health service/gp s. Suggestion to invite Kate Griffin from Glanville House. Advertisements - When equipment advertisements are placed in magazines such as Networker would be good to have prices shown as one member felt that individuals are charged different prices by companies when they visit according to what they think individuals can afford. Mandy suggested to contact Trading Standards if this has happened. Contact Details for Trading Standards are: Devon & Somerset Trading Standards Service County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon EX2 4QD tsadvise@devon.gov.uk Telephone: Signing café a member who has a cochlear implant went to a signing café in Weston Super Mare recently to practice their sign language. It would be good to have something like this in Bridgwater. Podiatary Service weeks wait for service, nails are cut very short to allow for length of time not ideal. Response from Somerset Partnership Podiatry service following the meeting: There is currently no waiting list for routine follow up appointments. Patients are reviewed at each appointment and the podiatrist will use their professional opinion and advise the patient when they need to be seen again. If this is 6 weeks or longer the patient is asked to telephone for their appointment giving 3 weeks notice. I am certainly not aware that any of our podiatrists are cutting nails shorter than necessary, this would only happen at the request of the patient and if was deemed to be safe practice. Dog Parks would be good to have in Sedgemoor safe/fenced areas to walk your dog where you can park and let them off. 14