Author: disabilitypartnershipcalderdale

Please find links below to Disabled Living’s latest Newsletter published in January 2019 and details of their Kidz to Adultz Middle event, below:

Disabled Living newsletter

Kidz to Adultz Middle

Thursday 21st March 2019
9.30am – 4.30pm

Ericsson Exhibition Hall
Ricoh Arena
Coventry
CV6 6AQ

 

120+ Exhibitors offering advice and information on:-

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet’s latest budget proposals are now available for consultation. The publication of the draft proposals mark the start of a 28 day public consultation.

The Cabinet is required to make further savings of £900,000 to achieve a balanced budget in 2019/20 on top of those which have been agreed by Council in previous years.  It is anticipated that savings of £6.7million will be required in 2020/21 and £7.6million in 2021/22.

The budget proposals are available to view here.
All responses will be considered before the final recommendations are made by Cabinet on Monday 11 February 2019.

In addition to online consultations, there will be drop-in sessions at:

Todmorden

Thursday 24 January 15.00-19.00

Todmorden Town Hall Courtroom, Bridge Street, Todmorden, OL14 5AQ

Brighouse

Monday 28 January 14.00-18.00

Brighouse Library, Halifax Rd, Brighouse HD6 2AF

Halifax

Tuesday 5 February 12.00 – 18.00

Halifax Town Hall, Crossley Street, HX1 1UJ

The future spending plans of the Government along with a comprehensive review of how councils are financed are due to be announced later this year.  This uncertainty means that this year’s Cabinet budget proposals cover only the spending and savings decisions required in 2019/20 for which funding levels are known.

A major public consultation about the future structure and management of the Council will be held later this year, which will guide future budget proposals in subsequent years once there is greater certainty about government funding levels.

To help the Council maintain essential local services, the financial plan for 2019/20 retains the 2.99% rise in Council Tax rates agreed during last year’s budget process.
The proposals address some of the services within the Council which are facing the biggest financial pressures:

• Additional Council money  has been allocated to cover rising demand and costs in Adult’s  and Children’s Social Care on top of £2.5m of extra Government funding.
• Additional provision of £500k to help with winter maintenance/gritting costs has also been made should it be required to help protect road users and maintain other services during wintry conditions.
• To reduce poverty and inequality the Cabinet is proposing to continue its commitment to pay social care providers an additional £1.3 million in 2019/20 to raise staff pay, improve training and terms and conditions.
To help fund the additional savings, the Cabinet budget report proposes that in 2019/20 the Council will:
• Operate more commercially to maximise income and resources by making the most use out of capital funding, achieving more planning fee income from increased house building, selling surplus assets, reducing the money paid to West Yorkshire Combined Authority and changing Council Tax exemptions.
• Provide services more efficiently, making greater use of technology and equipment (especially in Adults’ Social Care) and explore ways of reducing costs by delivering some activities in different ways.
• Work more efficiently at lower cost in areas providing back-office support (including reviewing staff travel arrangements) and streamlining how the Council itself operates on a democratic level.

The next Disability Partnership Calderdale Open Main Meeting will be held on Tuesday 29 January 2019 from 5.30 pm to 7.45 pm at the Kings Centre, Park Road, Halifax (Buffet refreshments will be available from 5 pm).

There will be a number of updates and presentations and including:

• A project we are launching with Phoenix Radio
• Accessible Calderdale updates
• Presentation and consultation from 3ways centre of what you feel a Accessible gym / activity program should look like.
• Reaching Communities application; Announcement.

About our Open Meetings

At our meetings, we engage with service providers and commissioners, mainly in local authority, health and transport sectors. The aim is to identify barriers faced by disabled people and improve service design and delivery so that disabled people have better access, experiences, improved wellbeing and quality of life. By involving significant numbers of disabled people, we can have a big impact on decision makers. By using this model, disabled people have a voice, are listened to, are empowered and can influence policy and service delivery.

We are the organisation set up and ready for consultation and involvement on issues that affect disabled people in Calderdale. We are respected by the local CCG, hospital trust and leading Calderdale Council officers and Councillors, Our meetings are often attended by the Cabinet member for Adults Health and Social Care and by the Director. We are the organisation set up and ready for consultation and involvement on issues that affect disabled people in Calderdale.

Venue: About the King’s Centre where we hold our open meetings

To ensure that our meetings are inclusive and accessible to all, we always use an accessible venue. The King’s Centre is spacious and very clean. It has ramped access to wide double doors (not automatic) into the large foyer area leading to the main hall. There are spacious and very clean accessible toilet and kitchen facilities. The King’s Centre is excellently managed by people who really understand what accessibility and inclusion is all about.

The Kings Church
3 Park Rd,
Halifax
HX1 2TS

Parking is available on Park Road. There are two disabled bays outside the King’s Centre. Also blue badge holders can park for unlimited time on the street. Drivers who are not blue badge holders are limited to two hours before six pm and unlimited time after six. More info on finding the King’s Centre can be found on their own website.

Accessibility At Our Open meetings

To enable everyone to be included and to be able to participate at our meetings, we have the following access arrangements:

A technician operates a PA system. This has powerful radio microphones which are handed to any person (audience or presenters) who is speaking at the meeting. This enables people to hear what is said. The system is connected to the hearing induction loop system for the benefit of people who use hearing aids. There are two large screens where slides can be projected. Two Sign Language Interpreters are present at meetings to ensure that Deaf sign language users can understand proceedings and make their contribution to discussions by the interpreter ‘voicing over’ the sign language they use. We have a ‘speech to text’ (Palantype) operater. This highly trained professional person makes sure that everything that is spoken appears as text on the screens. This assists people who are deaf but are not sign language users.
We provide a refreshment buffet because our open meetings are usually held at tea time between 5pm and 7.45pm.

We reimburse the cost our members’ car mileage, public transport and taxi fares. For many disabled people, the cost of accessible and convenient transport may be a real barrier to attending and participating in meetings. Which is why the DPC reimburse transport costs.

This Paralympic-themed exhibition in Bradford looks really interesting:

Calderdale Council have launched a new Next Chapter website, providing information on the major projects that aim to transform the area.

The Next Chapter website includes project news, project details, and information about where they’re investing.

This is what the council say about they new site:

“Our new website has been developed to showcase our projects and our brand, which focuses on regeneration and economic growth in Calderdale. The new site is a hub of up to date and exciting news for you to explore. Take a lookand let us know what you think!”

“The new website boasts a clean design and intuitive navigation to help you find your way around with ease. It is also fully responsive with mobile devices, making it easy to navigate on a wide range of web browsers and devices.”

“Going forward, we will continue to communicate regularly through our news articles and project pages. We will continue to develop and improve the website to provide you with all of the inf

For the next 12 months Healthwatch Kirklees and Calderdale are focusing on the experience of people using Adult Social Care services.

Tell them about your experience of using Adult Social Care Services in Kirklees and Calderdale?They want to hear from adults or carers who have used adult social care who can talk to them regularly, so they can get a good picture of what it is like to access these services.

If you need things like care assessments, information, home care, supported living, changes made to your home, and other things in social care, they want to hear about your experience.

They won’t ask for more than a short, regular phone call, at a time that’s best for you, or they can contact you by email or arrange a meeting if you prefer.

If you want to get involved, please contact Clare at Healthwatch Kirklees on either 01924 450379, or email clare.costello@healthwatchkirklees.co.uk

West Yorkshire Police have offered some advice on crime prevention and home security in a number of leaflets that can be downloaded;

• Crime Prevention Leaflets 1 and 2
• Crime Prevention Leaflets 3 and 4
• Crime Prevention Leaflet 5

A summary of the information is as follows;

Love your locks. You deserve the highest standard

• Are the cylinder locks on your uPVC doors up to standard?
• Do they stick out from the door handle?
• Is the door handle secure?

Sneak in burglars want what’s yours. Always lock your doors and windows

• “I’ll lock the door when I’ve finished my tea”
• “We just lock the door before we go to bed”
• “I just leave my bags and laptop by the door when I get in”

Sound familiar?

Patio doors or a shop window to your home?

• Are your patio doors a bit secluded?
• Are they as secure as they could be?
• Do you leave attractive items on view through them?

Car security

• Is your car your pride and joy?
• The biggest purchase after your house?
• Are you doing everything yo can to secure and protect it?

Burglary protection advice. Put it out of sight, locked up day & night

• “I was in a rush to get out”
• “I’ll just move the stuff when I get back in”
• “Nobody is really going to look through the window when I’m out are they?”

Here are some reminders of how to avoid common scams.

Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial details without shredding it first. – This will protect you from ID Fraud.

If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from what appears to be your bank or building society asking for your security details, never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers. Most banks will not approach their customers in this manner.

If you are concerned about the source of a banking call, hang up. Make sure if you call your bank to check it was them, before you make the call check for a dialling tone BEFORE dialling their number. The number will be on printed on your bank statements.

Check your statements carefully and report anything suspicious to the bank or credit company concerned.

Your bank will never come to your home address to collect you or to collect you bank cards. Some scammers will tell you that you have been a subjected to bank fraud and ask for your pin number. NEVER EVER give this number to anyone. Your bank will never ask customer for these details.

If you’re expecting a bank or credit card statement and it doesn’t arrive, tell your bank or Credit Card Company.

Don’t leave things like bills lying around for others to look at.

If you move house, always get Royal Mail to redirect your post.

Get regular copies of your credit report from a credit reference agency.

For further information please contact your Calderdale Crime Prevention Officers on 101.

Dialling 105 will put customers through to their local electricity network operator – the company that manages the cables, power lines and substations that deliver electricity into homes and businesses in their area.

105 is just one of the ways that customers can contact their electricity network operator. They can also contact them by phone or via their website, and most network operators are on social media too.

105 is a free service for people in England, Scotland and Wales.

Customers can call 105 no matter who they buy their electricity from.

Customers can also call 105 if they spot damage to electricity power lines and substations that could put anyone in danger. If there’s a serious immediate risk, they should call the emergency services too.

Unique Ways is a parent-carer led organisation, offering support, guidance and a range of services to families with disabled children aged 0-25. We’re based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, covering the whole of the Calderdale area and beyond.

Formerly known as Calderdale Parents and Carers, they offer support based on the social model of disability, which means they don’t restrict their services based on a medical diagnosis or specific eligibility criteria. They help families with children that have any additional needs, whether this is because of physical disabilities, learning disabilities, or ongoing health problems.

Simply put, if you feel that you need our support, then they’re there to help. They don’t insist on the “proof” of a diagnosis.

If you’d like to learn more about Unique Ways, please don’t hesitate to contact them, or take a look at their website.