Tuesday 10 December, 11.00 am to 3.00 pm 2024.
The Mount Conference Centre and via Zoom
David McDonald (Chairperson)
Caroline Wheeler
Charles Rainey
Niqi Rainey
Robert Dallas
Amanda Paul
Peter Scott
Harvey Tilley
Linda Scott
Robert White joined at PM via Zoom
Lee House
Karen Burnett via Zoom
Jackie Aitken via Zoom
Colin Dunlop
Colette Jones
Michaela Hollywood
None
David welcomed everyone to the Meeting.
Lee Informed the Members of the fire exits.
The Group approved the previous Meeting’s minutes. ILF Scotland’s Communications Team will upload to the website.
Actions from previous Meeting
1. Lee / Linda to write to all Permanent Members who have not attended sufficient Group Meetings since before Covid-19 and, in accordance with our Terms of Reference, to ask them to confirm that they no longer wish to remain with the Group. (Done)
2. David to confirm with Kieran that he has formerly stepped down as Vice Chairperson and as a Permanent Member. (Done)
3. Linda/Colin to ask an adviser/expert on Universal Credit to attend an upcoming Stakeholder Meeting. (Pending)
4. David to follow up IMNI membership. (Done)
5. Linda to email out changes to the Terms of Reference for Permanent Members to review and agree, alongside the Group name change & Election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, with their respective roles and responsibilities. (Done)
6. Lee to email out Christmas Lunch arrangements. (Done)
Caroline raised a recent review she had attended as Award Manager with reference to night hours. She is of the view that PAs should be paid a minimum of the National Minimum Wage at night. David agreed and referred to HMRC guidance regarding sleepover rates and the consideration employers should give to determining what rate to pay.
David Informed Members that he had contacted Collette, who wishes to remain on the Advisory Group, and Kieran, who has stepped down as a Permanent Member and Vice Chairperson.
David referred to the Event planned for Parliament Buildings In the first week of December and expressed regret at having had to postpone it, a result of his serious ill health over recent months giving no time to plan.
David reported on his attendance at a recent event at Belfast City Hall where he had met Mike Nesbitt, MLA, the Minister of Health, completely by chance and had taken the opportunity to ask for a meeting with him. The Minster had asked David to make a request through his Private Office.
Colin confirmed that the submission on re-opening ILF in NI is almost ready and that it needs financial scrutiny from colleagues, but the plan is that it will be submitted to the Minister prior to Christmas.
David asked Colin did he think it propitious to write to the Minister now, inviting him to meet with the Advisory Group. Colin advised this was the Group’s prerogative and pointed out that it will come to himself in the first instance for a response. The Group agreed a letter be sent.
The Group requested some advice on Universal Credit (UC). Sandra agreed to pick this up and produce a practice note for the next meeting, for the Group to consider before wider circulation to all Award Managers Charles asked that ILF add examples and an FAQ to its website.
Linda advised the Group that ILF Scotland are producing blogs, case studies and content to raise awareness of the PA role.
David stated that work is needed between now and April to secure additional funds from the Department of Health NI to enable ILF Scotland to match the Direct Payment (DP) annual rate increase and at the same time. David emphasized the importance of paying the increase from April each year to avoid delay In fulfilling Award Managers' employer responsibilities to increase wages in line with the National Minimum Wage Increase. Caroline pointed out that not everyone has sufficient funds to pay their PAs the preferred rate in advance of getting a backdated payment from ILF Scotland. All the Group agreed that ILF needs to align with the Direct Payment rate as this causes real issues for Award Managers trying to balance the books and backdating causes problems with Universal Credit in some cases.
Colin informed the Group that, In future, ILF annual increases will take place at the same time as Direct Payment annual increases, eradicating the problems described above. The Permanent Members very much welcomed this and David thanked Colin for all his work on this.
David raised the significant disparity between the hourly rate of and means of calculating Direct Payments and the Independent Living Fund and asked could they be aligned. Other Permanent Members concurred and raised concerns that they needed sufficient funds to ensure they as employers were acting legally, paying the proper wage and able to retain and recruit and that receiving a lower rate from ILF Scotland is problematic for Recipients of both trying to retain, recruit and manage at a lesser rate for ILF funded PAs.
Caroline reiterated concerns about paying lower rates at night and whether this was lawful and compliant with HMRC guidance. ILF Scotland confirmed that they are following HMRC advice and to pay everyone an hourly rate for sleepovers would require approval from the NI sponsor team (ILF Scotland don’t have the same permission in NI as they do from the Scottish Government) along with additional funding. Also, whilst there is no legal impediment to paying PAs different wages, ILF staff understand the practical difficulties this can cause Award Managers, which is why ILF assessors have always been able to match the Direct Payment rate as part of review visits. In addition, ILF Scotland confirmed that there are very few people in NI who ILF is only paying the minimum wage because annual percentage increases have been applied each year – 12%, then 4.2%, and now 9.8%, in line with the percentage increase to the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
Linda added that Colin gave approval for the 9.8% increase. However, there appear to be some discrepancies between payments being made to PAs by payroll companies and what ILF Scotland is paying. Staff have been looking into this but are now proposing to apply the 9.8% increase to all directly employed PAs but cap this at £14.10, which is the net equivalent to the current gross Direct Payment rate of £16.88. Anyone already receiving £14.10 or above would not receive an increase this financial year, ending 5th April 2025. In January 2025, ILF Scotland will go through a process of manually checking every award against the amounts made by payroll companies. Since CILNI is the largest provider, ILF Scotland has requested a meeting with them to start this process off. Linda noted that ILF Scotland does not necessarily know which payroll company Award Managers are using unless advised at review or in between reviews.
Niqi enquired about Employers' National Insurance Contributions and whether Award Managers could use accumulated funds to increase PA hourly rates, which her payroll company had advised could not be done. Linda said she was unaware of this and would have to investigate it to understand the issue better. David referenced the increase next financial year (2025/26) to employers National Insurance allowance, which is increasing from £5k to £10k, to help soften the blow to employers of the increase to contributions. Caroline shared that PA employers can claim back equipment and that HMRC have a list of what small employers can claim back through their business.
David confirmed that Kieran has stepped down as Vice Chairperson and from the NI Advisory Group.
David confirmed also that Colette has stated her desire to remain as a Permanent Member. The other Permanent Members present agreed to this and wished her a speedy recovery and return.
Lee informed the Group that Frances has not been in touch. It was agreed that Lee should contact Frances and ensure he includes her in any mail outs concerning the NI Advisory Group.
David asked Lee to clarify who receives draft minutes. Lee confirmed that he sends the draft minutes only to; Amanda, Caroline (Wheeler), Colette, David, Frances, Michaela, Niqi and Robert; together with relevant members of ILF Scotland and the NI sponsor team.
The Permanent Members present extended their congratulations to Michaela on successfully securing a prominent position with CILNI and confirmed that this was no jeopardy to her current Permanent Membership, emphasizing that she is an ILF Recipient, and that any conflict of interest can be addressed within the Group’s Terms of Reference (TOR).
Permanent Members discussed and agreed unanimously the changes to the Terms of Reference (TOR).
Lee will circulate these to the Group in advance of the next meeting.
David accepted his nomination as Chairperson and was elected unanimously.
Caroline accepted her nomination as Vice Chairperson and was elected unanimously.
Linda advised there were no new updates on policy but recommended the Group view the email, sent by Lee, regarding revisions made to Policy 41 relating to flexible funding addition.
Peter referred to the ILF Scotland Strategy which expires at the end of March 2025 and to the process of developing a new one and reported that engagement events were positive, albeit with lower numbers but with good input. Harvey detailed the feedback received from the events to date.
Can we have the Transformation Fund in NI?
Lack of, respectively Local Authority and local Trusts’, support universal across both Scotland and NI.
Can ILF re-open in NI?
Can ILF take over Direct Payment provision?
PA recruitment and increasing costs also raised.
Harvey explained that ILF Scotland staff will incorporate all feedback into a report which Linda will circulate to the Group. An in-person event is planned for Feb / March 2025. Peter suggested holding one in Scotland and one in NI.
Post meeting note – the NI event will be held on 4 March to coincide with the next NI Advisory Group Meeting. The one in Scotland is planned for 27 February.
Harvey added that the draft Strategy should be ready by the end of February and signed off for March, ready for publishing in April 2025.
Harvey concluded by confirming that ILF Scotland plans to organise a 10th birthday event in June next year, which will be a one-day event involving Advisory Group Members, of a smaller scale than previous joint stakeholder meetings, one in NI and one in Scotland.
Lee to email out all dates for 2025. Next meeting 4 March 2025.
