The meeting happened on 29 February from 11am to 3pm.

The meeting happened in 2 ways:

• on Zoom
• at the Mount Conference Centre in Belfast

Who could not come to the meeting?

Kieran McCarthy, Vice Chairperson

• Lee to send out Policy 28 to all group members

• David to check on and forward the link to the UK Government / UN Committee Session to Robert and other Members

• David to send out his letter to Minister Swann and the Minister's Response

All these actions have been done.

David welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Lee said where the fire exits are.

Everyone agreed the Minutes from the last meeting were fine.

The minutes will be put on the ILF website.

Actions from the last meeting:

There were no actions from the last meeting.

David said that Disabled People’s Organisations were going to Geneva, Switzerland for the UK Government session with the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 18 March 2024.

The Northern Ireland representatives are:

• Michael Lorimer who met with us at our last meeting
• Tony O’Reilly, who was a speaker at our joint Gathering in Stormont in 2019
• 2 other disabled people who are wheelchair users

Robert asked whether it would be available to watch online or on TV.

David will check and let Robert and the group know.

David asked that Items 7, 11, 13 and 14 be carried forward to our next meeting to allow enough time to discuss them.

All Members agreed to this.

This will happen at the next meeting.

Harvey talked about the work being done to make sure the Fund reopens in April 2024.

6 co-production events have taken place in person and online.

Information from these events will be in a report for the Minister.

There is now a Government in Northern Ireland.

When the budget is complete, a submission will go to the Minister from the Sponsor Team to re-open the Fund in Northern Ireland, hopefully in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

If approved, we would then have co-production events across Northern Ireland in the same way as Scotland.

David has sent a letter to the Minister inviting him to speak at the Joint Stakeholder Event in Edinburgh at the end of March.

David will tell the group when he gets a reply.

Some people are worried that the budget would only be enough for one year of reopening.

Harvey said that Colin Dunlop discussed this with him and does not think this will affect the reopening of the Fund.

Budgets would be reviewed every year.

Harvey said a lot of work has happened:

• the agenda has been agreed
• accommodation has been arranged for guests
• arrangements have been made about travel and food requirements
• presentations are complete
• we are waiting for some final notes from both Ministers

Harvey said the event is not a reopening launch but it is about celebrating a life with purpose.

Harvey talked about the agenda and discussed the event at Holyrood.

Harvey said the review visits have been slightly delayed across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Assessor team are working to deal with this.

At review visits, people say that recruiting personal assistants, and the cost of living are still making things difficult.

Harvey said ILF Scotland have taken on new staff.

Harvey said Policy 38 has been signed off by the Scottish and the NI Government and is on the ILF Scotland website.

Harvey talked about payment for managing awards.
ILF Scotland cannot do this on their own.

The Government have said this would cost too much.

Caroline asked if we can be paid for attending meetings.

Harvey said that ILF can cover all reasonable costs including travel, food and additional caring costs but cannot pay for attendance at a meeting.

The Government would not support this.

ILF Scotland will keep looking at how to do this and will report back when any progress is made.

This will happen at the next meeting.

No one had anything to add.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 28 May 2024.

The meeting happened on Tuesday 5 December from 11.30am to 3pm.

The meeting happened in 2 ways:

• on Zoom
• at the Mount Conference Centre in Belfast

Who could not come to the meeting?

Michaela Hollywood

• Linda to share with Bryan the AI / Uplift records of the accounts that Lothian Council for Inclusive Living manage

An uplift is an increase in the level of pay.

• Linda will email the group with the main ways that money could be saved when the fund is re-opened

• Lee will email:

- details of training of PAs to the Stakeholder Group

Insurance could be invalid if PAs are not trained properly.

- the link from the ILF Scotland website on Advanced Care Planning to the Group

Advance care planning means making decisions about the care you would want to get if you could not speak for yourself in the future.

• assessors from Northern Ireland will find recipients to be interviewed by Finbarr as part of the social return on investment evaluation work

A recipient is someone who gets ILF money.

David welcomed everyone and checked everyone was okay with the meeting sound being recorded.

Everyone agreed the Minutes from February 2022 were fine.

The Minutes will be put on the ILF website.

Actions from the last meeting:

• Colin and Linda will talk about increasing the rate of PA pay by 12 per cent before April 2023 and backdating the increase to 1 April 2022

This action has happened.

• Lee will share weblinks from Michaela to the communication team on PA support and training

There were no new things we needed to talk about.

Harvey said that because there is no Northern Ireland Assembly in place, they do not know if the fund can re-open.

Colin will work on a new proposal to be sent to the Permanent Secretary in April 2024.

David suggested that people leaving hospital and returning home should be part of the new proposal.

Harvey agreed that this will be included.

Niqi suggested that it would be a good idea to include information comparing ILF Scotland recipients to non ILF Scotland recipients for how many people had to have a hospital stay, particularly for Covid.

A recipient is someone who gets ILF money.

Linda said we could give the number of recipients who have advised ILF Scotland of hospital stays but was not sure if they will be able to mention Covid or not.

ILF Scotland will look more at this.

Linda confirmed that all uplifts have happened to the new maximum of 43 pounds a week or less.

David thanked Peter, Harvey, Linda and everyone else at ILF Scotland and Mark and Colin at the Department of Health who have worked hard on this.

Linda asked the group if they agreed with the way to uplift PA rates by 12 per cent, as agreed between the Department of Health and ILF Scotland.

Any recipient who pays their PA 14 pounds and 75 pence an hour keeps this rate.

Any recipient’s PA who is paid below the national minimum wage will be increased to 9 pounds 50 pence an hour.

These increases will happen for most recipients by the beginning of April 2023.

The increases may take a bit longer if a recipient is having a review visit or their money has been suspended.

The Group accepted the proposals and thanked everyone involved at ILF Scotland and the NI Department of Health.

It will make a big difference to hiring and keeping PAs and to all our lives.

Members asked that future increases happen in time for recipients and Award Managers to increase PA wages on 6 April.

Peter will talk to the Government about this as soon as possible.

Robert said that ILF Scotland are behind on review visits because:

• it is complicated to hire and keep PAs

• assessors are finding it difficult to have social workers at review visits

Urgent reviews will always happen first.

Robert will keep giving the Group information about this.

Harvey said we must send a proposal to the Scottish Government before ILF Scotland can plan a joint event.

David will invite the Permanent Secretary of the NI Department of Health.

A working group will start in April or May with members from Scotland and Northern Ireland to plan the event for September or October.

Linda said that ILF Scotland has added information about advanced care planning to its website.

David asked that we talk about this at the next meeting so Michaela can be there.

Peter said the Department of Health are looking at this and Colin will then give an update to the Stakeholder Group.

Emma will arrange a working group to decide what work is the most important.

Linda said that ILF Scotland are looking at what recipients said in feedback surveys and this will be linked into the Charter.

Linda said that working groups will be arranged to start in the first 3 months of 2024. ILF Scotland will publish an updated action plan in April 2024.

No one had anything to add.

Lee will check potential dates with The Mount and will send out ‘save the dates’ emails to Group members.

The meeting happened on 19 September from 11.30am to 3pm.

The meeting happened in 2 ways:

• on Zoom
• at the Mount Conference Centre in Belfast

Who could not come to the meeting?

Collette Jones
Kieran McCarthy (Vice Chairperson)
Michaela Hollywood

• Lee will use a new way to arrange future meetings and not use doodle polls

• Lee to re-send links from Michaela to Stakeholder Group about PA support and the future landing programme

• Lee to send the presentation out on PA support and training from Mervyn Bothwell (Complete)

These 3 actions have happened.

• assessors from Northern Ireland will find recipients to be interviewed by Finbarr as part of the social return on investment evaluation work

A recipient is someone who gets ILF money.

A social return on investment looks at the benefits of a project that are not just about money.

For example it could support people’s wellbeing, or help to reduce inequality.

David welcomed everyone to the meeting and said when guests would be taking part in the meeting.

Lee explained where the fire exits are.

David asked that the minutes have more detail about who is giving information and speaking at the meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved and the ILF Communications Team will put them on the website.

Actions from the last meeting:

• Colin and Linda to talk about putting the PA rate up by 12 per cent before April 2023 and backdating it to 1 April 2022.

• Lee to share links from Michaela to the communication team on PA support and future landing programme.

Both these actions have been done.

Niqi asked if the Charter for Involvement meetings were going ahead.

Linda said this is on the agenda for the meeting.

David is pleased that the Fund in Scotland will re-open in April 2024.

Colin said there is still no Minister and no Executive in the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

Colin has spoken with Jack Blaik and will finish information for the Department of Health about:

• the work being done by the Scottish Government to have the Fund re-opened
• there is likely to be pressure to re-open in Northern Ireland

Caroline said that disabled people in Northern Ireland would not get the same amount of funding as Scotland.

Robert and Niqi supported this statement and agreed with David’s suggestion of writing to the Permanent Secretary.

David said we must:

• raise the re-opening of the Fund with all the main political parties in Northern Ireland
• get re-opening included in the Programme for Government

The Group agreed that David would invite the Permanent Secretary to a meeting to discuss the re-opening of the Fund.

David talked about a report about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The report mentions the ILF and that it needs to re-open.

David will give more information about the UN Convention at the next meeting.

The UN Convention and how it links to the Fund, will be discussed later in this meeting.

David will include the UN Convention in his letter to the Permanent Secretary.

Peter said that feedback from Scottish Government showed that the main things affecting the Fund reopening included:

• ILF Scotland has a good reputation and people are confident that it can do the work

• DPOs lobbying – this means DPOs trying to get a politician to support the campaign to reopen the Fund

• demand for ILF Scotland to reopen as part of the Shadow Geneva Report

David suggested that Group members might link with members of other organisations they know.

Finbarr talked about the research so far.

The evaluation from 4 years ago will be updated to include the cost-of-living crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finbarr has had 3 interviews with recipients and has 2 more planned in the coming weeks.

So far, people have had good experiences and have coped during the Covid pandemic.

Linda asked the Stakeholder Group to get in touch with Finbarr if they want to be interviewed for the research.

Finbarr explained that themes coming through the research so far include:

• how Covid affected people’s health

• keeping PAs

• being able to work flexibly using the furlough scheme

• the good impact that ILF Scotland has

Finbarr said the report will be finished by the end of October 2023.

Linda said that funding may be suspended for different reasons and sometimes can be permanently closed.

The proposed change in policy would mean that an award would stay suspended but could be re-started if applicants are still eligible.

The policy also means that ILF Scotland can pay awards after 28 days if recipients in hospital need support from their PA or support provider, up to 6 months.

After 6 months each case will be looked at individually.

Both sponsor teams have agreed the proposals in the revised draft.

The draft is now out for consultation with the Stakeholder and Advisory Groups.

David said the policy should be clearer about who contacts ILF Scotland to advise of hospital stays.

Linda asked members to email any comments to her.

Caroline talked about self-employed PAs and private providers charging a ‘private’ rate to Recipients of £18 per hour.

Linda will talk about this with Robert White.

Niqi asked how strict ILF were at applying the Threshold Sum.

Linda said the rules had relaxed in the Covid pandemic but that assessors are now making sure that Trusts follow the rules.

Caroline talked about Direct Payments and the cost of daycare.

Colin is waiting for information about this.

He will update the Group as soon as he can.

This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

Caroline commented on the amount of time, effort, and money she spends on admin tasks about the PAs that care for Lee.

This affects the amount of time she can spend with Lee.

David introduced Jack Armstrong.

Jack is the policy and research officer for Danny Donnelly - MLA for East Antrim.

They are looking at proposals for a Private Members Bill for when there is a new Assembly in place.

They want the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be put into domestic law.

They are hoping that the new Minister will include this in the next Programme for Government.

David said:

• this must be about much more than just accessibility for disabled people

• it should also consider the right to independent living

David raised issues about:

• travel accessibility

• complex assistance

• additional funding needed for severely disabled people

Niqi said there is a great loss to society if disabled people are not included.

Caroline said that:

• the voices of disabled people and their loved ones are not being heard

• the Government does not recognise the contribution of unpaid carers and that social care would fold without this.

David reminded the Group that:

• Article 19 of the Convention must be used to push for ILF re-opening

• carers are getting older and are worried about the future care of their loved ones

Bryan asked how the bill was being promoted and if all political parties were supporting this submission.

Jack said this is part of an Alliance Manifesto and that:

• they are working on what it will say

• promotion will be important

They will use the group that Danny sits on and consultation to help with this.

Danny introduced himself and asked for feedback on what should be in his submission to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He gave the history of the Fund and noted that ILF reopening was not in the Manifesto.

David said that:

• Article 19 is very important to the ILF

• how important it is that our most severely disabled people can get out and about and be heard

Amanda spoke about how she relies on unpaid care because paid care just ‘gets her up’.

Caroline said:

• there are 3 hundred and 60 thousand unpaid carers in Northern Ireland and they need time to themselves

• ILF is empowering and gives disabled people and their families a quality of life

We must get the bill passed so that ILF is reopened and people get quick assessments.

David said this must happen in a way that protects disabled people’s rights.

Danny agreed that it is about being treated with dignity as equal citizens.

Niqi said it is about the right to be independent and have choice and control in your life.

We take that for granted but disabled people should have this too and it is so much cheaper to have people at home than in care.

Caroline said it is positive to have disabled people as part of the community.

Niqi said that all ILF funding is used to support disabled people.

Members are disappointed the joint event in October had to be rescheduled.

Linda said sorry and that:

• Harvey had sent out a letter explaining why the event was postponed

• she will set up a planning meeting soon

Liz said there are 2 assessors for Northern Ireland.

Sandra Sweeney will now be supporting in a management capacity.

Linda spoke about:

• all Trust areas are finding it difficult to get day care

• getting information for care schedules

• how difficult it is for recipients to keep PAs

Caroline said:

• PAs need £15 an hour

• it is difficult it is to get PAs trained and to keep them

• Trusts will not train one PA but employers cannot wait for group training

Mervyn shared a presentation about free learning for PAs.

He advised about access to the app and where to find more information.

Niqi asked:

• if there was a cost to register with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council

• if it would be possible to have a separate section for PAs

Mervyn said it costs £30 to register.

Mervyn said safe practice modules are being introduced next year for social care workers.

Mervyn said safe practice modules are being introduced next year for social care workers.

They must do these in the first 6 months of employment.

Some PAs may be family members.

Lee will share the presentation and video with the Stakeholder Group.

Linda said:

• Emma is off sick and the meetings would happen when she comes back, hopefully in October

We only need 1 or 2 meetings to:

• look at what work has happened

• decide the order that the work must be finished

Recipient feedback will be discussed at the meetings.

It was stopped because of Covid-19 and has not re-started.

There is a link between the Charter for Involvement and ILF Scotland’s Equalities statements, which need to be renewed in April 24.

David suggested that:

• Amanda can be a member and also represent The Omnibus Partnership

• we could invite Michael Lorimer to be an Affiliate Member

Michael is Chairperson of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism for Northern Ireland.

This is the organisation that checks how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be followed here.

David suggested that the Stakeholder Group become a Disabled Person’s Organisation (DPO).

Everyone agreed to David’s suggestions.

Frances asked for all Group members to lobby other groups as well as their MLAs.

Peter wants to think more about the Group becoming a DPO.

David asked that the Terms of Reference be checked at the next meeting.

We must look at the quorum and those members not attending.

A quorum is the smallest number of people who must be at a meeting for it to take place.

Linda will draft a letter for David to tell members they will be removed from the group if they have not attended in the last year.

People will have a chance to respond.

Everyone agreed to this.

David asked members to think about changing the name to Advisory Group, like Scotland.

This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

Bryan said his organisation is having an event at the Stormont Hotel on 7 November.

All Stakeholder Group members and ILF Scotland staff are welcome to attend.

Next meeting - Tuesday 5 December at the Mount Conference Centre where a Christmas lunch will be provided.

The meeting will also be on Zoom.

Who could not come to the meeting?

Frances McHugh

Kieran McCarthy, Vice Chairperson

Niqi Rainey   Bryan Miles

David to book a room for an event at the Northern Ireland Assembly and Harvey to check how ILF Scotland can help.

Linda to ask the Department of Health for an increase to the Independent Living funding to match the new National Minimum Wage, the minimum pay per hour most workers in the UK should be paid by law.

Linda and Lee to arrange for the Northern Ireland and the Scotland Groups to meet together.

Harvey to look at whether the Group could become a Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO).

Linda to look at whether Stakeholder Group members could become a member of IMNI – this stands for the 'Independent Mechanism for Northern Ireland', which helps promote the rights of disabled people.   Lee to check that everyone still wants to be a member of the Group.

David welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Lee said where the fire exits were.

The Group agreed on what the minutes from the last meeting said.

The ILF Scotland Communications Team will add to their website.

There was nothing else from the last meeting the Group needed to talk about..

Caroline said the Joint Event was great and Robert D said it was good to see everyone working together. Amanda enjoyed the trip and the meeting. David thanked ILF Scotland for organising the transport and somewhere to stay. He said that hiring wheelchair accessible transport in Northern Ireland was not as easy as it is in Scotland.  Harvey said that ILF Scotland were unhappy about the ramp for wheelchairs as it was dangerous and the layout of the venue for the event could have been much better.

The Scottish Government appreciated the feedback. Linda will write to Edinburgh City Council about the need for taxis that are easy for wheelchairs to get into.

Harvey said that there might be an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ILF. This could happen in July 2025 in Scotland. Linda said it might be an Independent Living Conference.

David suggested a meeting at the Northern Ireland Assembly this December.   

He said he was disappointed that none of the MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assesmbly) who are politicians in Northern Ireland could be at the Scotland event. David thinks that it should be a 2-hour event to talk about the Fund for the MLAs and that our friends and colleagues in Scotland would be welcome to share some of their experiences. Harvey said he would look at how ILF Scotland could help with Davids’s suggestion.

David wrote 2 weeks ago to Minister Robin Swann who is a member of the Northern Ireland Government. He asked him to look at the re-opening of the Independent Living Fund and said he was welcome to attend this meeting. He was not able to be here because of other work. David asked Colin Dunlop from the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to give the letter to the new Minister, Mike Nesbitt. Colin said that the re-opening of the Independent Living Fund is something the new Minister wants to look at but the cost is still an issue for the Department.

Robert told everyone that ILF Scotland still has about 80 visits to do so 2 Assessors are coming to help in August. The Assessors said that recipients are still finding it difficult to employ and  Personal Assistants. A Personal Assistant is paid to help people who need social care support to help them to live as independently as possible.

Some people’s needs do not seem to be met because of less money available from social work. The cost of living is also an issue. David asked Robert to tell the Trusts about the effect that reducing care packages will have on recipients’ mental and physical health. These reductions could mean the ILF funding would stop and that would leave recipients and their families worse off. Colin said he would ask about support for people who have had their trust packages reduced.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) went up from £10.42 to £11.44. Trusts gave the same increase to Personal Assistant rates and it has changed from £15.37 to £16.88 gross - this includes money for holiday pay, national insurance etc. The Trusts will pay this from 1 April 2024. Linda will ask the Department to agree the same level of increase for ILF recipients in Northern Ireland.

David asked ILF Scotland to work quickly on these actions. Amanda left the meeting at 1.52 pm.

David asked if the Stakeholder Group could be a Disabled People’s Organisation. Linda said that role of the Group is to work with ILF Scotland and not as a Disabled People’s Organisation. Harvey said he did not think this was needed but would ask the ILF legal team and tell the Group what they said.

David said that the IMNI (Independent Monitoring Mechanism for Northern Ireland) was set up by the United Nations to check and report on how the government is taking on board the rights of disabled people.

David said that the Stakeholder Group might want to send someone to attend the forum and feedback at the next Group meeting. They could ask questions about issues relevant to the Independent Living Fund. Linda said she would look at this before the next meeting. Harvey left the meeting 14.46.

Both these items were carried over to the next meeting.

David asked Lee to speak to HM to ask her if she still wishes to be a member and attend meetings.

Caroline, David, Robert and Linda agreed that ILF Scotland should look for some more new members for the Stakeholder Group. The Group talked about who should be in the Group and decided that the Group should be made up mostly by disabled ILF Scotland Recipients. It was agreed that the Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group should not include anyone representing an organisation. This will be talked about at the next meeting with the full Group.

David McDonald was voted in again as the Chairperson of the Group. The Vice Chairperson will be agreed at the next meeting as there was not enough people at the meeting to decide.

Linda thanked everyone for attending the joint meeting held recently. Lee will send out minutes, but the main things the joint Group members though important were:

• Raising awareness of what Independent Living is or means

• Role of Award Manager

• Co-production Working Group for the re-opening of the Independent Living Fund

• Accessibility of ILF information

• ILF Scotland Board work

• Case studies of personal Assistants

David said ILF Scotland could work on ways to promote the role of a Personal Assistant. The Group agreed that employing more people and keeping them should be the priority of the charter work.

Linda and Lee will send out information on the date of the next meeting.

The Stakeholder Group raised the following to be discussed at the future meetings.

• Personal Assistant Training

• Award Management

None

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 11:30 with 12 o’clock start until 3:00.

Linda to add information into the external newsletter about employee contributions and national insurance.

Colin and Linda to talk about raising the amount that Personal Assistants are paid per hour, by 12 per cent.

This should be done before April 2023 and backdated to 1 April 2022.

Backdated means the money should be paid from a date in the past.
This action has been done.

Lee to share weblinks from Michaela to the communication team about:

• personal assistant support
• personal assistant training

The meeting happened on Tuesday 7 March from 11.30am to 3pm.

The meeting happened in 2 ways:

• on Zoom
• at the Mount Conference Centre in Belfast

Who could not come to the meeting?

Michaela Hollywood

Peter will talk as soon as possible with the Northern Ireland Government about the increase in Personal Assistant (PA) rates happening in April 2023

Linda will email the group with the main ways that money could be saved when the fund is re-opened

Lee will email:

• details of training of PAs to the Stakeholder Group

Advance care planning means making decisions about the care you would want to get if you could not speak for yourself in the future.

David welcomed everyone and checked everyone was okay with the meeting sound being recorded.

Everyone agreed the Minutes from February 2022 were fine.
The Minutes will be put on the ILF website.

Lee will share weblinks from Michaela to the communication team on PA support and training

There were no new things we needed to talk about.

Harvey said that because there is no Northern Ireland Assembly in place, they do not know if the fund can re-open.
Colin will work on a new proposal to be sent to the Permanent Secretary in April 2024.

David suggested that people leaving hospital and returning home should be part of the new proposal.

Harvey agreed that this will be included.

Niqi suggested that it would be a good idea to include information comparing ILF Scotland recipients to non ILF Scotland recipients for how many people had to have a hospital stay, particularly for Covid.

A recipient is someone who gets ILF money.

Linda said we could give the number of recipients who have advised ILF Scotland of hospital stays but was not sure if they will be able to mention Covid or not.

ILF Scotland will look more at this.

Linda confirmed that all uplifts have happened to the new maximum of 43 pounds a week or less.

David thanked Peter, Harvey, Linda and everyone else at ILF Scotland and Mark and Colin at the Department of Health who have worked hard on this.

Linda asked the group if they agreed with the way to uplift PA rates by 12 per cent, as agreed between the Department of Health and ILF Scotland.

Any recipient who pays their PA 14 pounds and 75 pence an hour keeps this rate.

Any recipient’s PA who is paid below the national minimum wage will be increased to 9 pounds 50 pence an hour.

These increases will happen for most recipients by the beginning of April 2023.

The increases may take a bit longer if a recipient is having a review visit or their money has been suspended.

The Group accepted the proposals and thanked everyone involved at ILF Scotland and the NI Department of Health for making this possible.

It will make a big difference to hiring and keeping PAs and to all our lives.

Members asked that future increases happen in time for recipients and Award Managers to increase PA wages on 6 April.

Peter will talk to the Government about this as soon as possible.

Robert said that ILF Scotland are behind on review visits because:

• it is complicated to hire and keep PAs
• assessors are finding it difficult to have social workers at review visits

Urgent reviews will always happen first.

Robert will keep giving the Group information about this.

Linda said that ILF Scotland has added information about advanced care planning to its website.

David asked that we talk about this at the next meeting so Michaela can be there.

Peter said the Department of Health are looking at this and Colin will then give an update to the Stakeholder Group.

Emma will arrange a working group to decide what work is the most important.

Linda said that ILF Scotland are looking at what recipients said in feedback surveys and this will be linked into the Charter.

Linda said that working groups will be arranged to start in the first 3 months of 2024.

ILF Scotland will publish an updated action plan in April 2023.

No one had anything to add.

Lee will check potential dates with The Mount and will send out ‘save the dates’ emails to Group members.