Tuesday 3 June 2025, 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm
The Mount Conference Centre and via Zoom
David McDonald (Chairperson)
Frances McHugh via Zoom
Michaela Hollywood via Zoom
Caroline Wheeler via Zoom
Amanda Paul
Peter Scott via Zoom
Claire Henry
Harvey Tilley
Emma O’Neill
Karen Burnett via Zoom
Lee House
Sandra Sweeney
Jackie Aitken via Zoom
Brendan Burns
Colin Dunlop via Zoom at P2P
Mark Bates Insurance - Leona
Robert Dallas
Niqi Rainey
Lee Informed the Members of the fire exits and confirmed there were no fire drills planned for today.
David welcomed everyone to the Meeting and accepted apologies.
The Group approved the previous Meeting’s minutes. ILF Scotland’s Communications Team will upload to the website.
Actions from previous Meeting
1. Peter to write to the Minister of Health, inviting him to the Event (Done).
2. David contacts Danny Donnelly to check dates for the 10-year Celebration Event (Done).
3. Lee to schedule meeting to discuss 10-year Celebration Event (Done).
4. Niqi to discuss with Caroline the possibility of Incorporating ILF matters on the Direct Payments Users NI Facebook Group.
5. Communications Team to prepare Question and Answer insert for post to Direct Payments Users NI Facebook Group.
6. Peter to discuss with companies like CILNI about the possibility of cover arrangements for Award Managers if sick.
Brendan joined as a new assessor. Discussion focused on enhancing the Direct Payments Facebook user group to provide comprehensive information about Independent Living Fund (ILF) to over 7,000 members, addressing questions on funding, employment policies, and support. Linda would like to understand the content to be used and shared on the group page. The group agreed that sharing as much about what ILF Scotland does and FAQ to help support any questions. David mentioned explaining what ILF Scotland does, who receives the funding and links to the website policy page. Linda keen to avoid confusion on the page with what the Trust offers with direct payments.
Caroline and Niqi have admin rights on the Direct Payments Facebook page and plan to add ILF-related content and Q&A to support users.
Users inquire about insurance, hourly rates, holidays, maternity pay, Universal Credit, and conflicting advice from social workers.
Admins manage posts closely to maintain respectful communication and provide peer support, referring complex issues to solicitors and other organisations.
There is a need to clarify distinctions between ILF and Direct Payments to avoid confusion.
Groups like this exist but are less active in Scotland.
Action Items
ILF uplift of 9.78% is approved, pending final Scottish Government sign-off expected imminently.
Implementation anticipated by end of month, backdated to 1 April.
Delays in trust payments cause budgeting difficulties for recipients.
Uplift applies only to directly employed personal assistants, with a wage cap at £18.53 per hour; self-employed rates differ.
Memorandum of Understanding among ILF Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Scottish Governments signed, enabling progress.
Employers' Liability Insurance: Covers serious illnesses or injuries occurring because of employment, with policies typically retained for 30-40 years for such latent claims. It also includes protection for incidents caused by employer fault, for example, injuries due to unrepaired hazards.
Public Liability Insurance: Applies outside the home and employment relationship, covering damage or injury caused to third parties, for example a wheelchair accidentally damaging a public member's property.
Property and Workplace Safety: Employer's duty to maintain a safe environment. Issues with housing association properties were raised, highlighting the use of health and safety policies and documentation of efforts to secure timely repairs.
Healthcare Training and Certification: Challenges securing formal recognition or certificates from trusts for PA training were discussed. The insurance perspective requires training to be delivered by a medical or healthcare professional with documentary evidence (email or certificate) including trainer and trainee names, task details, and training date.
Insurance Coverage for Healthcare Tasks: Specific policies exist for healthcare tasks carried out by PAs, with premiums based on the number of trained healthcare PAs. Temporary or bank staff are excluded. Coverage also protects against potential harm PAs could cause to care recipients.
Delegation Panel in Trust (Northern Ireland): Established following advocacy, this panel issues certificates and monitors training, but similar consistent structures are lacking elsewhere in Northern Ireland.
Use of Private Sector Training Providers: Private providers can be accepted if trainers are appropriately qualified healthcare professionals. Virtual training is permissible if the trainer is suitably qualified, though face-to-face is preferred.
Redundancy Cover for PAs: Included in some policies but requires strict adherence to legal processes to avoid employment tribunal risks.
Temporary PA Replacement: Enquiry made about insurance coverage when substituting a PA temporarily, pending further investigation.
Action Items
Emma sent out a draft to gather feedback.
The first stage was to draft a copy then develop Charter. Working group within casework and assessors to feedback further. The last action is to format statements and gather further feedback to enable them to sign off.
Employment and Payment Challenges
Other Notes
Next Steps
Michaela Hollywood left the meeting 2.30 pm
Leona (Mark Bates Insurance) left the meeting at 2.30 pm.
Peter advised that the board need to recruitment as are two people short. They would like to recruit from Northern Ireland. This is managed by Scottish Government and not by ILF Scotland. The minister will make the final decision on this post.
The board have invited David and Jim to attend the meeting. The board have been invited the upcoming celebration events.
Agreed to carry forward to the next meeting.
Harvey advised the group that a submission has been provided with updated figures and details looking at how the Scotland re-opening has worked. A final proposal is now being worked on to submit to the minister.
Discussion focused on organizing the Life Worth Living conference celebrating 10 years of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland. The event aims to raise awareness about the social and human rights models of disability, showcase successful delivery of ILF grants, highlight their impact on disabled people and their families, and advocate reopening ILF in Northern Ireland. It is scheduled for 3 July in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings, with attendees including ILF recipients from Northern Ireland, their representatives and personal assistants (PAs), other disabled people, family carers, ministers, politicians, government colleagues, public bodies, and the Third Sector.
Key Decisions
Discussion Topics
Action Items
Tuesday 16 September 2025
