Summary of Progress 2023 to 2024
The Charter for Involvement was developed by the National Involvement Network, supported by ARC Scotland. The Charter establishes how disabled people who use support services want to be involved and to have a say about the services they receive, the organisations that provide their services, and their wider communities.
ILF Scotland signed up to the Charter for Involvement in 2018. We spent a considerable amount of time over several meetings with the Advisory and Stakeholder Groups to tailor the Charter Statements so that they were meaningful to our recipients, and we co-produced the Charter and Action Plan and published this in April 2021.
This report provides an update to the Board on the progress made during 2023 and 2024. We will update the Action Plan following the Board meeting and publish this on our website.
The focus of work to progress the Charter Actions during 2023 and 2024 has been in the three key areas of Self-Directed Support (SDS), Communication & Engagement and Corporate Governance.
Group members have been involved in discussions around improving information, communication, and processes at all stages of reviews. Specifically, exploring ways of ensuring that recipient choice and control continues to be central to review discussions and outcomes. Members have provided feedback on the role of the Award Manager and gaps in advice for example, employer commitment, PA recruitment and retention and the need for independent advocacy. They have provided suggestions for further staff training on specific areas integral to independent living and we are taking that on board.
Group members attended staff training, development days, engagement events and Assessors attended / were involved in Group meetings.
The Stakeholder and Advisory Group Members sponsored the Social Return on Investment (SROI) Evaluations in Northern Ireland and Scotland in 2023 to 2024 to update the financial data and the feedback from recipients interviewed as part of the previous SROI in 2019. The findings show that for every £1 of ILF, there is a social investment saving of £13. This compares to just under £11 in 2019.
Members were fully consulted in the review and publication of external communications such as the new website, revised policies, newsletters, and letters to recipients with a focus on both content and accessibility. They contributed to the review of our complaints procedure and were jointly involved in all external consultations that ILF Scotland responded to in 2023 and 2024.
Members will be involved in the co-production of the revised Customer Feedback Strategy and in PR / Marketing campaigns by sharing their stories and raising the profile of disabled people and through this, promoting independent living.
There has been attendance by the Chairs of the Stakeholder and Advisory Groups at ILF Scotland Board meetings and recently the Chairperson of the board attended an Advisory Group meeting. Board members have an open invitation to attend any of the meetings.
Members of the Scottish Government Sponsor Team have also attended both the Advisory Group meetings in Scotland and the Stakeholder Group meetings in Northern Ireland.
Key information / decisions from Board meetings and Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings are shared at Group meetings and key issues from these meetings are discussed as a standard agenda item at SMT. ILF Scotland’s Senior Management Team members meet regularly with members of the Advisory and Stakeholder Groups to discuss relevant issues and work together on finding potential solutions.
The overall aim of the Charter is to ensure that recipients have a greater say and influence in the way that services are delivered. The Scotland Advisory Group has been instrumental in advocating for the re-opening of ILF to new applicants in Scotland from April 2024. The Chairperson of the Advisory Group is a member of the Re-Opening Co-Production Working Group and members of the Advisory Group participated in the re-opening co-production engagement events held across Scotland in 2023 and 2024.
This Group met with the Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group on 28 March 2024 for a joint meeting to discuss health and social care issues affecting disabled people in both countries and the role of ILF in that. Group members agreed to meet regularly in future to discuss joint issues and influence ILF Scotland’s response to this.
Both Group members then actively participated in an event in Scottish Parliament entitled ‘The Power of Independent Living’ where disabled recipients and other group members presented on the difference that ILF made to people’s lives. The event celebrated the re-opening of ILF to up to 1,000 new disabled applicants in 2024 and 2025. The Minister from Northern Ireland delivered a video address at the event and the Stakeholder Group will continue to work with the aim of achieving a similar re-opening of ILF in Northern Ireland.
We have made significant progress against the Action Plan during 2023 and 2024. However, it is important that this improvement work is ongoing and will continue throughout 2024 and 2025. The Charter has offered us a valuable opportunity to bring recipients, via the Advisory and Stakeholder Groups, closer together and has facilitated greater collaboration in service improvement and involvement in the organisation’s strategy, planning and delivery of services. This will continue as we seek to involve members in the co-production of our next strategic plan and in the ongoing development and improvement of our services.
