In 2013-14 LCiL is funded by the Office of Disability Issues (ODI) to promote and provide information and advice on Access to Work to disabled people, people with long term conditions, employers and employment support organisations, in the Lothian Region.

What is Access to Work?

Access to Work is a UK Government programme that can provide practical and financial support to disabled people and people with long term conditions to start or remain at work, and to employers so that they fulfil their responsibilities. The aim of the project is to spread the word about this.

What will LCiL project do?

Building on and developing its current relationships with disabled people, people with long term conditions and a wide variety of organisations, the project will strategically target sections of these to ensure that they are aware of the benefits and support available from access to work.

Launch event taking place on Friday 28th of June.

Click here to find out  how you can get involved with the project and much more, including event details!

At the start of the year the Self Directed Support Act gained royal assent which means it will now become law for services to offer self directed support options to disabled people and people with long term conditions. How the law will be implemented will be ruled by guidance. 

Draft guidance has now been published for public consultation. The Scottish Government would like to hear from those who receive care and support and others involved in providing it so they can make sure they include the things that are most important for disabled people and people with long term conditions.

LCiL will be announcing a date very soon on our website for a consultation event to take place in June which will give everyone the chance to find out more about the detail in the guidance and make sure you have your say in response to this importance step in making SDS as a reality

You can also choose to respond as an individual to this consultation (follow link here to the draft guidance as a PDF).

The Govan Law Centre have produced a guide for disabled people on challenging a ‘bedroom tax’ decision. If you wish to challenge a ‘bedroom tax’ decision you only have one month to do so. The month is calculated from the date the council wrote to you saying your housing benefit was going to be reduced because they believe you are ‘under-occupying’ and have a ‘spare room(s)’. You can only appeal late if you have a good reason, for example, you had been ill.
Please note this document is an illustrative guide only and is not legal advice.                   

To access as a PDF click here.  

If you are a disabled person living in Edinburgh, Midlothian or East Lothian and requrie advice and information on any disability related matter please contact our helpline on 0131 475 2370 (Mon-Thu 10am-4pm) or email: grapevine@lothiancil.org.uk
 

As of the 6^th April 2013, payroll are now operating under HMRC’s new Real Time Information system.

Payroll service users must ensure that their timesheets arrive at LCiL ON TIME for their payroll process date. If you are unsure of your payroll process date please contact the payroll team to find out. Late processing of your payroll may result in HMRC charging you a late submission fee.

It is also extremely important to let the payroll team know if you have a new employee starting and send in their P45 form from their previous employer, or have them complete a P46 form. It is also extremely important to let payroll know if an employee is leaving and if annual leave is due.

If any of your employees tell you of a change to their personal details, such as change of address, or a name change, please let the payroll team know of this change as soon as possible, AND advise your employee that they MUST contact HMRC themselves to advise of this change, they can do so by calling 0845 300 0627

If you have any questions please call 0131 475 2350 and ask for the Payroll team.
 

Health and social care services are going through an integration which will bassically mean they will have to work closer together to provide support.  It's an important time for disabled people as it will influence how, when and where services are planned, delivered and monitored.

Inclusion Scotland and Scottish Disability Equality Forum are trying to influence the joining together of health and social care in Scotland and are asking disabled people to tell us what they want from it.

Please come along to this event on the 7th of May 2013, from 10.30-3.30pm at the Norton Park Conference Centre in Edinburgh to have your say.

To register for your free place contact: Angela Marshall on 0141 221 7589 or email: angelam@inclusionscotland.org.  Deadlines for bookings are Tue 23 April. 

Lunch is included.  When booking please bring to their attention any additoanl support needs such as access, communication or dietary requirements. See the full flyer here.

Independent Living in Scotland project (ILiS) is hosting two short seminars so that disabled people can make suggestions on the future of the Independent Living Fund in Scotland.  

The UK Government plans to close the Independent Living Fund. In England, they want to give the money to local authorities to use for the care and support of disabled people. The Scottish Government will launch a formal consultation about their plans in spring 2013. 

This is your chance to influence what goes into the consultation by offering your ideas and suggestions on what should be consulted and what issues need to be taken into account.  The discussions will be led by Sally Witcher OBE, an independent Public Policy Consultant. 

Where and when?: Edinburgh – Monday 11^th February 12.00 to 15.00, Norton Park, 57 Albion Road, Edinburgh EH7 5QY

Glasgow - Monday 18th February 12.00 to 15.00, GCiL, 127-140 Brook Street, Glasgow, G40 3AP

Want to come?: Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come basis, so please apply soon. You can apply by email to admin@illis.co.uk or telephone 0141 248 1943.  Help with reasonable travel expenses is available.

The Scottish Government is directing new money to agencies helping people facing the brunt of UK benefit cuts, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced today.

In response to a substantial increase in requests for help as a result of Westminster welfare reforms, a new package of funding will support those providing front-line advice and support to people across Scotland.

This will include:

·         Immediate cash injection of £300,000 for services such as those provided by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS)

         Setting up a new £1.7 million fund providing direct support to advice services

·         A further £3.4 million to be spent over the next two years on helping organisations mitigate the impacts welfare reforms.

Changes in Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit will reduce the budgets of more than 100,000 households in Scotland – 88 per cent of them couples with children. On average these families will be £700 a year worse off.

Over 100,000 households across Scotland will also lose on average of around £600 a year as a result of the bedroom tax.

And it is estimated that around 1 million working age households in Scotland will be affected by the uprating of benefits by 1%, announced in the Autumn Statement, reducing the total income of Scottish households by around £210 million by 2014-15.

Ms Sturgeon said;

“Many people across Scotland are suffering as a direct result of UK Government benefit cuts, and many more are concerned about how they may be affected by changes yet to come into force.

“Citizen’s Advice Bureaux across the country are currently dealing with nearly 800 new issues for every working day.

“And the latest extremely worrying analysis about the families affected by benefits illustrates exactly that point.

"This reflects our serious concerns about the pace, scale and impact of Westminster’s benefits changes. It is clear that the impact of the cuts will extend across Scottish society, with vulnerable groups, women and working families all likely to suffer."

“This is putting more and more pressure on the organisations that provide crucial front line advice to those affected. These are the people, who, on a daily basis see how lives are being damaged by the fall out from the UK government’s welfare reform changes.
 

The ILF website has been updated with the Government’s response to the ILF consultation response and a summary of the collated response from users/support organisations. You can read more here, including an easy read version of the report here: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2012/future-of-ilf.shtml    

It announces that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will decide how they will continue to support ILF users, but in England it is the Local Authorities that will have the responsibility of administering the funds. This could mean that there may be a geater chance of the funding being properly ring-fenced in Scotland.

Early this year, ILF will publish a plan setting out how users will be supported over the next two years when the fund will officially close in 2015. We will keep you posted on our website.

You can read LCiL's response to the ILF consultation here (link)