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28 November 2007: Trustees MeetingMinutes of the meeting of the Trustees of the Independent Living Fund (2006) held on Wednesday, 28 November 2007. The meeting commenced at 10.30 am
Present: Stephen Jack (Chairman)
In attendance: Gary Stephenson (Finance and Corporate Services Director) The Chairman welcomed Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People who attended for the first item on the agenda 1 Discussion with the Minister Strategic Budget Management The Chairman thanked the Minister and DWP officials for their involvement in securing the additional funding for 2007/08. However the decision by HMT to change the method by which ILF is funded has produced further issues as the funding suggested was based on forecasts at December 2006 where projections were considerably lower than the actual trends in 07/08. The Chairman said that Trustees had held additional meetings in September and October to consider necessary measures and that additional discussions with DWP had produced the summary of the position provided in the papers. Norman Cockett (DWP) was invited to outline the way forward.
Following the discussion at the October Trustees’ meeting it was acknowledged that the Trust Deed needed to be amended to give priority to current Users and that a steer should be provided on prioritisation of new cases with a clear framework to help Trustees make decisions. He explained that it was proposed that the existing Trust Deed priority of ‘young and in work’, would be refined as “ in work “ using the Income Support definition of work. It was then proposed to give priority to people on low incomes with an absolute priority for those receiving Income Support, Income based Job Seekers Allowance or Pension Guarantee Credit and a potential discretion for those just over the Income benefits level. He also outlined the need to agree with DWP a series of contingency measures to help Trustees control expenditure if needed. Once Trustees had advance support from the Secretary of State for the measures it was agreed that the Trustees would keep DWP informed but not need to seek further agreement when the measures were actually invoked. The Minister thanked the Trustees for inviting her to the meeting. She said that she appreciated that the sponsorship relationship between DWP and ILF was changing since the Review was published. She said that it was hoped that the change in funding mechanism would bring more certainty to ILF planning. However it was not yet possible to confirm the actual funding figures from Treasury.
The Chairman commented that in discussions on the financial position of the Trust it had been confirmed that Trustees were actual personally liable for any deficit and the extent of this liability had not been made clear when Trustees were recruited and signed their Deeds of appointment. The Minister confirmed that there is no intention to leave Trustees vulnerable if they have acted properly. The Chairman said that the Trustees were unanimous that the Threshold Sum should be raised for new applications. For current users it was intended to increase the threshold sum when a change of care arrangements was requested The Minister said that she agreed to the request but would like to ensure dialogue was taking place with Local Authorities as soon as possible. The Chairman said that the Fund had been keen to communicate with local authorities but had been held back from writing which was frustrating. Yogi Amin said that Trustees were keen to carry out consultation as soon as possible because of the impacts. Norman Cockett (DWP) said that there was no obligation on the ILF to consult on the changes proposed at this stage. However, if ILF decide to consult later on longer term changes it was important that we should work together to ensure the consultation complied with the government's guidelines. The Minister confirmed that the Funds should consider writing to Local Authorities now and emphasise that current Users would not be impacted. The Chief Executive commented that raising the Threshold Sum would impact on current users and explained to the Minister how the process would work. The Chairman asked if raising the Threshold Sum would apply to Northern Ireland (NI) as they were not under the same financial pressure as the UK. The Chief Executive said if the Threshold Sum was raised there could be impacts on the rate of new applications and on increase requests as the level of ILF award was significantly less in NI. The Minister said that Norman Cockett (DWP) would discuss the proposals with colleagues in NI. The Chairman commented on prioritisation of people in work and commented that this was a very small number of Users. The Chief Executive said that the Fund did not currently collect data on Users working but in 2002 there were only approximately 100 cases. The Chairman commented that a balance was needed between prescription and discretion so that the administration was workable and that the level of appeals did not overburden the system. Yogi Amin said that there should be sufficient detail in the proposals to allow Trustees to delegate initial decision making and first level appeals. The Chief Executive said that the governance documents had to work administratively and that more factors within the priority groups may be needed to differentiate applications. The Minister commented that the Trust was set up to give scope for flexibility but it was agreed that a clear framework was needed. The Minister said that there was a desire to use the Trustees’ expertise in setting the factors to be taken into account. It was acknowledged that judgements may not be easy, but it was recognised that Trustees should be protected from accusations of making arbitrary decisions. Equally the level of prescription should not diminish the capacity of the Trustees to use their skills to make sensitive decisions.
Norman Cockett (DWP) said he hoped the ILF would be a player in the ongoing discussions on the wider social care debate. The Minister said that she hoped that the ILF could be a part of the solution to changes in social care. She said that IB pilots are in progress but results are still awaited. She said that she was happy for ILF to be involved in dialogue with DH. The ILF was a model for addressing issues of independence and choice and control for disabled people. She explained that the report of the IL Review was to be published fairly soon and she hoped ILF would be a part of the wider strategic discussion. The Minister said that different fora were available for the Trustees and Chief Executive to engage stakeholders in strategic policy discussions. Margaret McGlade said there was a need to remove the feeling of restriction so that Trustees could properly engage in the debate. Yogi Amin commented that the Trustees wanted to be more proactive than they are. The Minister said that the ILF was part of a bigger picture. There was no bar in principle to Trustees being engaged in debate although she was conscious of Trustees’ time. The Minister expressed a willingness to facilitate a meeting for Trustees with other stakeholders on developments in Social Care and Independent Living policy developments. Norman Cockett (DWP) agreed there was a need to clarify the principles of a better engagement with other stakeholders.
The Chairman commented that the Trustees wanted to fairly represent what the ILF is about and not to criticise or cause embarrassment. The Chairman thanked the Minister and said that the discussion had been very helpful as it provided a platform for the Trustees to proactively take plans forward. The Minister thanked the Trustees for inviting her to the meeting and she looked forward to the next discussion.
Trustees discussed raising the Threshold Sum and how it would affect current users. The Chief Executive said that she needed to know Trustees’ views on factors to prioritise applications and the way forward must also be able to work administratively. Trustees discussed this and agreed to hold a workshop at the December meeting to take issues forward. Outcome: Information 2 Apologies None. 2.1 Conflicts of Interest and or Loyalty on Agenda Trustees were asked if they had identified any area on the agenda where there was an actual or potential perceived conflict of interest or loyalty. All Trustees confirmed that no issues had been identified. 3 Minutes of the Last Meeting The minutes of the meeting 10 October 2007, were approved by the Trustees and signed by the Chairman at the end of the meeting. 4 Matters Arising 4.1 Review Recommendation 7 The Business and Development Director confirmed that DWP analysts had tested and agreed our data. It was noted that the Review consultants appeared to have misinterpreted the data. He said that it was agreed to publish the detail of ILF work on ethnicity analysis on our website to ensure that the correct understanding of the data was available. Outcome: Information 5 Outstanding Action Points The Chief Executive updated Trustees on the outstanding action points. It was confirmed that all 2006 Fund declarations for the Register of Interests had now been submitted and this point was now considered cleared. 6 Chairman’s Issues The Chairman said that DWP had requested some changes to the signed September 2007 minutes. This was discussed and Trustees agreed for the Chairman to re-sign the minutes with the amendments included. The Chairman said that he had started his 1:1 discussions with Trustees which he had found really helpful; it was envisaged that he would have talked to all Trustees by the end of December 2007. The Chairman said that Peter Cooke had expressed a desire to lead on strategic discussion; it was agreed Trustees would let Peter Cooke know of any topics and he would liaise with the Chief Executive to propose items for future agendas. DWP confirmed that they were still awaiting legal clarification on certain issues in relation to Trustees’ remuneration. The Chief Executive asked for completion of the forms distributed at the last meeting to assist with the process. Outcome: Information 7 Finance 7.1 Grant in Aid and Benefit Forecast
The Finance and Corporate Services Director presented the report to Trustees. With final allocations not yet notified estimates for funding from 2008 have been based on data from 6 November 2006. Northern Ireland (NI) funding for 2007/08 and indicative funding for the next three years continues to meet estimated expenditure as there has been no surge of applications in NI. The Finance and Corporate Services Director updated Trustees on the transition to the 2006 Fund. A caseload analysis had been included showing numbers of users, cases in suspension, offers outstanding, applications in progress at the point of transition to the 2006 Fund on 30 September 2007. Trustees agreed that they would like to see information on the caseload again on a comparative basis. Outcome: Information 7.2 Mid-Year Review of Administration Expenditure The Finance and Corporate Services Director presented the report showing a comparison to the revised budgets for 2007/08 agreed by Trustees. Trustees noted that annual estimate was within the revised budget. Outcome: Information 8 Performance/Strategy 8.1 Business Plan 07/08:Half year progress report The Business Development Director presented the report to Trustees showing progress made on the delivery of the Business Plan objectives established for the 07/08 year.
He said that overall good progress had been made in view of other impacts which had created significant additional work. Significant projects had also been undertaken to improve the efficiency of Operations and Ici had been a major contributor to these processes. In answer to a question from the Chairman the Business Development Director said that an analysis of efficiencies and cost /benefits from the introduction of Ici was in progress. He said that work on the Corporate Plan would be presented to Trustees in the New Year. He explained that the Trust Deed implementation, as far as the user was concerned, was considered ‘seamless’ with no particular issues arising from the transition. A Chartermark assessment was scheduled for next week to ensure that the ILF was still maintaining the standard. A verbal update would be provided at the December meeting. Outcome: Information 8.2 Update on the delivery of the User Service Strategy He said that the User Service Strategy pulls together various strands of work initially developed under the User Service Framework with new objectives planned for next year. It was initially written as a 3 year strategy to support the strategic Plan for 2006 to 2009. 8.3 Update on the delivery of the Consultation and Inclusion Strategy
The Business Development Director presented the report to Trustees. A programme of user experience surveys capturing views at key stages would begin with the introduction of the next phase of Ici in January 2008. This would complement a biennial full user survey. A senior manager has been appointed for a year to oversee this area of work and to ensure that future development was taken forward. Plans include to run regional meetings, develop closer working with organisations e.g. NCIL, ODI/DH and to find an organisation to externally quality assure the approach to consultation and inclusion. Margaret McGlade commented on the need to respond positively to the Review recommendation and endorsed the approach to an organisation to quality assure the strategy and find a suitable ‘closure’ to the Review recommendation. Outcome: Information 8.4 Update on the delivery of the Equality Action Plans The Business and Development Director presented the report to Trustees. He said that the process was underway to translate ILF literature into a range of different languages and a response was awaited from Crystal Mark for the “easy read” guide. Work was also ongoing within HR to gain the “positive about disability” accreditation for recruitment procedures. The Chairman thanked the Business Development Director for the thorough and well presented suite of papers. Outcome: Information 8.5 Strategic Performance Dashboard Apr – Sept 07 The Finance and Corporate Services Director presented the report to Trustees outlining encouraging results for the second quarter. The Trustees noted the resolution of funding for 2007/08 showed in the section on ‘Benefits vs Budget’.
Risks and Controls were under review and the results of the Trustees’ Strategic Risk Workshop would be incorporated into the dashboard. The Finance and Corporate Services Director commented on the review clearance target, as this had not been achieved. Proposals had been received from Operations to revise the target. He said that it was unlikely that the current target would be achieved but, rather than amend target, asked Trustees to accept that the target may not be achieved for this financial year. It was recognised that any arrears project to clear the work would result in a temporary dip in performance as oldest cases were cleared. The target would be reviewed for the longer term next year. Trustees agreed the Dashboard report should be made available on the website. Outcome: Decision – Target for processing of Reviews should remain unchanged for 2007/08. 8.6 Strategic Risk Register The Finance and Corporate Services presented the report to Trustees which outlined the work carried out last month at the facilitated Strategic Risk Workshop. The Finance and Corporate Services Director said that the Corporate Risk Register would still be reviewed on a quarterly basis and seen by the Audit Committee. The Chairman suggested that Trustees should concentrate on assurance on delivery of the planned actions when they undertake the 6 monthly review of the Strategic Risk Register. The Finance and Corporate Services Director suggested that an item relating to the Strategic Risk Register should be on the agenda for the month preceding formal discussions to identify if any background information/reports were needed. Outcome: Decision - Trustees agreed the Strategic Risk register as presented.
9.1 ILF Review Recommendations The Chairman said that he was conscious that this had not been addressed with the Minister and that this would need to be followed up at a future meeting. In answer to a question the Chief Executive confirmed that the recommendations shaded in amber were the ones where the way forward was unclear and that further progress was needed on the way forward. The Chief Executive said that DWP officials would be visiting the ILF this week and it was hoped that some of the recommendations would feature in discussions. The log would feature on a Trustees’ meeting agenda in early 2008. 9.2 Date of Next Meeting Date of next meeting will be Wednesday, 12 December 2007.
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