Social services Part one: introduction

Context of the plan: legislation and policy

As well as Our Manchester, there are also many pieces of legislation and policy relating to disability, equality and improving the quality of life for disabled people in Manchester. Some of the most recent developments and changes that will underpin the plan and enable faster and wide-reaching change are identified below.

Manchester has always had a reputation for being welcoming and tolerant, and everyone who lives, works, studies in or visits the city should feel part of that. No one should feel excluded. The plan is about all the people of Manchester; it’s about what’s at the heart of the city and the people who make Manchester what it is today.

The Our Manchester Disability Plan is also written from the perspectives of the social model of disability, the 12 pillars of independent living, and The UN Convention on the Rights of the Person with Disabilities.

The social model of disability

The social model of disability says it is not people’s conditions or impairments that disable them. It is society that does not accommodate difference and creates barriers. The intention of this plan is to remove these barriers so we can have a disabled people-friendly city.

A disabled people-friendly city is a place where:

• disabled children’s and adults’ aspirations are recognised and can be realised
• all areas of the city and all parts of city life are accessible
• disabled people can be independent and equal in society, and have choice and control over their lives
• Mancunians are the city’s best assets
• everyone has the right to fulfil their own potential

We are committed to working with disabled people and partners to embed the social model of disability in the city’s services.

The 12 pillars of independent living

1. Appropriate and accessible information.
2. An adequate income.
3. Appropriate and accessible health and social care provision.
4. A fully accessible transport system.
5. Full access to the built environment.
6. Adequate provision of technical aids and equipment.
7. Availability of accessible and adapted housing.
8. Adequate provision of personal assistance.
9. Availability of inclusive education and training.
10. Equal opportunities for employment.
11. Availability of independent advocacy and self-advocacy.
12. Availability of peer support.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law. The convention has served as the major catalyst in the global movement from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection, towards viewing them as full and equal members of society, with human rights. It is also the only UN human rights instrument with an explicit sustainable development dimension. The convention was the first human rights treaty of the third millennium. 

As with the social model of disability, the UN convention is at the core of the plan and its work.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 is a major piece of legislation that brings together and strengthens the various existing pieces of anti-discrimination legislation that have been passed since the 1970s.

The act covers three areas: employment, provision of goods and services, and property. It describes ‘prohibited conduct’, which includes direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and disability discrimination, and sets out the ‘protected characteristics’ covered by the legislation – including disability. It also describes a general equality duty for public bodies to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the act
• have equality of opportunity between people who share a characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a characteristic and those who do not.

We are also required, under the Public Sector Equality Duty 2011, to publish information annually to demonstrate that it is complying with the general equality duty in all areas of its work. Information must be included on how our policies and practices affect people who share a relevant protected characteristic. You can read more about this, and the statistics relating to disability in the city, in the State of the City Communities of Interest Report 2016.

We are pleased that in 2015 we achieved the ‘Excellent’ standard in the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG), a national equalities benchmarking tool run by the Local Government Association (LGA). You can read the full report at www.manchester.gov.uk/equality.

However, this doesn’t mean that work in this area has slowed down, as we have an ethos of and commitment to continuous improvement. The EFLG final report recommends a number of areas where we can make further progress towards disability equality, and these will be incorporated into the plan.

The EFLG recommendations include:

• increasing the proportion of disabled children and adults represented at senior management level and in the apprenticeship scheme
• increasing organisational capacity to manage disability in the workplace more effectively
• increasing awareness and understanding of hidden impairments and mental ill health.

"Disabled people are invisible in the workplace."

"Develop Accessible homes so that disabled people don’t have to move, if they do, keep them in an area they know now."

The Care Act 2014

The Care Act 2014 made a number of significant changes to how local authorities assess for, commission and deliver a more holistic and personalised range of adult social care services.

The act introduces:

• a set of national eligibility criteria, which will provide a consistent way of identifying whether a person is in need of care and support from their local authority
• a wellbeing assessment, which considers how a person’s current and future needs are and may be affected by their wellbeing
• a different type of assessment, based on a more in-depth conversation with people who need care and support, to find out more about their strengths, goals and aspirations so a support network can be constructed, which ultimately should lead to a more fulfilling life
• opportunities to move, where desired, between different local authorities through a new arrangement to transfer care and support to a new authority
• the right of carers to have an assessment of their needs for the first time.

There is a much greater emphasis on wellbeing, and local authorities now have a specific duty to promote wellbeing in these specific areas:

• personal dignity, including treating people with respect
• physical and mental health, and emotional wellbeing
• protection from abuse and neglect
• control by the individual over day-to-day life, including choice and control over how their care and support is provided
• participation in work, education, training or recreation
• social and economic wellbeing
• domestic, family and personal relationships
• suitability of living accommodation
• the individual’s contribution to society.

"I’ve been able to maintain my independence at home via equipment and adaptations."

We are already using the principle of wellbeing in the Care Act 2014 to raise awareness among partner agencies and organisations of the barriers to holistic wellbeing faced by disabled adults. We have begun to work with partners to enable our social care teams to move beyond the traditional social care offer of home (domiciliary), residential or nursing care, and meet individual need in a more personalised, multi-agency, joined-up way.

The act also specifically states that health and social care must put measures and services in place to reduce, prevent or delay the need for care and support. With the right to a personal budget (a cash amount equivalent to the level of need the person has) also explicit in the act, the ability to have greater control and choice that would give access all areas should now be a realistic possibility for many disabled adults.

"Staff doing assessments for equipment and adaptations made helpful suggestions for alternative equipment because of their understanding."

Devolution

The announcement of devolution for Greater Manchester (sometimes called DevoManc) provides significant opportunities for extending the reach of the plan. Control of budgets and the power of decision-making in key areas such as health, housing, employment, education, skills, transport and planning have shifted from the government to Greater Manchester. This means key decisions on how and where money is spent will be made locally, not in London.

This plan will enable Manchester to seize opportunities created by devolution to ensure that new and existing infrastructure and services are accessible, promoting equality, wellbeing and independence.

The vehicle by which devolution in health and social care is implemented in Manchester and Greater Manchester is the 'Living Longer Living Better' programme, and every area has produced a locality plan detailing how devolution will be used to transform services.

To develop this plan, the working together for change approach (see helensandersonassociates.co.uk for more detail) was initially used at a series of public and targeted workshops. We simply asked people what they think works well and what doesn’t work well across a range of key themes:

• health and wellbeing
• staying safe
• getting off to a good start
• choice and control
• independence in your home
• community opportunities
• involvement
• advocacy.

We explain more about the conversations we had during that process in the section personally speaking, but three comments in particular stood out from consultation sessions:

"There should be nothing about us without us."

"Get disabled children and adults involved, as they have the best understanding of the situation."

"People need to think outside the box."

Next: Part two: background