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Mate Crime, Capacity and the need for a 'Vulnerable Adults Bill' - by Rod Landman
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Rod Landman (ARC Regional Officer, South West) looks at the particular 
legal challenges raised by mate crime, and argues that the need to protect people who are victims of such crime need to be balanced with their fundamental human rights in the form of new legislation.
It is now 10 years since the Serious Case Review was published into the death of Steven Hoskin in Cornwall, an event which began ARC’s investigation into ‘mate crime’ and people with learning disabilities, and the start of the Safety Net project. Steven’s death, along with a series of other horrific murders, coincided with a number of reports from ARC members concerned with service users being befriended in the community by people whose sole aim was to abuse or exploit their ‘mate’ with a learning disability.
One of the things that made ‘mate crime’ so troubling was that agencies whose duty was to protect people from abuse and exploitation seemed unable to do so in these cases. ARC members frequently expressed their frustration as their reports were passed from the Police, to Safeguarding, to Housing, and back again, without anyone appearing to be able to take action. The response often being, “Well they have mental capacity, so it’s just an unwise decision. Nothing we can do.” Read more.
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The Law Commission - Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Reform
Recommendations for reform of the MCA and DoLS come with the Law Commissions findings, proposing a new path of safeguarding referred to as Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS).
Proposals for the LPS aim to be less onerous and, whilst covering a broader section of people, promotes a two-tier approach, rather than the same approach for all as is currently assumed by the DoLS. The Law Commission also recommend a movement toward best interest assessment only being applied for the more serious cases that genuinely require it. Read more here
- 'A first skim of the Law Commission’s proposals for Liberty Protection Safeguards' - a response blog from Lucy Series, researcher at the Centre for Health and Social Care Law at Cardiff Law School. Lucy supports the move away from automatic appeals that the 'majority of people do not want', as well as more of a shift towards truly supporting people to make their own decisions and be able to follow their own 'will and preferences'. Read more here.
- Anthony Collins Solicitors share this useful ebriefing regarding The Law Commission’s above findings, setting out both the 'good news' and the 'challenges' for social care providers. Read more here.
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LGA responds to BBC Panorama home care investigation 
In light of the BBC's Panorama's investigation revealing that 95 councils have had home-care contracts handed back by private companies, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Board says:
"We have warned that the combination of the historic under-funding of adult social care, and the significant pressures of an ageing population and the National Living Wage, are pushing the care provider market to the brink of collapse.... It is so important that the Government's Green Paper on social care will see local government leaders playing a central role in finding a long-term solution that reforms and fully funds our care system." Read more here
- Andrea Sutcliffe (Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, CQC), interviewed by Panorama as part of this investigation, also states in her subsequent blog that "money is tight for local authority commissioners and providers, but there can be no excuse for cutting corners on quality. When that happens, it is the people relying upon care and support, their families and carers who suffer the consequences"
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A reminder from CQC - please remember to update your contact details 
It is important to update your provider or Registered Manager contact details with CQC if these change. You can do this either by using the Provider Portal, or if you don't have an account, you can complete this form.
To use the Provider Portal, log into your account and click 'Registration' on the top purple bar. You can then make changes to your name, email address, and any service contact details in the relevant section.
* If you are a provider with 10 or fewer locations you should have been invited to create an account. If you fit this criteria but have not been invited to create an account, please contact enquiries@cqc.org.uk or call 03000 616 161.
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 ARC Board of Trustees: ARC wishes to extend a very warm welcome to the following new members of our Board of Trustees:-
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 ARC member Heart of England Mencap have launched their very own community radio programme, 'Radio Mencap', via the internet.
Mencap's customers are presenting live for a one hour slot every Friday between 11am and 12pm.
The live show includes a mixture of music and talk. Radio Mencap will include pre-recorded interviews and features out and about at local events, as well as live studio time. Helping to run the show is Val Rainbow, Arts Coordinator for Heart of England Mencap, and somewhat of a seasoned pro. “I have done community radio in the past – but this is hugely exciting, we don’t know of anything else like it,” Val said. “We’ll be going out and recording interviews, doing a weather report, coming up with our own jingles. Our customers at Mencap Pathway are really enthusiastic – this was their idea, and this is very much their show.”
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 ARC member NCHA Care and Support pioneer
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy -
The Government are committed to Transforming Care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism who have a mental illness who display behaviour that challenges services – particularly for those who have been living in hospital for long periods of time, isolated from their friends and families.
Nottinghamshire County Council has asked ARC member NCHA to facilitate some Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training with funding from NHS England to help accelerate one person’s discharge from hospital who needed a support team with a good understanding of DBT. Further courses are planned for the coming months. Find out more here.
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 ARC England membership renewals 2017/18
We have recently issued ARC membership subscription renewals for the forthcoming year, which your organisation should now have received by email. As you will know, it has been a year of challenges for our sector and we have been working more closely with you than ever before to address these wherever we can. We would like to sincerely thank you for your ongoing support of ARC England and would welcome new organisations to join the ARC community.
If you have any questions regarding membership or renewal, or if you have not yet received your invoice, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk or on 01246 555 043
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Special Offer from Flint Bishop Solicitors LLP - 
Discount of 38% on all Employment and HR services for all ARC members!
Contact: Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk for more details
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 Vacancies: ARC England is currently looking for Assessors and Quality Assurers to become ARC Development Officers on a self-employed basis. Role requirements:
- All applicants must have TAQA, QA/IQA or equivalent with competency in Health and Social Care settings.
- Management experience in a similar environment is essential.
- Competency to assess and quality assure in areas of Dementia, End of Life, Children and Young People, and Advocacy settings is desirable
- A PTLLS or a teaching qualification is desirable.
ARC Training Services’ customers are Health and Social Care providers who want to enable their staff to be trained and assessed through a centre that can offer a specific Learning Disability focus.
For more information and how to apply see here.
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ARC Learning and Development Support Services
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 Workforce Development Fund (WDF) is a funding stream from the Department of Health, granted through Skills for Care.
ARC is a national WDF Lead Partner, disbursing funding to adult social care employers across England. We are now at the end of the 2016-17 WDF year and ARC has disbursed all of its current grant. Thank you to all the organisations which have engaged with WDF this year. Our WDF partners report that they value the funding to help fill skills gaps and to upskill their workforce.
We ask that our partner organisations retain any further claims until we contact you, when the outcome of our bid to continue in 2017-18 is known. We will also then update the WDF pages of our website accordingly.
If you would like to join the ARC partnership to access WDF in 2017-18, please email us or telephone 01246 541 671 to be added to our mailing list, and we will contact you when the outcome of our bid to continue to disburse WDF in 2017-18 is confirmed. |
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ARC Qualifications Centre -
Register your learners at 2016 prices! - a reminder from ARC England
ARC are a City & Guilds approved Centre for Health & Social Care qualifications. These include Health & Social Care Diplomas at Levels 2 – 5. We also offer Awards and Certificates in Independent Advocacy, End of Life Care, Dementia and Supporting Individuals with Learning Disabilities.
At the beginning of March 2017 City & Guilds increased some of their registration costs. Therefore ARC will be increasing our prices accordingly from 1st April 2017. Our updated price list will be available on our website at the end of March.
Any registrations received during March will be invoiced and registered at the 2016 prices - make the most of this opportunity.
See our full range of qualifications on our ARC Training website.
For more information or to ask any questions please email Margaret.Webster@arcuk.org.uk or call 01246 555 043.
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 Do you want to keep up with the latest adult social care news as it happens? |
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Reports, resources and reviews
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ASDAN's Focus courses - These comprise 12 modules that have been designed for learners aged 16+ with learning  disabilities.
The courses cover the following different area of skills development:- Communication, Independent Living, Meal Preparation and Cooking, Money, Numeracy, Computer Technology, Using Leisure Time and Using Transport. Find out more here.
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The Views of Carers of Adults on Annual Health Checks Report 
Learning Disability Carers Community have published a survey of carers views of annual health checks. The main aims of this study were to discover what factors cause the low uptake of Annual Health Checks (AHCs) by people with learning disabilities. For those who have had AHCs they explored the level of carers' satisfaction with these. This report provides data from a survey of carers. The report can be downloaded here.
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Anthony Collins Solicitors' Employment law newsletter - March 2017
This bulletin includes useful updates for your organisation as follows:
• Employment law changes 2017
• New General Data Protection Regulations
• Gender Pay Gap Reporting
• The holiday pay update
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Consultations and dates for your diary
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Health and Social Care Chief Executive’s Briefing
Date: 5 April 2017, 9am - 1pm
Venue: Anthony Collins Solicitors, 134 Edmund St, Birmingham B3 2ES
Cost: FREE
Join Anthony Collins for a session which will cover the key legal and governance issues you may face in the next 12 months. The session will cover Governance, Regulation, People, Contracts and commissioning, Procurement and Finance.
For more information and to book your place, see here.
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 Consultation from Equality and Human Rights Commission -
Housing for disabled people: have your say
A consultation seeking views from disabled people and relevant organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. The Equality and Human Rights Commission want to understand whether the availability of accessible and adaptable housing, and the support services around it, fulfils disabled people’s rights to live independently.
Find out more about the Inquiry and get involved here.
Consultation closes 18th April 2017.
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Community Care Live Manchester - 25th and 26th April 2017 - 
An opportunity to gain the latest best practice and share information with your peers at the UK's largest free to attend
social care event: Your attendance will give you access to key national bodies and thought leaders, discussions and debates to help shape the social care sector, develop your continuing professional development, and give you access to three key topic areas: children and families services, adults’ services and management. Register for your place here
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Makaton for Professionals, Thursday 15th and Friday 16th June 2017 -
We are excited to be collaborating with  Course Beetle again to offer the Makaton for Professionals workshop.
This training is recommended for participants who need a detailed knowledge about using and applying Makaton to develop the communication skills of others. The workshop is made up of 4 modules which on this course are delivered over 2 consecutive days in June 2017. *Please note, it is essential to attend both days of training in order to gain certification
Course Venue: The Studio, 7, Cannon Street, Birmingham, B2 5EP
Costs: (including lunch, workbook and pocket guide to common signs) £165
Only £150 with ARC membership or Real People subscriber discount!
For more information and to book your place please see here.
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Nominations are now open for this year’s National Learning Disabilities & Autism Awards - 14th July 2017
The Awards, which are supported by ARC, NAS, Care England and VODG, take place on 14th July at The ICC in Birmingham and nominations close on 31st May. ARC England Director, Lisa Lenton will be presenting an award again this year:
"We are delighted to support the Learning Disabilities and Autism Awards again this year, showcasing the wonderful achievements and recognising the hard work and dedication of individuals and organisations within our sector." - Lisa Lenton.
You can nominate online or by using this nomination form.
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 ARC England Membership includes free job listing on our website. To view any of our members' current vacancies, please visit our Vacancy Listing Page here |
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If you are an ARC member and would like us to advertise your job vacancies here and on our website, please email Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk
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