Kate is a Family and Friends member of Learning Disability England’s Representative Body, and a Family Consultant for Dimensions UK. Kate has written this Plain English blog for members, about being part of a group called ‘Using The Law’

Using the Law

The Access Social Care charity and Social Care Future are running a group called ‘Using the Law‘.

The group has been set up to “empower individuals and organisations with the necessary knowledge to navigate the legal landscape of social care.”

It is set up in such a way as to “share that knowledge as far and effectively as possible.”

Today, on the 7th February, we had the second session of the group.

The first session back in September brought the group together and checked that we all were aware of the Care Act, and how it describes what Social Services should be doing.

Today’s session went into some more detail.

What stood out to me to share, is:

· To remember that Wellbeing is the overarching principle of the Care Act. We should be expecting wellbeing to be upheld. And it’s helpful to describe what affects it.

· Some Local Authorities are not assessing and using people’s Disability Related Expenses (DRE) in a legal way.

· That the Care Act demands that Local Authorities and health providers are ‘open and transparent’.

· That car fuel, broadband, rent and electricity have been successfully claimed as Disability Related Expenses (DRE).

· That you can notify the Local Authority of your rising costs in terms of percentage (for example the cost of a load of washing has gone up by 8%) and ask them to amend your DRE accordingly.

· That there’s a brilliant Disability Related Expense resource on Inclusion London’s website here.

· And that the Access Social Care chat bot can give you free legal guidance and pro-forma letters to use (in England):

I’m really looking forward to the next session, and will share another blog to let you know what we’ve learnt!