Contents

Enabling Information: A report on improving access and raising standards in information services for disabled people and their carers in Scotland.

2 Local Strategy

The Working Group believes that a significant improvement in information services would be achieved if, after the reorganisation of local government, every new authority was required to develop an information and advice strategy which would take account of all the existing providers and develop and enhance provision. Local authorities should consider information provision as a service in its own right. (33)

2.1 Responsibility for strategy

Under existing legislation local authorities have a statutory duty to provide information about council services and other relevant services to disabled people. The reorganisation of local government will have the effect of bringing all council services under one roof. This fact, combined with the increasing recognition that the key to the success of community care lies in the greatest possible cooperation between service providers, makes it appropriate that the responsibility for ensuring that information and advice strategy is given a high priority should lie with the chief executives of the new authorities.

Although the responsibility for coordinating a strategic framework should lie with the chief executive, or equivalent, it is desirable that agencies in both statutory and independent sectors participate as equal partners, and that disabled people are fully involved.

2.2 Strategy Group

A strategy group should be created with coopted members from the independent sector as well as from the health field. The functions of the strategy group would include:

• the drawing up of an information and advice strategy for the local authority area;
• the identification of local areas within which local information and advice forums could be established;
• the establishment of local information and advice forums;
• the development of a common database, or other methods of sharing information resources, accessible to both statutory and voluntary sectors;
  • The problems and cost of doing this should be assessed realistically before a decision is made. Examples of good practice are Grampian Caredata and the community care database created by the Devon Disability Information and Advice Forum.
• the provision of advice and support for local forums;
• the organisation of training courses for local staff and volunteers;
• maintaining links with the proposed advisory body.

Strategy groups should be responsible for ensuring that the following are available within the authority's boundaries:

• sources of information and advice for disabled people;
  • Although the goal should be to make all sources of information and advice accessible to disabled people, there may still be a need for sources of specialist disability information. This is one of the findings of NDIP (see Part 1, section 4.3.2 above);
• a disabled living centre or similar central resource centre, which is well publicised to all service providers and information and advice agencies;
• facilities for producing information in the range of formats which are necessary, especially for brailling, taping, videotaping and sign language interpreting; and
• facilities for translation and interpreting in relevant ethnic minority languages.

2.3 Local information and advice forums

Local information and advice forums would be responsible for conducting audits of existing services, and identifying gaps and duplication. Each forum would draw up a local development plan.

The Working Group commends the document produced by the Strathclyde Poverty Officers Group of Strathclyde Regional Council in February 1990 "Towards the Development of a Strategy for Information and Advice Provision in Strathclyde". This report proposes that local advice forums should be established to review existing provision, identify local priorities and develop networks of information/advice providers. The group also commends the practice of the Glasgow East End Information and Advice Forum which has put much of this into effect.

The experience both of NDIP and of other information federations is that some pump priming finance of such developments is necessary as a short term catalyst to provide the incentive and focus for development (34). Local authorities should consider funding a development worker to initiate and establish local information and advice forums or networks, having regard to the existing situation at local level.

Local forums could provide practical support and advice about such things as drafting constitutions, establishing management committees, identifying and organising information sources, preparing grant applications, and establishing office procedures and accounting systems.

2.4 In a parallel development, HomePoint commissioned a guidance manual for developing local strategies in the housing information and advice field. This manual is being piloted in 4 areas.