Overview

Day Opportunities Consultation Update - February 2020

Further to the update published in November 2019 the Council will present its report of the consultation and supporting appendices to Cabinet for decision on the Draft Strategy.  The Cabinet Meeting will take place at the Council House on Tuesday 11th February at 10:00am.

Further details can be found on the Day Opportunities Consultation 2019 website and Birmingham City Council Management System (CMIS) please see links below.

Day Opportunities Consultation Website: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/day-opportunities-consultation2019

Committee Management Information System (CMIS): Cabinet meeting 11/02/2020 (see Item Number 10)

Day Opportunities Consultation Update - November 2019

Day Opportunities Consultation Update - September 2019

The Day Opportunities Consultation is now closed. We would like to thank those who contributed and took time to attend our consultation events.  We received a great deal of feedback both from  the events and through completed questionnaires which were from a broad cross section of people and organisations across the city.  The responses were from  citizens who attend day centres, carers, service providers of day opportunities, elected members,  community groups, our partners  and Birmingham citizens, all of whom have a keen interest in day opportunities in Birmingham.   

We are now in the process of analysing all of the feedback and questionnaires received, and a report of the findings will be produced.   Our aim is to present the report to Cabinet for decision in November 2019.  If for whatever reason our timetable changes, we will share the revised timetable with you.

Frequently Asked Questions and Responses Update:

1. The consultation formally closed on Sunday 4^th August 2019.

We are continuing to update the frequently asked questions and responses section of the Day Opportunities Consultation 2019 website, this will be finalised on Friday 16^th August 2019.

2. There is still the opportunity to send in your views and comments which may be informed by the updated frequently asked questions and responses. The close date for any further views and comments is Friday 23rd August 2019.

Your views and comments can be returned in any of the following ways:

• By email: dayopportunitiesconsultation2019@birmingham.gov.uk
• By telephone:  0121 303 5012
• By minicom:  18001 0121 303 1119
• Free post envelope – should you require a free post envelope please telephone on one of the numbers listed above.
   
  Frequently asked question and responses can be found under section 3 of the Day Opportunities Consultation 2019 website https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/day-opportunities-consultation2019

If you would prefer a paper copy of the frequently asked questions and responses please call one of the telephone numbers above, alternatively ask a member of staff at the day centre who will provide you with a copy.

UPDATE - Following feedback, the Council urges you to note that:

1. There has been an amendment to the Consultation on the Draft Day Opportunities Strategy document on page number 3, text of Councillor Hamilton’s introduction.
2. We ask you to read three key background documents, alongside the draft strategy:

• Stage 1 Day Opportunities Engagement Report
• Stage 2 Co-production Final report
• NDTi Report

Introduction

A message from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health

Birmingham City Council (BCC) provides a range of day opportunities across the city. Some are provided directly by us – these are referred to as internal day services - and others are by our partners – these are referred to as external providers.  

This information booklet explains our proposals in relation to:

• Draft Day Opportunities Strategy
• Draft Day Service Model 

Through our internal and external day service we provide support to people ranging from 18 and over. We know that people who use our day centres value the service, and so do their carers. We know a high proportion of people using internal day service have been there for a long time and have been undertaking similar activities over a long period of time. Whilst that may be appropriate for some people, it may not be for others.

Birmingham City Council wants to focus on providing more opportunities that help people to build their skills and confidence to maintain their independence. This may also include connecting some people into work where appropriate, volunteering, education or using community based services and groups.  

We want people to be able to access a range of support in the community and not just in day centres, and for us to work more closely with the voluntary sector and other community providers to ensure access for all. 

We recognise that day time opportunities help people to have a fulfilling life: they provide people with the opportunity to take part in various interests and activities; make friends; develop relationships; provides valuable support to carers, so that they too can lead fulfilling lives outside their caring role.

Our aim is to ensure that people are supported to be resilient, live independently wherever possible and given the opportunity to exercise choice and control so that they can live good quality lives and enjoy good health and wellbeing.

There are also growing numbers of young adults who have disabilities or who suffer from mental illness needing care and support. We know that more people are living longer - which is a good thing. The older people get, the more complex their care and support needs become therefore we need to ensure we can continue to support people. We need to focus more on what people want to achieve (outcomes) and what they are good at (their strengths) to promote health & well-being and in line with the law (Care Act 2014). As well as providing support in exclusive buildings, we want to work towards people also accessing a variety of day opportunities in the community with support.

The proposed strategy would see us gradually move away from people exclusively attending day centres by supporting people to access a range of activities in the community.  If the draft strategy were to achieve that aim, we may need fewer day centres and, in future, it might be proposed to close some centres.  However, our proposals in this consultation are not about closing particular day centres; the proposals are about doing things differently to better meet the needs of people now and in future.

The Consultation will run from the 8^th April 2019 – 6^th July 2019 (now extended to 4^th August 2019). I would encourage you to complete the questionnaire and attend one our planned consultation meetings. Your feedback is really important to help us understand what is important to people before we make any decisions.

Thank you

Councillor Paulette Hamilton

Cabinet Member - Adults Social Care & Health

Why your views matter

Draft Day Opportunities Strategy Consultation Questionnaire

The Draft Day Opportunities strategy consultation sets out the Council’s proposals on how we would like to develop and deliver a comprehensive range of day opportunities across the city. The draft strategy includes a draft model on what the council proposes to focus on in delivering day opportunities.  The aim is to provide citizens with choices about what they want to do, and be supported to lead their lives and be as independent as possible whilst maintaining good health and wellbeing.  Where services are provided, we want them to be of a high quality.

The consultation will run from 8^th April – 6^th July 2019 (now extended to 4^th August 2019)

We want to hear what you think about our   proposals – this questionnaire includes questions about:

• Draft Day Opportunities Strategy
• Draft Service Model

The Questionnaire gives you the option to make comments and suggestions. Even if you have responded to the consultation, please take the time to look at the amended  document, and read the key background papers.  If you wish to submit a further response to the consultation, you are free to do so.

We are consulting to ensure you have your say on our proposals for day opportunities in Birmingham so that the council's decision-makers are fully informed of your views and any concerns you may have before any final decisions are made.

Consultation Meetings

We plan to hold approximately 25 Consultation meetings and have a contingency plan where we can deliver additional sessions if required within the 90 day consultation period (now extended till 4th August 2019).

Following this amendment, we have planned additional consultation events as follows:

• 9 events in our Council run Day Centres
• 1 Provider event
• 3 public events

What happens next

Even if you have responded to the consultation, please take the time to look at the amended  document, and read the key background papers.  If you wish to submit a further response to the consultation, you are free to do so.

Next steps
Thank you for giving us your views. Please now post your answers back to us using the Freepost envelope.
We will analyse the results of the consultation in July and August 2019. Following that, a report of the results will be produced. The aim is to present and publish the consultation results to Cabinet in October 2019.

For more information
If you want more information. additional questionnaires or to book in to a consultation event please contact us by:
Telephone: 0121 303 5012
If you have a speech impairment, are deaf or hard of hearing you can contact
Birmingham City Council by Next Generation Text (also known as Text Relay and TypeTalk).
Dial 18001 before the full national phone number
Minicom: 0121 303 1119
Email: dayopportunitiesconsultation2019@birmingham.gov.uk
Website: www.birmingham.gov.uk/day-opportunities-consultation2019