This document has been drawn up by local carers for the benefit of other local carers. It will always be open to change and addition as people contribute to it further from their own experience. If there is something that you think could usefully be added - no matter how large or small - do contact Mark Feeny (01924 496095 or [email protected]). The document will always be more useful if people add to it from their own experience.

The national Family Carer Support Service has recently published a guide to the Care Act 2014 and other laws that govern assessments of need. It is an easily readable guide to how to ensure that you get the right support from your Local Authority.

Following a period of consultation, in which many carers played a part, the Council has now approved a new policy on Direct Payments.

The link to the new Direct Payments policy is as follows

Prof Luke Clements has developed a problem-solving toolkit  which aims to support disabled people and their carers who are encountering difficulties with statutory agencies in respect of health, social care, and education support services. It is highly accessible, very practical, and very easy to use. It includes examples of the kind of disputes that regularly arise and some of the tactics employed by the agencies. It puts forward a wide variety of things that you can do to move things on to a resolution.

'Who will care after I'm gone?'

19 November 2015, FitzRoy, 2015

While researching a previous report, a number of parents FitzRoy spoke to were so profoundly worried about what would happen to their son or daughter when they were no longer around to look after them, that they sometimes hoped their children would die before them. This sentiment had been heard before and it seems that this isn't unusual.

This is a recent report (December 2014) published by the European Network on Independent living, with the aim of clarifying issues about independent living, and answering some of the myths that hold people back from considering it.

This guide has been produced by the Foundation for people with learning disabilities in response to what people with learning disabilities, their parents, and siblings have been asking for years : what is going to happen in the future, and how can we shape it ? The project work that led to it was originally called 'When I'm gone' , but this was changed to convey that the best solution is to plan for the future and put as much as possible in place whilst you still have energy and time.

South and West Yorkshire Foundation Trust are planning a radical transformation of their services. The poster gives details of remaining events, including a newly arranged meeting in Batley on 19th November 2014

Analysis in a new report shows that government cuts target people in poverty, disabled people and their families.  The report, written by Simon Duffy on behalf of the Campaign for a Fair Society, shows in detail how 50% of £75.2 billion in cuts fall on just two areas, benefits and local government - despite the fact that together they make up only 26.8% of cental government expenditure.  In other words, the cuts are not fair. Visit www.campaignforafairsociety.com