After hearing concerns from many people in Harlow regarding disabilities and accessibility, we submitted an FOI to Harlow Council to ask when the last Disability Forum was, and if it would be reinstated. On the 5th November, it was. Here are our notes from that meeting.
Chaired by Dan Swords, leader of Harlow Council, alongside Justin Hopwood, Health and Wellbeing portfolio at Harlow Council. The Q&A section of the meeting is set to start at 5pm. Dan Swords needs to leave at 5pm.
Update from Dan Swords (DS)
“We had a range of problems raised at the last forum, all of which have been resolved.”
There will be open forums every six months, the Disability Action Panel has met twice: in July and directly before this meeting.
The Place Based Partnership is happening in Harlow which will see more money coming to the town via Sports England and Active Essex. The Panel discussed what that meant and accessibility. Hoping to see more opportunities for people who find it challenging to access swimming and gym memberships. Rainbow Services are in attendance at the meeting for people to feed into their research further.
Policy changes
There are about 9,000 council homes in Harlow. The council has a policy to help those in private homes to have their homes adapted based on mobility needs. This policy has been updated with the panel’s changes in mind. £950,000 a year is spent on these adaptations. Funding is subject to a council visit. The council has never been over-subscribed for it and there has been 100% success rate for applications. Have found that not enough people are aware they can access it, so have put in an ad in the last issue of Harlow Times.
On the other hand, the council policy for housing aids and adaptations in council properties was deemed not fit for purpose by the panel. It is also over-subscribed and many applications are denied. There will be a comprehensive rewrite of that policy which people will be able to feed into.
Other issues discussed by Disability Panel
Bureaucracy delays, challenges with blue badge parking. The scheme is run by Essex County Council (ECC). Harlow Council committed to lobby, as did MP Chris Vince. ECC has now committed to a change, along with assigning more staff/resources in to reduce application delays. They have committed to clearing the backlog by Christmas. Following the meeting, there will be an email which will include contact details for the team at Essex for people to contact directly.
Accessibility of the town centre, particularly the taxi rank. Thanks to this issue being raised, there is now a taxi rank back in the bus station, and the council is carrying out a review of the town centre and its accessibility in terms of taxis and blue badge parking.
Other comments made
Recognise that not everything happens as quickly as we’d like but a number of challenges have either been resolved or are underway.
Issues from the floor
Disabled bays are currently not marked correctly and do not have the hashed space around the bays to enable people to open doors wide enough. DS recognised they are not currently compliant but will be.
Lady who needs to be rehoused due to mobility issues. Will be having an operation on her spine which will mean that she is in a wheelchair. Currently in a flat, not on the groundfloor. Has spoken to Harlow Council Housing team who told her that she would have to declare herself homeless for that to happen, and it would still only be a possibility, but not to do it until she was having the operation. This is obviously stressful in a number of ways. Has contacted her councillors, DS and Robert Halfon but feels that no action has been taken. DS said to leave details with staff on reception.
Lack of landscaping work leads to hedges and trees becoming overgrown and blocking alleyways, meaning that people can’t leave their homes as easily.
Lack of handrails in laundry spaces of sheltered accommodation.
Mention of Harlow Area Access Group and why they have not been included in meetings/panel.
Pavements are an issue in terms of them being uneven. Also, the work that’s taking place by the Hides underpass has led to a narrowing of the path which is restricting access. It’s also very badly lit, so poses a number of risks in terms of potential accidents.
Mobility scooters
Can the council introduce charging points for mobility scooters to public spaces in the town? It would be a quick positive win for the council. DS said will look into.
Disability vehicles in/outside council properties is not allowed. Why? Person feels it is discrimination against disabled people and needs to be reviewed. People who need mobility scooters need to be able to get to their homes and know that the equipment they rely on to get about is going to be safe. Some are having to get themselves to neighbours with private properties and leave their mobility scooters there, then try to get home.
DS replied that the directive here comes from the fire service and must be followed – the council’s hands are tied. Lois from Mind and another audience member commented that the issue is lithium batteries. Later in the meeting another audience member asked whether Harlow Council would lobby the fire service to try to change this law. Justin Hopwood said would look into, and is a possibility.
Netteswellbury Farm – power points to charge scooters have been put in the wrong place. DS says well aware and is in hand.
DS stated that Harlow Council is building more scooter sheds to try to tackle this problem. Unclear whether this is purely for the properties they are building or will be across town.
How long will discussed policy changes take? Will this go into next year? It seems that the council housing policy will need to go through a housing panel as well, and will take longer to sign off. It also relies on when that panel meets, as well as when the next disability panel meets. Seems it will be well into Spring 2025.
Disability panel
Lack of clarity of who is on the panel. DS assured will work on this.
In the panel policy it states that there will be two people who have disabilities on the panel, but the experience of someone who is deaf will be different to that of a person in a wheelchair, etc. How is this representative and how can the panel be fed into?
The panel meets every three months – the next meeting is in February.
Disability forum
Has met once before but not well publicised.
Raised that it will be hard for anyone who works or who has to do the school run/childcare responsibilities to attend a meeting which falls 4-5:30. Was told that at the last forum, which took place in the evening, many felt that it was too difficult a time to attend. Decision was made to do an evening session in the summer, when it is lighter, and the winter session will be in the afternoon.
Runs twice a year. Asked why it could not be more often. Don’t feel that got a clear response.
Questioned the accessibility of the council building as a meeting space – Latton Bush Centre may be better. Another audience member said less accessible.
At the last forum it was asked that the meeting be live streamed, making it more accessible to attend. JH said not had time to arrange that. Audience member said it has been six months since the last one.
Concern that people are attending with personal issues and that is not what the forum is supposed to be about. This was raised at the last forum too. Feeling that we are never going to get anywhere if we are focusing on individual issues rather than the bigger picture.
External presentations
Employability
Address inequalities with employment for those with disabilities, reasonable adjustments.
12 months support with CV, interviews, applying for jobs.
Problems with absence and performance reviews, will help advocate.
Referrals can be made online or through GP/social prescriber/ Frontline.
Essex Wellbeing Service Carers Pathway
Employed to raise awareness of the support available to carers. Support you to support others. Some people can take years to recognise themselves as a carer.
Supporting people to find information – central point of contact.
Not having to repeat story again and again.
Care navigators
Support someone before it becomes a crisis
Teamed with Action for Family Carers.
ECC has a panel.
Breaks to maintain own mental health
Community agents can help with filling in forms and home adaptations, digital exclusion, social isolation, debt, benefits, care technology, fall sensors, reminder devices for medication and routine. All free.
Other things including family mediation, grants for breaks.
Better to be registered as a carer with a GP. This can open up back to back appointments so if you and the person you care for need an appointment, you can both be at a close time.
ECC can’t commission services if they don’t know how many carers there are.
Healthwatch Essex have been commissioned by ECC to gather feedback
12 November carers focus event St Clare’s Hospice
Self refer / people can be referred via Frontline