Author: Sir Bert Massie, Disability Rights Commission Chair
Independent advocacy occurs when an independent person (i.e. not working for a party involved in service provision, a local authority or health organisation for example) supports a disabled person to speak up for him or herself or, if the disabled person is unable to do so, to communicate and represent the disabled person’s needs and wishes.
The principal vision of our ‘Disability Agenda’ is - ‘a society in which all disabled people can participate fully as equal citizens’. The DRC believes the availability of independent advocacy services is crucial to achieving this vision – and much of the agenda of national and local governments across Great Britain.
Disabled people, their organisations and government at national and local level have all welcomed the use of advocacy and recognised its benefits; advocacy empowers people to participate and contribute more to society as active citizens and prevents their choice and control being removed by others. However, access to advocacy services is very much a ‘postcode lottery’. Where advocacy services are available, they are often only serving one section of the community, such as people with learning difficulties or older people. Advocacy services often face insecure futures; receiving short term funding and many only survive for short times with specific funding streams.
The continual reliance on discretionary funding to deliver independent advocacy services will maintain the current postcode lottery of provision despite increasing demand, changing demographics and heightened Government pressure for citizens to be more active and responsible.
Reliance on uncertain charitable funding jeopardises the long-term existence of advocacy services and results in wasting resources in constantly seeking funding rather than focusing on providing the service.
Whilst Government policies have recognised the crucial role that independent advocacy services play in ensuring the self-determination and full citizenship of disabled people, there is as yet no legislation requiring public bodies to adequately fund advocacy services.
Greater control over how disabled and older people’s needs are met is central to the Government’s health and social care agenda especially; and would impact positively in delivery of other aims.
Without adequate funding to provide independent advocacy support for disabled and older people, many will be excluded from Government initiatives such as self-assessments, integrated health and social care plans, direct payments and individual budgets.
Advocacy services can deliver broader participation and empowerment that benefits all citizens, for example in Job Centre Plus, Benefits Agency and local authority housing services to secure the Government’s agenda in employment, safer communities, homelessness, poverty and reducing health inequalities.
Our recommendations:
Government should place a duty on public bodies such as Local Authorities, the NHS and Job Centre Plus to contribute to a funding pool to be used to commission sufficient independent advocacy services to meet local needs.
To make the most effective use of resources, independent advocacy services should be delivered by an ‘advocacy centre’ (with outreach services). Each centre should be able to provide generic advocacy services to disabled people and the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate Service, NHS Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service, and forthcoming local authority looked-after children advocacy service and Mental Health Act independent advocacy service. This would allow the most efficient use of funding provided for advocacy services by reducing infrastructure costs.
What do you think about our recommendations?
Do you have alternative recommendations for increasing the availability of independent advocacy?
What activities could the forthcoming Commission for Equality and Human Rights undertake to attempt to increase the availability of independent advocacy?