Working Together on Direct Payments in Knowsley We were delighted that so many people who use Direct Payments in Knowsley were able to attend our ‘working together day’ in November. We shared the Council’s new policy and guidance which sets out more clearly the systems and processes for social care workers as well as for people who use direct payments. Training for practitioners and new procedures introduced should create a smooth and efficient pathway for setting up and making changes. However, a number of key themes that came out of the day describe the current experience: • Worry about asking for reviews in case care packages are reduced • Lack of information about choices – particularly for young people • Inability to recruit and retain good PAs because of the low rate of pay • Delays in receiving payments and general problems with the ‘process’ • Lack of continuity of social workers and inconsistency of knowledge We want to work together to tackle these issues and make direct payments simple and easy to use so they become the preferred option for all. We hope you can get involved to help us. To book your place, phone Johanne on 0151 480 4090 or email her at Johanne.ross@kdc.org.uk If you’re unable to join us on the day, you can still get involved. Simply call us and tell us what you think or send an email to: andy.gilbert@kdc.org.uk. We’d love to hear about your direct payments experience – good or bad! If you use Direct Payments to employ a PA, you will have started to receive the annual payment to cover the costs of your payroll processing fee and your employers and public liability insurance cover. The annual payment is £349.20, made up of £259.20 for the payroll service and £90.00 for insurance. Your Payroll now collects its fees annually by direct debit and if you haven’t already completed a direct debit instruction, please let us know. Your insurance provider will send your renewal invoice every year as usual which you will pay direct to them. Next May, everyone should receive the extra payment so you will always have enough money to pay the annual fees due. If you have any problems, please get in touch. Payroll and Insurance fees Seasons Greetings to all our readers! You can keep up to date with all the latest news and information via our website.Visit us at www.kdc.org.uk. Follow us on twitter. Like us on Facebook. 1 The next event is on Wednesday 27th February 2019 at the Old School House, St John’s Road, Huyton, L36 0UT. From 10:00am to 1:00pm followed by lunch. Knowsley Disability Concern 2 Knowsley Disability Concern is a registered charity - Number 1103477 Andy Gilbert Service Manager Jim McDonald Direct Payments Coordinator Colette Salt Direct Payments Officer andy.gilbert@kdc.org.uk colette.salt@kdc.org.uk jim.mcdonald@kdc.org.uk Terry Roberts Payroll Assistant Sandra Windsor Payroll Assistant Joanne Morris Payroll Officer 263a Tarbock Road Huyton Merseyside aL36 0SD Email: info@KDC.org.uk Web: www.kdc.org.uk Simone Stein Customer Finance Officer simone.stein@kdc.org.uk Minimum Wage for Personal Assistants The national minimum wage is the minimum pay per hour workers are entitled to by law and is reviewed yearly by the government. Currently set at £7.83 for people aged 25 and over, it is due to rise on 1 April 2019 to £8.21 as announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his October Budget statement The Council will be reviewing the hourly rate for Direct Payments (currently £9.00) to make sure people have enough funds to pay their PAs the minimum wage. A reminder that payments for sleep-ins and waking nights should be paid at the same hourly rate. So a typical shift from 10.00pm to 8.00am will currently be paid at £78.30, which is equivalent to 10 hours at £7.83 per hour. This will rise to £82.10 from next April. We are delighted to introduce you to Jim McDonald, who has joined the team here at KDC as Direct Payments Coordinator. He will be helping people get started, keep on track and act as first point of contact for any queries you have. Jim also plays a key role in running our managed accounts service, paying PA wages and provider invoices on behalf of our customers. Welcome Jim! Welcome to the Team! Direct Payments News and Views - Winter 2018 3 Managing my Money is all about improving financial capability and independence in Knowsley. This is a 12 month course designed to help people with learning disabilities handle money, understand its value, how to spend sensibly, save for the things they need, manage a household budget and avoid getting into debt. Our ultimate aim is for more people to be able to open and operate their own bank account. Both programmes are delivered through half-day sessions in community settings across Knowsley and are absolutely free. Enrolment starts in January but places are limited so if you are interested in signing up you can put your name down now by calling Johanne Ross on 0151 480 4090. The BIG Pathway is aimed at helping people gain the confidence and skills to become more independent and in particular move towards gaining paid employment through volunteering and work experience. We have already enabled more than 100 local people to improve their confidence, behaviours, general education levels and other skills to prepare them for life and work. KDC is very proud of the fact that The BIG Pathway won Project of the Year at the 2017 First Ark Merseyside Community Impact Awards and thanks to funding from the Henry Smith Charity we are delighted to be running the programme for a further three years. Training for Personal Assistants Another topic of discussion at the Working Together Day was the issue of training and qualifications for PAs. Remember that your PAs can access Knowsley Council’s programme of training for adult social care workers via KDC. This covers the basics, such as first aid, health and safety, hygiene, moving and handling, autism awareness, safeguarding and many more. Courses are certificated and are free to attend. And you can use your direct payments to pay someone to cover your PA when they are on training. We can also help you apply for money from Skills for Care for lots of specialist training courses and qualifications including: • communication skills • British sign language • first aid • health and safety • condition specific training such as dementia or autism awareness • Health and Social Care Diplomas. The funding can also cover travel costs and the cost of hiring replacement PAs. If you are interested in any training and development opportunities for your PAs, contact us on 0151 480 8873 now. We are very excited to tell you about two new programmes for people with learning disabilities in Knowsley. Direct Payments Support Groups The recent Working Together Day provided an opportunity for views and experiences to be shared in an open and safe environment. We are planning more events over the coming months (see front page for details) but we have already been looking at what was said to help us improve our support service. We heard from some people who had, in the past, taken part in our Direct Payments Support Groups. We were interested in their suggestion that these should be revived and would like to test out the idea. So, we are planning to send out a brief survey to all direct payment users in Knowsley. Please look out for the short questionnaire and let us know what you think so we can get it right for people. Protecting your data KDC takes the safety of your personal information seriously. In line with the new data protection regulations and GDPR rules, we have reviewed our policies and practices to make sure that any personal data we hold about you is protected. If you want to know more about how we use and store your information, download our Fact Sheet via our website: Project yourself with a free flu jab. Flu can be a serious illness, particularly for the elderly or those with other health conditions. Care workers are working with some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, so it’s important that they help protect themselves and those receiving care and support against flu. Ask your GP or local pharmacist – you may be eligible for a free flu jab. https://www.kdc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/12_Data-Protection-and-GDPR-How-we-use-your-data.pdf KDC launches new projects Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all our customers! 4 Here’s a note of the next few payroll dates: For customers who live in Knowsley For customers who live in Liverpool 0151 949 5442 yourpayroll@kdc.org.uk The payments that both employers and PAs make to their workplace pensions will be increasing from 06 April 2019. Currently a total minimum contribution into an automatic enrolment pension is 5% (including a minimum of 2% from the employer), but this will increase to 8% (minimum of 3% from the employer). This means that from April next year your PAs will be making a 5% contribution if they are in the pension scheme. We will make the changes required to our payroll processes automatically to make sure that the pension contributions are calculated at the correct rates. The amount you receive for your direct payments should be sufficient to cover these extra costs but if you have any doubts get in touch with us. Employer and PA contributions are increasing Your Payroll has recently introduced new software to improve the payroll processing service you receive. This simplifies the way your PAs receive their pay slips. In future your PAs will receive an email from yourpayslip@yourpayslip.org directly to their inbox. This will contain an attachment which is a pdf version of their pay slip for wages processed for the month. To protect personal data, the attachment will be password protected. The unique password (which is their national insurance number) will be notified in a separate, one time only email, prior to the email containing the pay slip. PAs will still be able to access IRIS OpenPayslips for pay slips relating to previous pay periods but please note that this service will be switched off in April so we are advising people to download and save to a safe place or print and retain any that may be needed. As the employer you will receive your payroll summary reports each period as an attachment direct to your email inbox. Again, security of personal data is important so you will also get a one-time email with your unique password to open the attachment. We hope you find the new system of receiving pay slips and reports much simpler and straightforward but if you encounter any issues at all, please contact the payroll team on 0151 949 5444. If you don’t have an email address, let us know and we can look at making alternative arrangements. Important changes in the way we deliver your pay slips and reports Last date for changes 10 December 7 January 4 February 4 March 1 April Payslips out 19 December 16 January 13 February 13 March 10 April Wages pay date 24 December 21 January 18 February 18 March 15 April Wages pay date 31 December 28 January 25 February 25 March 22 April Last date for changes 17 December 14 January 11 February 11 March 8 April Payslips out 26 December 23 January 20 February 20 March 17 April Wages pay dates for Christmas & New Year The December pay date for our Knowsley clients falls on Christmas Day and for Liverpool clients it is New Year’s Day. So we will be preparing pay slips in time for you to pay your PAs before the holidays. Instead of dates in the table below, we will be posting out payslips and monthly summary reports on 18th December. Please remember to notify us of any changes by Monday 10 December at the very latest.