Action Points
1. The Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance ( SIAA) should make information widely available, that explains what independent advocacy is and what the different types of advocacy are and can do. The Executive, NHS Boards and local authorities should also make sure that this happens, under the Mental Health Act statutory agencies now have a duty to ensure that this happens.
2. The Scottish Executive should ask local advocacy plans to show how people with learning difficulties and people with autism spectrum disorders will be able to have a choice of advocacy projects and a choice of advocates. Commissioners should ensure that there is choice in the advocacy available. The needs of people with a learning disability and people with autism spectrum disorder should be taken into consideration when commissioning services and people should be involved in the advocacy planning process.
3. As part of the Joint Inspections of learning disability services, the Social Work Services Inspectorate ( SWIA), the Care Commission, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland ( QIS) and others should ensure organisations which provide services have systems in place to make sure that staff know what their roles are. People who work in services should know how they can work with independent advocacy projects and with other people who care about the people who use their services. The Care Commission and NHSQIS should consider what information the organisations give out to the people they support, families, advocacy projects and other organisations to help avoid people getting confused about roles.
4. SIAA and advocacy projects should continue to explain what independent advocacy is and what the roles of advocates and projects are.
5. SIAA should work with People First, carers' organisations, and other networks of people who have learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, to develop accessible information for families. It should help families know what they can do to help people have their own say, how to raise their ideas and concerns with services, and how to work with independent advocacy projects.
6. SIAA should work with advocacy projects and organisations that provide services to develop training for advocates that addresses the issues around power and helps advocates handle these situations effectively.
7. All residential settings must have places where people can meet their advocate in privacy and comfort.
8. As part of developing policy and legislation relating to the protection of those who are seen as vulnerable, the Scottish Executive should consider the need for advice to the NHS, local authorities and care providers on how people with learning disabilities and their advocates should be part of assessing risk for each person and agreeing on how to reduce risks for that individual.
9. The Scottish Executive should ask each local authority and NHS board to work with people with learning disabilities, families, collective/group advocacy organisations and self advocacy groups in their area to develop policies for people assessing and minimising risks for themselves.
10. The Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability ( SCLD) should identify and share good practice in risk management.
11. Local advocacy plans for each area should state how people can get advocacy support on issues such as housing, transport and the other issues that people in that area say are important.
12. Advocacy organisations need to be more proactive in seeking wider funding sources to enable them to provide advocacy to a wider range of people, and should not be solely reliant on one source of funding.
13. The Scottish Executive should give advice to funders that their policies and practices should expect and enable the projects to focus on the needs of the individual. For example, funders should get advocacy projects to build in some flexibility for situations when someone who is already in touch with an advocacy project moves to another area.
14. SIAA should work with advocacy projects to develop advice on ways to build in flexibility so advocacy projects can continue to meet the choices of the people they support.
15. SIAA alongside other appropriate individuals and organisations, should develop national protocols for advocates working with people who do not have capacity.
16. Staff in local authorities and NHS Boards and other people who are implementing the National Standards on Community Engagement should look at how people with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders are included as part of community engagement on all issues. As part of this, they should consider how independent advocacy projects can contribute to enabling people to have their voices heard.
17. SIAA and organisations with responsibility for training should ensure training for staff who provide services identifies the importance of independent advocacy and explains their role in working with advocates.
18. Statutory organisations that fund advocacy projects should make sure projects are able to reflect the diversity of the people who want advocacy support. Advocacy projects should have premises that are easily accessible, comfortable and welcoming. There should be partnerships between advocacy projects supporting people who have learning disabilities and projects led by people who share other circumstances. People should be able to have a choice in which advocacy projects they use and in their advocate.
19. Local advocacy plans should specify how children and young people, and older people who have learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder will get access to advocacy on the points that are important to them, and in a form they find useful.
20. Monitoring local plans should measure the level of service against standards that address the needs of people with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders of all ages.
21. Advocacy services need to be flexible to address the different levels of need people have throughout their lives. This will include periods of transition, for example where people are moving into the community as hospitals close, or where children move between special and mainstream or school and college education.
22. Advocacy supports individuals to be included in society and is not just for health and social services. Consideration should therefore be given to the contribution of wider health and local authority departments to funding advocacy services, in order to deliver a whole range of services properly and effectively.
23. Advocacy will also be helpful in achieving full public involvement, moving forward many initiatives such as Modernising Government and creating inclusive communities.
24. Statutory commissioners of services and advocacy organisations need to develop clearer systems for recording who is using advocacy.
25. The SIAA should develop national guidance for monitoring advocacy, to ensure that there is a consistent approach across Scotland.
26. The Scottish Executive should continue to make clear to commissioners that whilst they obviously have a duty to make sure their funds are being used properly, they must allow projects to be appropriately independent and must not try to unduly influence the delivery of advocacy.
27. The SIAA should work with people with learning disabilities and families, advocacy projects and funders, to find ways to describe what advocacy projects do which highlight their benefit for a person with learning disabilities. SIAA should spread the experience of projects and funders that are good at assessing and describing what advocacy projects do.
28. The advice from SIAA and the Scottish Executive should establish that advocates are able to challenge services, the commissioners and their own advocacy project if this is in the interests of the advocacy partner.