Adult Social Care Transport Assistance Consultation

Overview

The Council is proposing to make changes to the assessment and provision of transport assistance in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Why are these changes happening?

The Care Act 2014 presented a shift in focus towards prevention and supporting people to stay as independent as possible. The Act requires the Council to consider people’s own strengths and capabilities and what support might be available from their wider support network or their local community to help meet their needs. Transport is one of the areas where residents should be supported to be as independent as possible.

Like other Councils, we have to find ways of reducing spend on some services while ensuring that we are able to provide much needed care and support to those who need support. Richmond is facing growing pressures on local services because of increasing numbers of children and adults requiring social care. Our aim is to provide sustainable services for the longer term and to ensure fair, simple and clear policies that are consistent and straightforward for residents of all ages.  

We have considered a range of options, including keeping things as they are now. However, we have concluded that it is not going to be possible to make sure our assessment process is fair and consistent without a clear policy. We have drawn up the following proposals, which we would like your views on.

Our proposals

Proposal 1: To introduce clear and consistent eligibility criteria for the provision of transport assistance and support

Proposal 2: To adopt a strengths-based approach to assessment that aligns with our commitment to support residents to be as independent as possible

Proposal 3: To introduce a Transport Assistance Policy that would replace existing arrangements for the assessment and provision of travel assistance and support

Proposal 4: To align this policy with Children’s Services (Achieving for Children) to create a consistent approach for transport users of all ages

Consultation documents

The full consultation document is available here.

The Equality Impact and Needs Assessment (EINA) here gives more detail about the potential impact of the proposals.

An easy read version of the consultation information and questionnaire is also available here.

Have your say

Please read the consultation documents before answering the online survey, so that you have all the available information before giving us your views.

We are keen to hear the views of anyone who would like to comment on these proposals, but particularly adults who are currently receiving transport support from the Council or who think they are likely to need assistance with transport in the coming years.

If you have any questions about these proposals, would prefer this document in a different format/language or would like some help with completing the questionnaire, please contact us on 020 8891 7151 or email acis@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

What will happen next?

At the end of the consultation, all comments received will be considered carefully to help us formulate the final proposals and implementation plan. A report summarising the findings will be published on this page when available.