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Commissioner for the Compact meets MP's and Peers

25 Feb 2009

Sir Bert Massie CBE, the Commissioner for the Compact, spoke last night at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector, chaired by Tom Levitt MP.

Sir Bert reminded the Group of recommendations that he had made last autumn to Kevin Brennan MP, the Minister for the Third Sector, about the future of the Compact:

Dept of Communities and Local Government

(Doc code: 07LAP05106)

Official publication “Area Based Grant”: General Guide, Communities and Local Government, Feb 2008

clearly says on page 6:-
“Carry Forward As a non-ringfenced general grant, there will be

 no restrictions on authorities ability to carry forward ABG. “

LINks’ funding allocations are part of the ABG hence there is no restriction on rolling over any underspend into the next financial year.

Ruth Marsden, Vice Chair, NALM
 

                      LINKs : The references

1. LINks are funded for three years.
“The Department [of health] received an allocation of £84 million over three years from HM Treasury to fund the establishment and costs incurred by local involvement networks (LINks) and has no plans to bid for any further funds.”

(Hansard, Ann Keen, 23.4.08).
 
2. D of H allocated and published the funds.

(D of H, LINks’ Funding Allocations, ‘07 )
 Some LAs have topsliced the LINks’ funding allocation

( LAs to NALM FOI, 2008)
 
Not all local authorities have taken monies from the LINk

 allocation
(LAs to NALM, FOI, June 08)
 

Michael English raises questions at LINks debate

 

NALM membership enrolment forms

November 4^th 2008

Stephen Hay

Chief Operating Officer

Monitor
4 Matthew Parker Street
London
SW1H 9NL

Dear Stephen,

I would like to raise a few issues with you about the relationship between LINks and Foundation Trusts and to seek your advice. As you know we have already exchanged some correspondence on this issue.

Public Bill Committees, 16 June 2009,
Stephen O'Brien (Shadow Minister, Health; Eddisbury,Conservative)
" We have made it clear that the last thing that we would do is to unpick LINks. However, we would enhance and reinforce both their role and what they do."
 

Secretary of State for Health - Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP

 5 June 2009
Andy Burnham was appointed as Secretary of State for Health in June 2009. He is the MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester, elected in June 2001.

Malcolm Alexander
Chair of NALM
30 Portland Rise
London
N4 2PP


22nd May 2009

Dear Malcolm Alexander

I'm writing to you in your position as the Chair of NALM. The North Tyneside LINk Board have noted that NALM have asked North Tyneside LINk to provide them with the following information:

The LINk Board feels that they have a close and productive relationship with their current host organisation and are concerned at your apparent views, gained from reading NALM documents and your website, that hosts cannot be trusted. In the event that there are issues between the LINk and the host there are local arrangements to manage conflicts.

We'd be grateful if you would pass these views onto the various people from NALM that have been asking us for information and I'm asked to tell you that this letter has been copied to both the Department of Health and to other local LINks.
 

Yours Sincerely

Dave Shaw
LINk Host Co-ordinator

Dave Shaw
LINk Host Co-ordinator
North Tyneside LINk
The Shiremoor Centre
Earsdon Road
Shiremoor, NE27 OHJ


Dear Dave,

Thank you so much for your letter of May 22nd 2009 and for laying out your concerns so clearly. I think the first and most important thing for me to say is that NALM believes in the very strongest and most productive relationships between LINks and Hosts and that without a successful relationship we believe that LINks will fail - a LINk is dependant upon having an effective Host to provide services for the members. However, whilst in your case this relationship is working very well, in others there are profound and serious problems, which need to be resolved and members of those LINks are feeling disappointed and frustrated. Very best wishes and thanks for writing.

Malcolm Alexander
Chair
 

National Association of

LINks Members

Patient and Public Involvement in Health and Social Care

June 10th 2009

Stephen Hay
Chief Operating Officer
Monitor
4 Matthew Parker Street
SW1H 9NL

Dear Stephen,
I wrote to you on November 4th on the issue of FT Board Meetings. On that occasion I said:
“Another issue causing great concern is about access to meeting of FT Boards. Many of our members complain that FT Boards are now closed to the public and that consequently FT status has been used to reduce accountability and diminish public access to decision making in the NHS. Your views would be very welcome.”  

Two new ministers named at Department of Health
8 June, 2009 | By Dave West
Mike O’Brien and Gillian Merron have been named as new ministers at the Department of Health.They replace Ben Bradshaw and Dawn Primarolo, but the new ministers’ portfolios are yet to be confirmed.
The government has also confirmed Phil Hope will continue as a minister at the department following the reshuffle.
Mr O’Brien was previously a minister at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, and Ms Merron a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The announcement follows the replacement of health secretary Alan Johnson by Andy Burnham.

National Association of LINks Members

Patient and Public Involvement in Health and Social Care                                                                                  May 2^nd 2009

Dear Member,

The first meeting of the newly elected NALM Steering Group was held on April 29^th 2009. Ruth was re-elected as Vice Chair and I was re-elected as Chair. Members of the Steering Committee are shown below.

The following key decisions were made:

NALM election results

Care Quality Commission

Baroness Young, at a recent conference called "Share Regulation" said:

"There are 27 days to go until the CQC becomes 'l ive'. I intend the CQC to be more than three regulators in one . We are assured the CQC has independence. We can de-register unsatisfactory establishments. We intend to focus especially on the areas of the most disadvantaged eg dementia care and prison health. We are keen to see health and social care become seamless. We shall exercise our right to be a nuisance"

Director of Public and Patient Experience

Department of Health, London or Leeds

Up to £116,000

The Department of Health aims to create a health and social

 care system that puts the experiences of patients and the public at the heart of decision making. This challenge has never had a higher profile. The recently published NHS Constitution and Lord Darzi’s High Quality Care for All report set out an ambitious plan to ensure that patient choice and world class engagement with the public transform services and empower patients.

To the Sec of State for Health             27.02.09

Dear Alan,

 Director of Public and Patient Experience – Dept of Health

I refer to the above post, its role-definitions and the outline of its selection process [See below].

Noting that the role involves “ensuring the views of patients and the public are reflected in national decision-making”, it would seem wholly consonant with this fundamental aim that the selection process should itself be enriched and have its credibility enhanced by the participation of the patient and public constituency.

3.3.09

Dear Ruth

Thank you for your email of 27th February about the new Director of Public and Patient Experience. Am I correct in thinking that this is a replacement for Joan Saddler or, as her title was Director of Patient and Public Affairs, is it a different post?

Odgers Ray & Berndtson describe themselves as “UK Leaders in executive search” and, from your email, they look to be the only people who are involved with the interview of candidates. If this is the case, and there is no input from the NHS or patients, it does appear to be quite ridiculous.

Dept of Communities and Local Government 

(Doc code: 07LAP05106)

Official publication  “Area Based Grant”: General Guide, Communities and Local Government, Feb 2008 clearly says on page 6:-

“Carry Forward

As a non-ringfenced general grant, there will be no restrictions on authorities’ ability to carry forward ABG. “

LINks’ funding  allocations are part of the ABG hence there is no restriction on rolling over any underspend into the next financial year.

Ruth Marsden, Vice Chair, NALM

Alan Johnson MP
Secretary of State for Health
Richmond House
SW1A 2NS

February 21st 2009

Dear Mr Johnson,
Thanks so much for the letter of January 21st 2009 sent on your behalf by Meredith Vivian, about collaborative work between NALM and the Department of Health.
I was concerned that the letter seemed to suggest that the Department's Health Responsiveness and Accountability Workstream is out of touch with Cabinet Office (cross government) policy in relation to the role of the third sector (the voluntary and community sector)

Alan Johnson MP

Secretary of State for Health

Richmond House

SW1A 2NS

March 12^th 2009

Dear Mr Johnson,

Thanks so much for the letter of March 5th 2009 about collaborative work between NALM and the Department of Health. We are of course very happy for our correspondence to go onto the LX website, but our consent is predicated on your agreement that the string of correspondence which I attach, appears as a single set of correspondence. This is too ensure that all LINks members can follow the interesting and valuable discussion that we have had. We will also put the correspondence on: NALM.org.uk.