UNISON Scotland acknowledges that certain groups of service users, particularly physically disabled people, view direct payments and personalisation as a way to enjoy more freedom, choice and the greater independence that this can bring.
For a time, our views were misrepresented as we spoke up for the rights of Personal Assistants (PAs) and argued that the level of direct payments had to be sufficient to allow such rights as a decent level of pay, training, holidays, hours, pensions, etc to be met. In 2006 we met with representatives of disabled people and produced a joint statement confirming our support for the principle of independent living and worked with other organisations to ensure that our concerns would be taken up. We welcomed the inclusion of such provision for PAs in the Strategy for Self Directed Support outlined by the Scottish Government in May 2010 and are disappointed that this provision is not contained in this Bill. We are, however, aware that discussions surrounding such issues for PAs are being considered in another forum set up by the Bill Team and we welcome this.
Our main concerns however, are with the implementation of the Bill. Service users will only have a real choice in how their needs are met if there is sufficient funding available to local authorities to allow adequate budgetary amounts to be given to them to enable them to purchase the care they need…
https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/SocialCareBill-evidenceHealthcommitteeApril2012.pdf