SIAA are pleased to be extending this invite from Scottish Government National Care Service team to independent advocates working in SIAA member organisations. This is a crucial opportunity to influence the direction of travel for the independent advocacy that will be connected to the National Care Service Bill which is making its way through Scottish Parliament in the next few months.
We’re aware that Scottish Government are looking to the National Care Service Bill to make decisions about what independent advocacy should look like across other policy areas, including Mental Health Law Reform, the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill and the Human Rights Bill. It is therefore vital that SIAA members’ views and expertise are heard at this stage as it may help shape the future of independent advocacy across Scotland for lots of different groups. We’re keen for members to highlight how they maintain independence in everyday practice and help advocacy partners have their views heard through different models e.g. collective, citizen and individual.
Please see details of the session below and email Connor Sharp if you can attend – connor.sharp@gov.scot
We are a team in the Scottish Government working on the National Care Service (NCS). Our work is trying to:
- Improve the current approach to independent advocacy
- Improve the support available for people accessing social care support
As part of this work, we are carrying out co-design with people with lived experience of accessing or delivering support to decide how we might improve the current approach to independent advocacy.
As part of our co-design work, we want to engage with independent advocates to draw on your experiences and to hear your views and ideas.
During these co-design sessions we hope to discuss:
- The benefits and challenges of different models of advocacy
- Ways to improve awareness and understanding of advocacy
- Transitions between services
- What could be done to improve and increase advocacy provision
There will also be the opportunity for you to raise any additional issues that you wish to discuss and feel are relevant to independent advocacy provision in the NCS. We will run small workshops with advocates, where we will ask you questions to learn more about your experiences and ideas. These will be online sessions conducted via MS Teams.
Dates and times for workshops are:
- Wednesday the 21st of February from 11:00 to 12:30, for advocates who provide individual advocacy
- Thursday the 22nd of February from 13:00 to 14:30, for advocates who provide collective advocacy
- Thursday the 29th of February from 13:00 to 14:30, for advocates who provide citizen advocacy
If you or your organisation are interesting in attending any of these workshops, then please contact connor.sharp@gov.scot and we will send on the meeting invitation which will include a link to join the workshop and an information sheet with more information about the session.
If you wish to engage with the team but are unable to attend these dates, then please do get in touch at the above email and we can look to arrange an alternative session or a one-to-one discussion.
