Council pioneers caring project

10:30am Friday 5th September 2008

People receiving social care services in Wigan will soon be in the driving seat as part of a pioneering scheme that gives them the power to make vital decisions about their lives.

Wigan Council has become one of just six local authorities across the country to be chosen to pilot the In Control scheme.

Aimed at people who receive what is known as an individual budget, In Control allows people receiving social care services to decide what they want and how money allocated to them is spent.

To help, the Wigan scheme will be supported with the launch of a new website called Shop 4 Support which will allow people who handle their own social care funding to view their payments online, order services and seek information and advice. Shop 4 Support has been developed by Wigan-based company Valueworks, which has its head office at Wigan Investment Centre.

Shop 4 Support will be officially launched at the Urbis Centre in Manchester next Monday.

Wigan Council will be the first of the six authorities to ‘go live’ with the web-portal, which will be available nationally and will bring together a range of information into one easily accessible place.

Speaking about the In Control project Wigan Council’s Director of Adult Services Bernard Walker says: "The Council has been working with In Control since it was set up several years ago. It has made a real difference to people’s lives, by doing what it says on the tin, giving them control.

"Shop 4 Support will make this much easier for people and give them more choice.

"Most importantly people who use services and carers came up with the idea and have been central to its development.

"It’s also great that it’s a national initiative, based in Wigan."

Gill Vickers, Head of Transformation for Adult Social Care at Herefordshire Council adds: “We are really pleased to be taking part in the pilot, as it will offer a much wider choice for service users.

"At the moment, we have a number of people across a range of service user groups who are receiving individual budgets and our aim in piloting a web based service through Shop 4 Support is to enable even more people to take control of their lives in this way.”