Resource Panel Information

1. What is it?

It is a group of workers and managers from different organisations located in the area of Brighton and Hove who provide services that can assist disabled children and their families. The panel considers new requests for support or changes to existing support.

The panel receives a written assessment from a social worker; this covers the needs of the disabled child/young person and the whole family including carers and siblings. The assessment will be based on information you have given and will have been fully shared with you. You will be invited to comment and make representations to the panel. You will be given a copy and asked to sign it to show that you are in agreement with its contents.

We aim within the Disability Services to work in partnership with families and as far as possible enable parents to care for disabled children at home in their local community. We also consult directly with disabled children and young people and always try to prioritise their wishes and feelings. Our goal is to support disabled children and young people to be included in their local communities accessing as far as possible local services and activities.

2. Why is a Panel Needed to Make these Decisions?

To make sure that families get what they need as far as possible in a fair and balanced way. We also hope that by working closely together we can be as responsive and flexible as possible.

3. How can your Views be Heard at this Meeting?

The social worker writing the assessment will listen to your views very carefully to ensure that information about your circumstances is accurately reported to the Resource Panel. If you would like to make direct representation to the panel then you can.

4. How does the Resource Panel let you Know its Decision?

The social worker, who attends the meeting, will contact you as soon as possible to inform you of the panel's decisions and recommendations.

5. What can you do if you are not Happy with the Decision of the Panel?

You can, in the first instance, discuss this with the social worker and agree on an appropriate response. Alternatively, you can write to the Team Manager, Children's Disability Service. We will always meet with you to explain how decisions are made and we will listen carefully to what you have to say. In the event of you remaining dissatisfied, you are fully entitled to make a complaint or comment to the Children's Complaints Officer on Freephone: 0500 291229.

6. Who is on the Panel?

The panel is chaired by the Team Manager, Children's Disability Service and has representatives from all the council's services i.e. Residential Care, Outreach, Direct Payments. There are also representatives from Health including the school nursing service together with representatives from all the main voluntary organisations who offer services to disabled children and their carers. 

7. When/Where does it Meet?

Once a month at Seaside View Child Development Centre.

8. How Does it Work?

The panel members read the social work report and then discuss how best to meet the needs of each child and their carers, looking at all the resources available in the different services. Unfortunately many of the services are already full to capacity and this may mean the family and child have to wait for a service or be offered a more limited resource. A decision is made at the panel between the different agencies, once all of the issues have been carefully considered.

We sometimes have to place children's names on waiting lists and we are not always able to say yes to requests for support. This can be for a range of reasons however we will, always explain our decisions to you and will where appropriate, direct you to alternative support services. All waiting lists are regularly reviewed and emergency situations will be considered outside of the panel.

We are also committed to identifying situations where we are unable to meet needs and highlighting this to senior managers within the appropriate organisations.

9. Resource Panel Members