9th January 2008

ATTENDEES: Terry Harper, Liz Haskell-Wright, Andy Wright, Sheila Stringer, Carole Bowman, Sue Howes, Ron Bowman, Alison de Jager, Michael Glibbery, Alan Lean, Carole Dickins

 GUEST: Simon White, Pension Services.

 APOLOGIES: Martin Pomeroy. 

The meeting was opened by Ron Bowman and he advised all present of the passing away of Ivan Crane, and a minute’s silence was observed. His funeral was confirmed for 18 January 2008 and we will close the office for that day. A collection has been organized and Ivan’s widow, Valerie has requested that the money be donated to the Eleanor Hospice.

 Gordon Selvage will also not be coming back to DIAL and a collection was requested for Gordon to thank him for his many years of service to DIAL.

 Alan advised that he has accepted a position with Equity Actor’s Union, dealing with tax and benefits and will be working there 3 days a week. His duties at DIAL will be reduced to working on Mondays and Wednesdays. In view of this, his case load will be reduced. We would like the senior adviser’s to take on more responsibility with regard to the daily checking of the inquiry sheets and Alan will still continue with the case checking. We will also be reviewing the self-help pack with regards to people requesting appeals. This is to ensure that we help the people that really need the help. Alan has requested that appeal dates be set on Monday’s and Wednesday’s and the Clerks have agreed to do this where they can. Sheila would like to attend hearings with Alan to gain experience and to continue learning to take on appeals in the future. 

 Appointments regarding form filling and the back log were discussed and it has been decided to rotate the form filling to three days a week, to give the form fillers a break and in case of staff illness to have alternative appointments available to clients so they do not have to wait an additional five weeks for another appointment. If the outreach surgeries are not booked, those volunteers are willing to come into the Northfleet office and help out with forms. We would also like to implement a criteria check on people requesting appointments and only offer an appointment if the person meets the criteria for the particular benefit they are applying for.

 G has got two volunteers that will be starting soon and has there is another person who is very keen, but at the moment, their health is not good. There is another potential volunteer who will be interviewed in due course. We will try to ensure that the training is done as soon as possible and will ask new volunteers to sit in with experienced volunteers when doing forms, or to scribe. It would be useful if each DIAL member was able to refer a friend or relative as a volunteer. 

 Alan has requested that the Senior Advisers work through pages 1 – 6 in the Lisson Grove Manual to familiarise themselves with it and he will then put some real case scenarios together for the Advisers to work with. This is necessary to ensure that we are making our clients aware of all their entitlements.

 A couple of items have come up regarding the completion of enquiry sheets; please can everyone make sure that ALL enquiries are detailed on the enquiry sheets, this includes the making and cancellation of appointments. Dates and initials are being omitted. Every entry must be dated and initialled by the person dealing with the enquiry.

 We are receiving positive feedback and we would like to bring these to the Team Meetings to feedback to everyone.

 Results that are received by telephone must be entered onto the Green Sheet and then put into Purnima’s draw. This must also be recorded on the enquiry sheet and entered on the Day Sheet. Call backs to clients are being done to obtain as much feedback as possible. 

 All volunteers would benefit from information sharing and discussions at Team Meetings. G will speak to volunteers to encourage them. If there are any problems with any aspects of a volunteer’s work, G will be advised and he will discuss with the individual concerned.

 Sue would like to organise a schedule of fund-raising meetings and from there events for the year can be planed. Mr Melling has volunteered his skills as a Quiz Master for any future events. We need to ensure that all events are publicised well in advance.

 A schedule of Team and Management meetings will be drawn up and distributed to everyone. Team Meetings will be held bi-monthly and rotated on Mondays and Wednesdays at the new time of 10 o’clock.

 Terry would like to have a meeting with G and Alison to discuss the new data base and items that need to be included.

 We need to book space on the GBC community bus during the summer to advertise our service and to recruit volunteers. It was suggested that a benefit day at Blue Water would make more people aware of DIAL and our need for volunteers.

 Simon White from Pension Services gave us an update on the claim forms that we have submitted through the Alternative Office. He also went through the procedure and confirmed the list of trained DIAL staff authorised to process Alternative Office documentation. Simon gave a very interesting discussion regarding the Pension Services and their objectives.

18th February 2008