Useful links

ACAS
www.acas.org.uk
Acas stands for Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. We aim to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations. We help with employment relations by supplying up-to-date information, independent advice and high quality training, and working with employers and employees to solve problems and improve performance.

Action on Elder Abuse
www.elderabuse.org.uk
Action on Elder Abuse is a national organisation that operates across all of the United Kingdom. It also provides support within Ireland. Its aim is to prevent abuse in old age by raising awareness, education, promoting research and the collection and dissemination of information. The website provides national information, including a helpline and an advice service on abuse issues. There is also guidance for the prevention of, and action on, the abuse of older people.

Age Concern
www.age.org.uk
Age Concern supports all people over 50 in the UK, ensuring that they get the most from life. They provide services such as day care, general information, and campaign on issues like age discrimination and pensions, whilst working to influence public opinion and government policy about older people. The website includes also news, advice, campaign backgrounds, ideas for the elderly to stay active and a newsletter.

Brighton & Hove City Council                                
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk
Providing all services in Brighton and Hove, including, housing, education, events, council taxes, everything you need to know about the area

Care Aware
www.careaware.co.uk
CareAware is a non profit making public information, advisory and advocacy service specialising in elderly care funding advice in the UK. Our objectives are to improve public understanding and knowledge about the UK care system, to reinforce the rights and choices of the individual and to assist the public on the complex issues associated with elderly care funding advice issues.

Care Directions
www.caredirections.co.uk
The internet's unique, comprehensive and user-friendly guide to care and the rights of the elderly. Register for a regular newsletter.

Care Quality Commission
www.cqc.org.uk
The Care Quality Commission is the single, independent inspectorate for all social care services in England. It works on a local level, at a national level, and across all sectors. CQC registers the private and voluntary care services that are required to meet national standards; inspects, assesses and reviews all care services and children’s boarding schools, residential special schools, etc and publishes the inspection reports. It also deals with complaints about care service providers. All this information is available on the website along with links and general advice.

Care Services Improvement Partnership
www.valuingpeople.gov.uk
Valuing People is the government's plan for making the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families better. The website has on it all the newsletters and papers that the Valuing People Support Team has brought out, as well as information links and help about different subjects, like Direct Payments, Housing, Health etc. There are links explaining what is happening in local areas and who the valuing People Regional Advisor and Partnership Board are.

Counsel and Care for the Elderly
www.counselandcare.org.uk
Counsel and Care is the national charity working with older people, their families and carers to get the best care and support. We provide personalised, in-depth advice and information, which informs our research and campaigning work.

Criminal Records Bureau                                         
www.crb.gov.uk
The CRB is an Executive Agency of the Home Office set-up to help organisations make safer recruitment decisions. The links below will provide you with an overview of the CRB and its services.

Dept for Education and Skills                                  
www.dfes.gov.uk
The Department’s role can be summed up as leading the whole network of people who work with or for children and young people. To do this, we put the needs and views of families, children and young people at the centre of everything we do.

Department of Health                                               
www.doh.gov.uk
The Department of Health is committed to improving the quality and convenience of care provided by the NHS and social services. Its work includes setting national standards, shaping the direction of health and social care services and promoting healthier living

Dept of Trade and Industry                                     
www.dti.gov.uk                  
Building Britain’s Future is the Government’s vision for the country’s future on the other side of the recession across a wide range of policy areas. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is playing a key role in helping to set out the vision for Britain’s economic recovery in New Industry, New Jobs.

Dept for Work and Pensions                                    
www.dwp.gov.uk/
The Department for Work and Pensions leads the Government's response to some of the biggest issues facing the country - welfare and pension reform - and is a key player in tackling child poverty. It is the biggest public service delivery department in the UK and serves over 20 million customers.

Disability Discrimination                                           
www.disability.gov.uk
Directgov aims to provide easy access to government information and services. It does this by working closely with ministerial departments and non-departmental public bodies to collate key information all in one place

East Sussex County Council                                    
www.eastsussex.gov.uk
The five East Sussex County Council departments and their main responsibilities are:

• Adult Social Services

• Chief Executive’s.

• Children’s Services

• Corporate Resources

• Transport and Environment.

Government Information & Services Online        
www.open.gov.uk
Providing information on education and learning for all ages

GSCC
www.gscc.org.uk
The General Social Care Council is responsible for setting standards of conduct and practice for social care workers and their employers, for regulating the workforce, and for regulating social work education and training. The GSCC is a Non Departmental Public Body. It is sponsored by the Department of Health but works also closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families in delivering the children’s and young people's care agenda.

 

Help the Aged
 www.helptheaged.org.uk
Free phone advice line 0808 800 6565.
A national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for elderly people in need of help in the United Kingdom.

Human Rights                                                             
www.justice.gov.uk
The Ministry of Justice works to protect the public and reduce re-offending, and to provide a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public. We also provide fair and simple routes to civil and family justice.

Joseph Rowntree Association
www.jrf.org.uk
JRF is an endowed foundation that funds a large, UKwide research and development programme. JRHT is a registered housing association, managing around 2,500 homes, and is a registered provider of care services.

Life Long Learning
www.lifelonglearning.co.uk
Lifelong Learning offers information for those wishing to gain any new skills. The website provides a good starting point for all learners, providing information about a range of opportunities, from community learning projects to basic qualifications and work-based skills. It gives links to other sites which provide information on how to obtain the qualifications, how to finance them, and many other details. There are qualification targets and advice on how to achieve them and also a news section.

Skills for Care                                                              
www.topssengland.net
Providing lists of job providers – worldwide, information on jobs, courses including NVQs

Small Business Advice                                              
www.businesslink.org
Businesslink.gov.uk helps your business save time and money by giving you instant access to clear, simple, and trustworthy information. It is developed in partnership with subject experts within government and relevant business-support organisations to help you comply with regulations and improve your performance.

Social Care Association 
www.socialcareassociation.co.uk
A UK organisation of individuals and corporate organisations involved in social care. This means all service user groups, children and adults. This means all job roles – Supporting Caring and Assisting people to live the kind of life they want with choice and independence.

Social Care Online
www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk
Electronic Library for Social Care is a free online resource owned and managed by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). It provides a single point of access to an extensive range of social care knowledge, including practice information, guidance, standards, research reviews and joint review publications skills tutorials, and around 70,000 abstracts of books, reports, research papers, online journals, official publications and articles. It can be used by anyone to find social care information.

Social Security Benefits Agency
Freephone 0800 882200 or your local Social Security Benefits Office for information on benefits available to elderly people in care.

Social Work Careers
www.socialworkcareers.co.uk
Social Work Careers provides information on careers in social work to help you decide if social work is the career for you, or for people you're advising. It has links and information for people interested in career opportunities within social care. This includes information on degree level qualifications needed to practise as a social worker. There are also current and relevant news topics to view. This website is for issues and matters relating to social work in England but there are links to other parts of the UK.  

The Alzheimer’s Society                                           
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Alzheimer's Society is a membership organisation which works to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Many of our 25,000 members have personal experience of dementia, as carers, health professionals or people with dementia themselves, and their experiences help to inform our work.                     

The British Institute of Learning Disabilities
www.bild.org.uk
(BILD) is committed to improving the quality of life for people in the UK with a learning disability by influencing policy makers and other decision makers and encouraging good practice among practitioners from a wide range of disciplines. They carry out research on topics of national interest, and disseminate the findings through conferences and workshops, publications, training courses and policy development. The site has details on all these plus event dates and recent news.

The King's Fund
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/updates
Is an independent charitable foundation working for better health, especially in London. They carry out research, policy analysis and development activities. A new web site has recently been launched providing a wide range of online services, including publication sales, conference venue booking, leadership development enquiries and information and library services; an extensive health topics section, pulling together all of the King's Fund's research, analysis, funding projects and comment by issue; a new online news centre containing briefings, news releases and feature articles by topic. 

The Mental Health Foundation
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
The Mental Health Foundation is one of the leading UK charities working in mental health and learning disabilities. It develops its own research and community projects, aiming to improve the support available for people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities. The website has information on the foundation’s publications and projects, mental health in the media, getting help for mental health problems and many other relevant issues and links.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
www.qca.gov.uk
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) which builds the education and training framework designed by the government. QCA maintains and develops the national curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations; and accredits and monitors qualifications in colleges and at work. It offers information for anyone involved in learning, teaching or supporting learners.

The Relatives and Residents Association
5 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SN
Telephone 020 7916 6055
Practical advice and local groups for anyone with an elderly relative or friend receiving residential or nursing home care. Membership available to all relatives.

The Stationery Office 
tso.co.uk
The Stationery Office (TSO) is headed by the Controller and operates as part of the Cabinet Office under the ministerial control of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. HMSO delivers a wide range of services to the public, information industry and government relating to access and re-use of government information.

United Kingdom Home Care Association             
www.ukhca.co.uk
United Kingdom Homecare Association Ltd (UKHCA) is the representative body for organisations that provide personal care – including nursing care - to people in their own homes.

The Association aims to identify and promote the highest standards of home care, to represent the views of our members with policy makers and to promote training and development of individuals and organisations providing home care.