What is in Control?
In Control is an organisation helping people get real choice and control. It is supporting local authorities to deliver Self-Directed Support.In Control is a social enterprise that was set up to transform the current social care system into a system of Self-Directed Support.
Its mission is now to create a new welfare system in which everyone is in control of their lives as full citizens.In Control is a partnership working with different kinds of friends and allies – for example, citizen members, local authority and NHS members, providers, commercial organisations, sponsors and ambassadors.
In Control has over 120 local authority members (in July 2008) that are working to change their systems.
It was set up in 2003 and in 2007 it was established as a Company Limited by Guarantee. Soon it will be registered as a charity.
A little bit about us
In Control was created in 2003 to reform the existing social care system in England and to define and develop the concept of Self-Directed Support.
Today In Control Partnerships is a social enterprise - a charity and an independent company – which works in partnership with citizens and government, and with charities and commercial companies.
In Control’s mission is to help create a new welfare system in which everyone is in control of their lives as full citizens.
In Control operates as a social innovation network and it uses three linked approaches to achieve its mission:
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Connect - In Control creates and sustains active membership networks for people to work together to find solutions to problems that frustrate citizenship.
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Understand - In Control tries to understand and measure the impact of the welfare system and new practices on the real outcomes that are valued by citizens; sharing information, analysis and intelligence across its networks.
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Innovate - In Control develops and tests new approaches to welfare reform, extending the boundaries of Self-Directed Support and promoting other reforms to enhance citizenship.
A document giving a fuller description of the company and its mission can be downloaded from the column on the right.
Some history: where it all started
Self-Directed Support had its origins in the United Kingdom in the Independent Living Movement of people with physical impairments. They campaigned in the 1980s and 1990s for the introduction of Direct Payments.
Simon Duffy's first book, Unlocking the Imagination, was written in 1996. In it he proposed that the current system of social care was dominated by the Professional Gift Model, which meant that people who need support do not have the power and control necessary to get a good life. Instead Simon proposed that services should work to the Citizenship Model where people have the right to support and control, and shape that support to suit them and help them stay part of their community.
In 2003 the first edition of Simon's Keys to Citizenship was published. In Control was set up by a number of people including Simon, Julie Stansfield, Martin Routledge, Helen Sanderson, Caroline Tomlinson, Carl Poll, Jo Williams and Steve Jones. It was established at first as a project of Mencap with the support of the Department of Health’s Valuing People Support Team. In Control sketched out a 7-step model of Self-Directed Support. This system was tested and improved by individuals, families and local authorities from this date.
In 2008, more than three quarters of local authorities in England are now involved. More than twenty of those are already working towards using Self-Directed Support as the approach for everyone needing social care support (the Total Transformation programme). By the close of 2008, 9,000 people were directing their own support and numbers were growing rapidly.