© In Control 2011
POET - the Personal Budgets Outcomes and Evaluation
Tool has been developed over a number of years by In Control
and the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster
University. Its aim is to provide a national benchmark on the
impact that personal budgets are having on people's lives.
Using POET we have just completed the second National
Personal Budget Survey, which was commissioned by the
Think Local, Act Personal Partnership. Gathering the
views of more than 3,300 people who use personal budgets
(PBs) in social care and their carers has found positive results
when people have taken up PBs.
At the time of its publication, the first national survey
was the largest survey ever undertaken and the first real
indication of the progress that local authorities were making. It
gathered the views and experiences of more than 2,000 personal
budget recipients and carers.
This first piece of work was carried out initially with 10 local
authority demonstrator sites. Following this pilot, other
local authorities were and are now able to make use of this
innovative tool.
POET provides:
- one authoritative nationally recognised method to
understanding local authority performance;
- an outcome-focused approach - performance is
measured by reported experience of personal budget recipients and
their families;
- an effective solution as it measures both
experiences of the process and impact on day-to-day life;
- efficiency - low transaction costs as data capture
is embedded into local authority process and open to local
community organisations;
- an opportunity to help influence local authority
activity and planning based on real life experiences.
Local authorities using POET will be able to:
- engage directly with personal budget holders and
carers to understand what's working well and what needs to be
improved;
- measure the impact personal budgets are having
locally as well as local authority performance against the national
benchmark;
- demonstrate transparency and accountability to
local communities;
- receive a detailed localised report on the
findings;
- access national best practice and expertise to
help implement improvements.
If you would like to find out more about POET, how you can
use this tool locally, or just keep updated on its development,
please contact poet@in-control.org.uk or
contact John Waters on 07403 413 476.
Last Updated : 21 May 2013. Page Author: Pam Schreier.
