Letter to the Guardian
24th July 2009
Care for people with learning disabilities must not be overlooked
A joint letter signed by United Response chief executive, Su Sayer, along with other members of the Learning Disability Coalition has been published in The Guardian newspaper today. Responding to the green paper on the future of social care funding, published last week, the letter calls for the specific needs of people with learning disabilities to be addressed as part of the green paper debate.
"You would think that after the neglect, abuse and institutional discrimination against people with learning disabilities revealed over the last few years, it would be hard to forget the one and a half million people with learning disabilities. Not so. The long awaited green paper on the future of adult social care and support concentrates almost exclusively on how to fund social care for older people (What about learning disabilities?, Society, 22 July). While this is a major issue, so too is the question of how we fund support for people with learning disabilities. We estimate there is currently a £200m annual shortfall in funding, which is already causing needless hardship for individuals and their family carers.
Health ministers have repeatedly reassured MPs and representatives of the sector that the interests of people with learning disabilities would be fully covered in the green paper. Yet the paper seems to suggest that current levels of funding for supporting people with disabilities will continue. This is not good enough if it means people with learning disabilities will continue to be deprived of essential care and support.
Let us hope government promises of equality by 2025 do not fail because they forget that learning disability is for life, and that far too many people live in poverty, deprived of access to the support they have been promised and are entitled to, Because not enough social care funding is getting through to the people that need it.We need to be convinced that the very different needs of people with learning disabilities will be properly addressed in the future discussions on the green paper."
- Jo Williams, Andrew Lee - People First
- Victor Adebowale - Turning Point
- Mark Goldring - Mencap
- Mark Lever - National Autistic Society
- Su Sayer - United Response
- Carol Boys - Down's Syndrome Association
- Richard Brook - Sense
- Richard Blake - National Forum for People with Learning Difficulties
- James Churchill - ARC
- Keith Smith - British institute of Learning Disabilities
- David Wandless - Real Life Options
- Caroline Farnes - Family Carers Network
- Jean Willson - Valuing Families Forum
- Douglas Quinn - Voyage
- Barbara McIntosh - Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
- Ends -
For more information please contact Sarah Bartlett or Jaime Gill in the United Response Press Office on020 8246 5237/ 020 8246 5122 or emailsarah.bartlett@unitedresponse.org.uk or jaime.gill@unitedresponse.org.uk
Notes to editors
United Response is a top 100 charity operating in England and Wales, providing a range of support and services for more than 1,500 people with learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical disabilities. We employ over 2,000 people across the organisation and have won many awards for our pioneering work since being founded in 1973.
Our mission is to enable people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities to take control of their lives.
Our vision is a society where disabled people are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
The services we provide depend on each person we work with. We can provide 24-hour support for people with profound physical needs, or just a few hours for those who need less support to live their lives. We can job coach someone into meaningful paid employment. We can provide outreach support for someone with a mental health need or help people who find it difficult to communicate by making information more accessible. The key to our success is that we work with each person to do the things they want to do, supporting them to communicate what they want and tell us how we are doing.
In support of our vision, we also campaign to improve the lives of people with disabilities in society. This may mean lobbying decision makers such as MPs to ensure that people’s voices are heard or it might mean working directly with disabled people so that they can be more directly engaged in the democratic process. We also work with employers to ensure that more people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities get a fair opportunity to work.
In 2008 alone, we were shortlisted as best employer in the Third Sector Excellence Awards and highly commended for our Annual Report. We also won a highly prestigious National Training Award for the investment we make in our staff.