Stronger, Louder, Together!
Baroness Casey is leading an inquiry into how Social Care works.
Last week Baroness Casey made a speech about her work on Social Care.
In her speech Baroness Casey says the UK’s social care system is not fit for today’s society and needs major reform.
Learning Disability England welcomes the points she makes in her speech about the system and how we as a society need to think about how everyone can be supported to live Good Lives.
James O’Rourke, Family and Friends Member Representative at Learning Disability England, has written a blog to speak about his recent experience speaking with councillors and social care staff in Newham about what a good life means for people with learning disabilities.
I was proud to represent Learning Disability England when I was invited to the London Borough of Newham Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission.
I went to talk to Councillors and social care senior staff about what a Good Life looks like for people with learning disabilities.
Skills for Care has published its annual Pay in the Adult Social Care Sector in England report.
This report looks at how much people working in adult social care are paid. It includes information about:
The LeDeR report has now been published after being delayed and withdrawn in December.
LeDeR could lead to real change. That is why representatives from Learning Disability England wrote to NHS England and the Minister, Dr Ahmed MP when the report was withdrawn.
As reps said at the time, “The reports are not just numbers or statistics. They are about real people who have died, often in ways that didn’t have to happen and every delay has felt like another barrier to change.”
NHS England has announced that the 2023 LeDeR report is being withdrawn and will be republished in January 2026.
LeDeR stands for Learning from Lives and Deaths of People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People.
It looks at why people with a learning disability or autistic people die earlier than others and what can be learned to stop this happening.
An update for members from Sam Clark – Chief Executive at Learning Disability England.
In the last week, I went to two of the Casey Commission’s evidence sessions to speak up for members.
This was unusual for Learning Disability England. Normally, members would take part themselves, but the Commission said only one person could attend.
The Rep Body Co-chairs and I agreed that I would go and represent all three voice groups.
The Down Syndrome Act 2022 is a law that means the government has to write clear guidance for public services like health, social care, and education on how to meet the specific needs of people with Down syndrome in England.
The Down Syndrome Association estimates there are 40,000 people with Down syndrome in the UK.
The government has now launched a draft of this statutory guidance and a public consultation to get feedback.
You can read the draft guidance here.
Learning Disability England is looking to appoint an Administration Lead to join the staff team.
This role is an important part of the organisation’s daily work. It includes leading the administration of memberships and finances, and supporting other team members with projects and events.
This notice is to announce the Learning Disability England Annual Members General Meeting for 2025.
Where
The meeting will be online over Zoom.
Responding to new report on the state of the adult social care workforce in England…
The State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England annual report from Skills for Care shares information about the people who work in adult social care – how many there are, what jobs they do, and the challenges employers are facing.
The report for 2025 has just been published, read here.
It shows that the number of jobs in social care is growing and that the number of vacant posts has fallen to 7%.
That is still high though compared to other kinds of jobs like working in a shop.
The report also showed what many people already know, which is that lots of people are leaving their jobs – this can range from 42% turnover in some organisations to 14.5% in others.