The Big Connect

What Rachael, one of our Membership and Engagement leads, has been up to this week. 

On Tuesday I travelled down to Bristol to connect with southern members and partners at the Big Connect, a More Than A Provider event.  

More than a Provider is collaborative of support providers who support and are taking action toward to Social Care Future’s Vision.  

It was great to see so many members there, including paid support rep Scott! 

In a workshop with United Response and Dimensions we talked about the My Vote, My Voice campaign encouraging people with a learning disability to take part in elections.

Read more  “The Big Connect”

Renting your own place

Learning Disability England has been working in partnership with researchers from the University of York and the University of Bristol, Riverside, Housing LIN and Stephen Lee Hodgkins on a research project.

The project team also has an advisory group of self-advocates with lived experience from York People First and My Life, My Choice.

People with learning disabilities have said that ‘a home‘ was one of the most important things about leading a good life.

This project is about finding better ways to support people with learning disabilities at the edges of social care into social and private rented housing.

The first stage of the research looked at options available for people at the edges of social care to live in ‘ordinary’ rented housing in the community.

This involved holding large roundtable events attended by lots of professionals and experts by experience.

Read more  “Renting your own place”

The Kings Coronation and Accessibility

The coronation of Charles III and Queen consort, Camilla is taking place on Saturday 6th May 2023, at Westminster Abbey. 

Learning Disability England was invited to attend an accessibility expert panel ahead of the coronation.

Wendy Burt, member of Learning Disability England and former member of the rep body attended as representative.

She has written a blog about her experience.

Read more  “The Kings Coronation and Accessibility”

‘The rot has to stop – look at the pattern of behaviour’

Simon Cramp

Last Friday, 4 people were convicted for the crimes they committed working at Whorlton Hall.

You can read about the convictions here.

The quote above is from Simon, a lifetime member of Learning Disability England.

He spoke about what any of us can say or do as we are reminded of yet another way people with learning disabilities and autistic people are being failed or actively harmed.

Read more  “‘The rot has to stop – look at the pattern of behaviour’”

The Hesley Group Report

“We need the right support at the right time from the right people, close to home”

Kate Chate – Rep and Family member

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel have just published their second report about residential care settings in Doncaster run by the Hesley Group.

The reports found that in these homes between the 1st January 2018 and March 21st 2021 many children experienced neglect, abuse and were not having their needs met.

You can read both reports here.

Learning Disability England endorses the joint statement made by Dr Margaret Flynn, Dame Christine Lenehan and Dr Sheila Fish and held by the Coalition for Change.

Read the joint statement here

Read more  “The Hesley Group Report”

Response to the government consultation on the Small Payments Scheme

By Ramandeep Kaur – Mum to Harry (15) who has Down’s syndrome

As a parent of a young lad with learning disabilities, I am hugely disappointed that the government have decided not to implement the proposed Small Payments Scheme for parents/carers and young people who wish to access their Child Trust Funds.

I opened my son Harry’s account when he was born and I was not informed at any point that I would need to go through the Court of Protection to access his money when he turned 18. There was no information in the packs sent out to parents and I feel that I was ill informed. Had I been aware of this, I would most likely not have opened the account for him. He has £7000 sitting in an account which I will now have to pay up to £1000 in court fees to be able to access. The forms are long and quite complicated and I am having to ask others to help me complete them. As someone who has lots of experience in filling out forms, even I have been struggling to fill them out, so I worry that many people will find themselves in the same situation. If we ask a lawyer to support us, this will cost even more money.

Read more  “Response to the government consultation on the Small Payments Scheme”

Mental Capacity Act small payments scheme

The results of the Mental Capacity Act small payments scheme announced.

This news piece will talk about what this means for families and carers of people with learning disabilities and autistic people.  

The consultation paper ‘Mental capacity Act small payments scheme’ was published on 16 November 2021.

It invited people to give their views on the possibility of a small payments scheme.

If agreed, the scheme would have made it easier to access small amounts of money (less than £2,500) of people who lack capacity but do not have a Court of protection Order (CoP) or Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

This would have been beneficial, especially for family members and carers of people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

Members of Learning Disability England contributed to the consultation process and this week, the Ministry of Justice published its results.

Read more  Mental Capacity Act small payments scheme

Notice to all members

There is now a date set for the next members meeting. 

This year it will be happening online over Zoom.

These meetings are for us to speak about the work that has been happening for the organisation over the last year and what will be happening in the future.

It will also go over Learning Disability England’s accounts which is how much money has come in and out.

There will also be an opportunity for members to make some decisions or ask questions.

When 
 
The meeting will happen on the 6th December 2023.

What time
 
The meeting will start at 10am.
 
We think the meeting will last 1 hour.

Read more  “Notice to all members”

Voting Resources – 2024

Accessible resources and information to help you use your vote or support others to use theirs in the upcoming elections

Local elections are set to be held in the United Kingdom in some areas in May 2024.

These elections will be a chance for you to decide who runs local services like schools, care for the elderly and disabled and libraries.

The General Election will be happening later in 2024 we think

Read more  “Voting Resources – 2024”

Leadership training for people with learning disabilities and autistic people

In 2022, Learning Disability England heard from some people that there is not a lot of leadership or speaking-up training that includes minority ethnic people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

We were also told that training about different people’s experiences and anti-racist practice is not accessible to many autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

We learnt about this by working with people and organisations as part of the Equal Treatment and Working Together to get the job done projects.

Learning Disability England wanted to find out what leadership or similar training there is aimed at or led by people with learning disabilities or autistic people.

Read more  “Leadership training for people with learning disabilities and autistic people”