Yesterday (24 February 2015) I attended the parliamentary launch of the Learning Disabilities Alliance England.
Yesterday (24 February 2015) I attended the parliamentary launch of the Learning Disabilities Alliance England. The LDA is a recently formed pressure group that represents the interests of people with learning disabilities, their families, support workers and allies.
There was a huge turnout of learning disabled people and their supporters eager to come to Portcullis House to celebrate the launch. Which made it a bit disappointing that the only MP in attendance was Liz Kendall, the shadow Secretary for Care and Older People. And whilst I welcomed her speech in support of the Alliance, it fell short of recognising that the impact of austerity is the reason the organisation has had to come into existence.
I understand Ms Kendall had limited time so it was good she came and it was pleasing to see her commitment to listen to people. I do hope she and politicians of all persuasions take close heed of the findings of the LDA’s recent survey – entitled a Quality Check of the Government. The survey was completed by 2,000 people, 50 per cent of whom had learning disabilities, and it is a damning indictment of the coalition’s record. When asked to rate the government on 12 standards ranging from rights to justice, respondents gave them 1/10 in two areas, 2/10 in nine areas and 3/10 in three areas. The overall rating was 2/10, with 73 per cent agreeing that people with learning disabilities were worse off under this government. You can read the full results here . And whilst this survey was focused on people with learning disabilities, we know all disabled and sick people have experienced severe cuts to services, income and housing. It is not hard to imagine that we would see similar results if the wider disabled community were asked these questions.
Having witnessed the devastation of social care cuts first hand, I wasn’t expecting the Quality Check to provide a positive endorsement of austerity, but even I was shocked by these results. If the Quality Check was a CQC report, these findings would rank the government as inadequate, if it was an Ofsted report, we’d be putting the government on special measures.
The Learning Disabilities Alliance is a new organisation, but judging from yesterday’s array of impressive speakers, including Gary Bourlet of People First, Simon Cramp of Housing and Support Alliance, Craig Hart and Vicky Raphael of the National Forum and National Valuing Forum, it is just beginning to sense the power it has. Several people spoke of how important it is that people with learning disabilities and their families vote at this election, an initiative LDA is encouraging (including a social media campaign #LDVote). Whilst Gavin Harding , the first councillor with learning disabilities in the country urged people with learning disabilities to get the support they needed to take part in the election.
Over the last four years, I have often felt deep despair at the cruel policies enacted in the name of austerity. At times, I have felt we were losing all the gains made by learning disabled people and their families since the 1971 government white paper “Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped” began the drive towards community care. But yesterday’s event showed me otherwise. Yesterday, I saw a recently formed but confident organisation declare in the heart of Parliament, that the coalition government has failed them. I met many people experiencing the brunt of cuts who made it clear they are not willing to accept it anymore.
According to the Learning Disability Alliance, there are 5 million people with learning disabilities, family members and support workers in the country gearing up to vote. At 10 per cent of the electorate, that’s quite a constituency.
I’d advise politicians from all sides of the House to start paying attention to what they have to say.
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© Virginia Moffatt is chief operating officer of Ekklesia. Before working for Ekklesia, she spent 30 years working in services for people with learning disabilities, most recently for Oxfordshire County Council.