Care for people with learning disabilities must not be overlooked

As members of the Learning Disability Coalition, we have written a joint letter to the Guardian, which has been published.

The letter is in response to the green paper on the future of social care funding, published last week, and calls for the specific needs of people with learning disabilities to be addressed as part of the green paper debate.

Read the letter to the Guardian on our website

Find out more about the Learning Disability Coalition

What's it like to be a young person with a learning disability?

Two young people with learning disabilities are featured in today's Youth special supplement in The Guardian. They explain that having a learning disability does not stop them from having a girlfriend or holding down a part-time job.

You can read the full feature here

They are both supported by United Response.

Letter in The Guardian

A letter from United Response's Chief Executive, Su Sayer was in the letters section of The Guardian today. It responds to the Government's annoucement on social care funding. Su highlights that all of the coverage of the issue so far has focused on elderly care even though many disabled people are seeing their funding being cut too. It says:

"Health secretary Alan Johnson is to be congratulated for highlighting that current funding is not enough to meet the government's own objectives of providing first-class care to those who need it.

So it is unfortunate that all of the media attention focuses only on how this will affect elderly people. There are other groups, such as those with disabilities, whose quality of life is also endangered. Social care is increasingly directed only at those with the most "critical and substantial" needs and those with "mild and moderate" learning disabilities are excluded, reducing their independence and quality of life.

It is important that we hear the voices of everyone affected in the social care debate, including those with disabilities.
Su Sayer
Chief executive, United Response"

To read this and other responses go to The Guardian's letters page on the subject.

United Response's letter in The Guardian

We had a letter published in The Guardian today.

It's a response to the recent Government announcement that up to 2.6 million people currently claiming incapacity benefit would face “strict testing” in order to encourage them to work.

Here it is in full:

"Dear Sirs,

I think most people would agree that more needs to be done to help people into work. But the current debate only looks at the symptoms (2.6m on incapacity benefits face tough 'back to work' tests, 14th March). One of the root causes could be solved by a simple amendment to the benefits system.

Through our work, we come across many people with learning disabilities or mental health needs, who would like to have a job, but who need to build up their hours slowly in order to gain confidence.

When the minimum wage was first introduced people we support were able to work for 5.5 hours a week, without disruption to their benefits. But over the years increases in the minimum wage have outpaced the disregard. As a result, from this October, even people employed to work as little as 3.5 hours a week will be 5 pence above the £20 disregard, forcing them to cut their hours for the sake of 5p.

Testing will not help the people we support to find work. And unfortunately even providing more employment schemes will not solve the problem on its own. But raising the weekly disregard on earnings, even to £32 a week, could give this often overlooked part of the workforce, their first, but important, step into employment and greater independence.

Yours faithfully

Su Sayer, Chief Executive, United Response"