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Art Exhibition

the art exhibition On Tuesday night Cornerstone launched its new art exhibition at the Scottish Parliament - Changing Times Changing Attitudes looking back at 30 years of changing approaches to people with learning disabilities.

The exhibition consist of a range of media - printed banners, archival material and video displays. It will be on tour throughout June in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow. More details from Cornerstone on 01224 256 000.

New Plans announced by UK govt.

The new Con-Lib coalition have published its preliminary plans for Social Care. More detail will follow but this indicates a fairly stable approach to existing policies.The existing White Paper on Social Care is effectively scrapped and a new review on long term care is planned. Personalisation and personal budgets look like remaining at the heart of national policy. Both of these will only apply in England but will give a guide for policy in Scotland. A helpful change to Access to Work will allow better planning for people seeking employment and will also apply in Scotland.

Extract from the "Programme for Government"

Social care and disability

The Government believes that people needing care deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We understand the urgency of reforming the system of social care to provide much more control to individuals and their carers, and to ease the cost burden that they and their families face.

We will establish a commission on long-term care, to report within a year. The commission will consider a range of ideas, including both a voluntary insurance scheme to protect the assets of those who go into residential care, and a partnership scheme as proposed by Derek Wanless.
We will break down barriers between health and social care funding to incentivise preventative action.
We will extend the greater roll-out of personal budgets to give people and their carers more control and purchasing power.
We will use direct payments to carers and better community-based provision to improve access to respite care.
We will reform Access to Work, so disabled people can apply for jobs with funding already secured for any adaptations and equipment they will need.

Self Directed Support

LDAS Comments on Scottish Government's Self Directed Support Strategy

VALUES AND PRINCIPLES QUESTION 1

The strategy sets out values and principles of self-directed support. Do you agree with the values and principles?

We welcome the publication of a Self Directed Support strategy for Scotland. This is a the latest step in bring change into social work services. We have had both guidance and legislation in the past which has helped set the scene and explore who the different forms of self directed support might be implemented and indeed, blocked.

A strategy is a long term plan that allows a campaign to develop over a period of time to bring sustained change. There are many attitudes entrenched in social work, drawing from wider social attitudes towards disabilities that need to be overcome before we can have self directed support.

It has been a long road for people with learning disabilities. Many of our members vividly remember battles for some of the most basic rights to have the vote or even to live in the community. Others have taken part in more recent campaigns to secure dignity and basic support in taking part in their communities.

Self Directed Support will not be end of that journey - not by a long way. However it is an important development that will help people with learning disabilities develop the skills and confidence that they need to help organise and control their own support services.

Votes Matter

Watch highlights from the LDAS Edinburgh election hustings - Part One - Part Two

Watch highlights from the LDAS Glasgow election Hustings - Video on YouTube

Read our Easy Read summary of what the political parties are promising

Read the full party manifestos in Easy Read format Liberal Democrat - Conservative - Labour

In the next few weeks far more attention will be paid to politics than is normally the case. The phones will be ringing with staff from Call Centres asking if the relevant parties can rely on your vote, the postie will be delivering election leaflets and candidates will be knocking anxiously on a few doors in some parts of the area.

We think it is important that issues that matter to people with learning disabilities and their carers get heard and there is no better way to do that than face to face.

In Edinburgh, at our election hustings meetings, Ronald challenged the panel with his story about being bullied, hit in the street and s**t being put through his letter box. Soft words and fine sentiments wouldn’t cut it for Ronald, he wanted to know exactly what could be done to help him be safe in his own house.

This is the challenge that we should be putting to all the prospective candidates over the next few weeks. Whatever the issue you are concerned about, corner a politician and ask them what they will do.

It’s easy to be cynical about politicians – but there is one fact you have to admit – one will be elected for every constituency so get speaking to them now and afterwards they will know a little more and be a bit better educated about the issues that matter to people with learning disabilities.

Lessons for Scotland from the Social Care White Paper

The Westminster government has launched a new white paper outlining their plans for the future of social care in England. This will create a National Care Service which for the first time will be responsible for establishing a standard system of social care whereever you live in England.

From 2014 extend the coverage of free care so that people will receive free care if they need to stay in residential care for more than two years. [There will be a number of options of what would be a fair way for everyone to pay into this new system will be explored by a special commission.]

It will also enshrine in law for the first time nationally consistent eligibility criteria for social care helping to remove the postcode lottery of care that exists now

And it will also Push forward with the prevention agenda and continue the drive towards personal budgets so that by 2012 everyone who would benefit from a personal budget will have one.

These are important steps forward. Even in a much smaller country like Scotland, we are aware that there are tremendous variations in eligibility to get services, what types of services you might get and then what you might pay for it. Let's hope the Scottish Government can follow suit and establish a truly Scottish Care Service.