Latest news
News archive: November 2007 - January 2008
29 January 2008 - Inspectors attack restriction of social care
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has produced a report describing the damaging effects of tightening eligibility criteria.
Explaining the problems the report uncovered, Dame Denise Platt, the CSCI's Chair, noted that:
'People who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today excluded by the system and left to fend for themselves.'
In response to the report, Ivan Lewis, the Social Care Minister, has announced a review into eligibility criteria, saying that there have been a 'series of unintended consequences' in their implementation and stating that we need a 'fair and sustainable funding system for the future.'
To read the Coalition's statement on the report, click here
23 January 2008 - Individual budgets need to be properly funded
Writing in the Guardian, Peter Beresford discusses some of the challenges the Government faces in its drive towards personalisation.
Click here to read the article
22 January 2008 - Steven Hoskin 'would not receive help' in Cornwall
Writing in Community Care, an anonymous practitioner says that Cornwall's current eligibility criteria would not have allowed agencies to help Steven Hoskin, a man with learning disabilities who was tortured and murdered in July 2006.
Click here to read the article
22 January 2008 - Barrister discusses implications of Harrow case
Writing in the Times, barrister Stephen Cragg gives a brief overview of some of the legal issues around Harrow Council's decision to only support people who are assessed as having critical needs.
Click here to read the article
18 January 2008 - Study suggests personalisation can lead to better services
The Guardian reports on a new study by Chris Hatton of Lancaster University
Click here to read the article
18 January 2008 - Ombudsman slams Trafford Council - again
Trafford council is refusing to pay a disabled woman £100,000 for failing to meet her care needs, report the Guardian.
Click here to read the article
18 January 2008 - BBC launches interactive social care resources
The BBC has developed a range of resources on its website to tie in with its series of Radio 4 programmes on adult social care.
You can get information on social care in your area with their 'care map'.
You can join their message boards to talk about the problem.
The interactive 'care calculator' will show you what levels of support are available for people with different levels of need.
08 January 2008 - Man with learning disabilities killed as £5 bet
A court has been told how a group of people punched and kicked a man to death at a bus stop, report the BBC.
Click here to read the article
08 January 2008 - Care home closure 'not money saving exercise' say Council
A care home for people with learning disabilities in Stoke-on-Trent is to close. The Council spokesman said: 'We will be listening carefully to messages about maintaining friendships and fully expect that some people will move to new accommodation together.'
Click here to read the BBC's story
08 January 2008 - Chairman of the Healthcare Commission brands its replacement 'pointless'
Sir Ian Kennedy, the chairman of the Healthcare Commission, has told MPs that the Care Quality Commission will expensive and potentially harmful to patients, reports the Daily Telegraph today.
02 January 2008 - Harrow's cuts to services judged unlawful.
The Public Law Project, supported by Harrow Mencap, has won a case against Harrow Council who unlawfully withdrew the provision of services for around 500 people.
Click here to read the BBC's story
18 December 2007 - Exercising your rights: aren't the costs justified?
Third Sector report that Cumbria County Council has criticised charities for causing it to spend £25,000 fighting allegations that it failed to consult properly on means-testing for day-care services.
Read the full article here (free registration required)
14 December 2007 - Local campaigners fight cuts
Family and friends of people with a learning disability are fighting alongside their local Mencap group to save a residential care home for people with a learning disability in Surrey.
Read the full article
11 December 2007 - Petition launched on Downing Street website
A petition on the 10 Downing Street website calls on the Government to introduce a personal expenses allowance of £20.45 for all people with learning disabilities who are receiving care, not just those living in residential care homes.
For more information, and to sign the petition, visit the Downing st website
Please also sign the Learning Disability Coalition petition calling for better funding for social care for people with learning disabilities by typing your email address in the box to the right.
10 December 2007 - Government outlines plans for personal budgets
The Government today launched 'Putting People First', described by the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, as 'potentially one of the most radical public service reforms for a generation.'
Read this paper on the Department of Health website.
4 December 2007 - 'Valuing People Now' launched
Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis has launched 'Valuing People Now - from Progress to Transformation', a consultation which will determine the Government's priorities for learning disabilities for the next three years. The Coalition will work to ensure that the issue of cuts to services is given proper consideration as part of this process.
Read Valuing people now
3 December 2007 - Watchdog calls for 'sweeping and sustained' changes to 'neglected' services
In a report published today, the Healthcare Commission found that most specialist inpatient services for people with learning difficulties provide poor standards of care, and that there are unacceptable variations in the quality of services throughout the country. It found that even in the best services the safety and quality of care were not up to the standard expected.
Read the full statement
1 December 2007 - Mencap reports on our work
Mencap's Viewpoint magazine leads with an overview of cuts and the Learning Disability Coalition. Their article provides a good overview of the cuts problem.
Download Viewpoint magzaine
Listen to an audio version of Viewpoint
29 November 2007 - Northumberland set to lower threshold
Community Care magazine reports that Northumberland Council is considering lowering its eligibility threshold, to include people with both 'critical and 'substantial' need. This announcement comes shortly after the Coalition publicised figures showing exactly what level of support councils across the country provide. Northumberland is one of only three councils that currently provide social care only to people with 'critical' needs.
Read the full story on the Community care website
29 November 2007 - TUC discuss Social Care.
Reporting on their 2007 Poverty Conference, the TUC say: "Eligibility for support is often so tightly rationed that people are left in deteriorating circumstances until such time that their situation is deemed critical enough to warrant support."
Click here to read the full report
28 November 2007 - Cuts so severe they are leading to human rights abuses
RADAR
calls for reform of our social care system. Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of RADAR, said "the system is in crisis, failing to provide basic 'life and limb' support to some, and failing to support many others in the basic right to participate in social and economic life."
Click here to read more
26 November 2007 - Help the Aged join calls for greater funding for social care
Responding to our research on the rationing of care services, Help the Aged call on the Government to "stop the rot".
Click here to read their statement
26 November 2007 - Liberal Democrats respond to Coalition research
Andrew Stunnell MP, Lib Dem Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, calls on the Government to "ensure that the most vulnerable in society aren't left behind by cuts in services."
Click here to read more
22 November 2007 - Coalition addresses Association for Real Change's Annual Conference
Heather Honour, Campaign and Policy Manager, talks to ARC about the Coalition's work.
Click here to download the ARC presentation.
22 November 2007 - New figures reveal true extent of restriction of access for the vulnerable
The true extent of the withdrawal of services for vulnerable people has been revealed today by new figures, secured by the Learning Disability Coalition.
Click here to view this report and the statistics
15 November 2007 - Controversy continues on Lewisham's withdrawal of help for vulnerable people
Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock has indicated that plans to cut services will not go ahead as planned.
Click here to read News Shopper's article
14 November 2007 - Cumbria cuts backed by court
A legal challenge to the imposition of new fees for day care services in Cumbria has failed, reports Third Sector.
Click here to read the article (you will need to register on the site for free to read the full article)
14 November 2007 - Dorset cuts come under fire
Local MP Jim Knight attacks Dorset County Council's plans, reports the Dorset Echo.
Click here to read the article
12 November 2007 - Further cuts in services planned in Dorset
Day care centres face closure as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
Click here to read more
7 November 2007 - Commission for Social Care Inspection report underlines problems in social care
In reponse to the report "What councils are reporting on their progress in delivering services to adults with social care needs", Heather Honour, Campaigns Manager of the Learning Disability Coalition, made the following statement:
"Hidden within this report is an alarming message. Care is being restricted to those who have the most profound needs. Other people with learning disabilities, who still have high levels of need, have to fend for themselves."
To read the report, click here
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