SEND News: High Court Finds Warwickshire CC’s Local Offer Unlawful

In what may turn out to be a ‘landmark’ (or at very least a ‘significant’) ruling, on Feb 5th (2016) High Court has handed down Judgement in the first Judicial Review to consider local authorities’ duties to disabled children following the reforms brought in under the new Children and Families Act on 1 September 2014. […]

Care Quality Commission Consultation: public events

Care Quality Commission consultation on future of health and adult social care regulation The Care Quality Commission (CQC) will soon be carrying out the final stage of consultation on its strategy for 2016-2021. The strategy will set out our proposals for developing the way it works  to make sure it is flexible and responsive to […]

MPs briefed on Choice for Intentional Community and Shared Living

The following is extracted from a news item on the website of the Camphill Research Network (The Camphill Research Network was launched in August 2014, and is a not-for-profit initiative). A series of presentations took place at Westminster on 15th September 2015 on the benefits and methods of Shared Living and Intentional Community for the support of learning disabled […]

Commons Public Accounts Committee reviews ‘Phase 1 of Care Act’

There was an ‘interesting’ session of the Public Accounts Committee in the Commons on 12th October, taking oral evidence on ‘Care Act first-phase reforms and Local government new burdens’, from some very senior civil servants. Click on this link to read a full transcript: Oral evidence: Care Act first-phase reforms and Local government new burdens […]

Work Capability Assessments not fit for purpose

53% of people who have been declared “fit to work” when applying for disability benefits are having their decisions overturned at appeal. The majority of decisions brought before the appeals panel which are overseen by a judge and a doctor are now judged to be wrong. The whole work capability assessment system needs to be […]

Baroness Hollins: Has Government considered full impact of proposed National Living Wage?

Baroness Hollins: Has Government considered full impact of  proposed National Living Wage? … especially on people with learning disabilities paying for personal care? A short but sharp exchange between Baroness Hollins (Crossbench Peer, expert on Learning Disability issues) and government spokesman, Lord Prior of Bramption in Written Answer to Question to Department of Health (27th […]

Shock Results of Survey of Learning Disability Nurses

A new RCN survey reveals that learning disability nurses have serious concerns about the impact that cuts are having on the 1.5 million people living with a learning disability in the UK. Learning disability nurses were asked to identify the main barriers to delivering the right standards of care and these areas were highlighted:

Botton Early Day Motion (EDM). More sponsor MPs sought.

Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament on BottonVillage. EDM 249 is entitled “Volunteer Vocational Co-Workers at Botton Village Community for Adults with Special Needs”. Full details of the EDM may be found here on the Parliament website . The Parliament website also provides an […]