#JusticeforLB responds to: No voice unheard, no right ignored #norightignored #LBBill
Consultation on the Green Paper
No voice unheard, no right ignored is a government Green Paper that was launched today in the Houses of Commons by Norman Lamb. The Green Paper is a discussion paper so that learning disabled people, their families and carers can tell the government what they think of their suggestions. This is called consultation.
At the same time many of the people already involved in providing care and support to learning disabled people and people with autism will hold events in their paid time and talk to disabled people and feed their views back to the government. This is also called consultation, but we have some concerns that the same organisations will speak to the same people and say the same things as have been said for years now.
JusticeforLB and the LBBill
In the year that JusticeforLB has existed we have taken many steps to try and improve things for learning disabled people and raise awareness of the awful reality of the ‘care’ that they receive. One of the ways in which we are trying to do this is through the LBBill.
The LBBill aims to promote the rights of disabled people to chose where they live, who they live with, the type of support that they need and the kind of life they want to live, in their own home. The LBBill also aims to make it harder for the state to force disabled people into residential care or treatment, unless that is what the person chooses.
What the Green Paper says
The Green Paper wants to see four things:
- People in charge, supported by family and friends
- Inclusion and independence in the community
- The right care in the right place
- Very clear accountability and responsibility throughout the system
This is proposed through giving people five rights, expressed as I/my statements
- My right to be independent, to be part of a community, and to live in a home I’ve chosen
- My right to be listened to and have my wishes acted upon. My right to challenge decisions about me.
- My rights under the Mental Health Act
- My right to control my own support and services with a personal budget. My right for my NHS and Local Authority to work together for my benefit.
- I want to know who is responsible for supporting my physical as well as my mental health.
The JusticeforLB response to the Green Paper
We welcome the suggestions placed before parliament and we call on those persons within the system to work together to improve things for disabled people….. ooops, sorry, a momentary lapse into corporate speak. Arms length, passive talking about issues as though they’re not our responsibility helps no-one.
This is a societal issue, a human rights issue. We all need to step up and challenge the status quo. We each need to raise this issue with election candidates over the coming weeks.
Over the last twelve months a formidable network of #JusticeforLB volunteers have come together to seek answers and to make changes. What the government proposes goes some way towards the changes required, we’re not sure that it’s far enough, but we’re glad that these conversations have started and we will do all we can to contribute.
The Green Paper can be downloaded and read here. The first draft of the LBBill can be downloaded and read here. A second draft will be available for more crowdsourced feedback shortly (hopefully end of March/start of April).
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