Mencap responds to the Valuing People Now progress report

Wednesday 08 December 2010

David Congdon, head of campaigns and policy at Mencap, says:

"We welcome the report and believe that progress has been made for people with a learning disability since the launch of Valuing People Now. This good work must now be allowed to continue. It is vital that in the current era of cuts people with a learning disability do not move down the list of priorities.

"The report acknowledges the role the regional structures have played in moving the learning disability agenda forward. With the programme's structures likely to be dismantled after March 2011 we need to be reassured the vision outlined in Valuing People Now can still be progressed.

"The report has also acknowledged the importance of Local Learning Disability Partnership Boards and their role in giving people with a learning disability a voice. We believe that there may be a question mark over their existence in some areas due to concerns over funding. If these were to go, we need to know what will be put in place to ensure that local departments and agencies are still talking to each other about learning disability."

ENDS

For more media information please contact Jenny Brannan on 0207 696 5414 or email jenny.brannan@mencap.org.uk.  

• About Mencap

Mencap supports the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK and their families and carers. Mencap fights to change laws and improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities, supporting thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.

We are also the largest service provider of services, information and advice for people with a learning disability across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. See http://www.mencap.org.uk/ for more information.

• About learning disability

A learning disability is caused by the way the brain develops before, during or shortly after birth. It is always lifelong and affects someone's intellectual and social development. It used to be called mental handicap but this term is outdated and offensive. Learning disability is NOT a mental illness. The term learning difficulty is often incorrectly used interchangeably with learning disability.