Vijay Patel
1 - Don’t make any harmful changes to Personal Independence Payment
Personal Independence Payments aren’t about work, they’re about the person’s life day to day in general.
Plans to change Personal Independence Payment payments to vouchers instead of cash, or claiming things back with receipts, or picking items from a catalogue won’t improve the lives of people with a learning disability. We're concerned that some shops and transport might refuse to take the vouchers too.
We’re also worried that any plans to change questions for someone who is eligible for Personal Independence Payment might mean people who get the benefit now might not be able to get it in the future.
2 - Funding to end the social care crisis
There needs to be enough money to end the
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
crisis because the people that need support cannot get these.
We know that one issue in social care is that the pay for social care workers is not enough to live on. This needs more funding from Westminster to go to local councils, so they can fund social care in their area.
3 - Change Mental Health law
Mental health
law
Laws are the rules that everyone in the country has to follow. If you don't follow the rules you can get in trouble with the police.
needs to be changed for people with a learning disability and autistic people. It’s important for people to get help when they need it.
People with a learning disability should not be locked up in mental health hospitals when then don’t need to be there. They need the right support in the
community
A community is the people and places in an area.
so that they can be at home within their local community and near their loved ones.
4 - A benefits system that works to support people with a learning disability
It’s important all people with a learning disability get the right benefits that are good enough to live on, whether they work or not.
Lots of people with a learning disability want to try work but don’t get the right support. We want
the government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much
tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like
income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools.
,
VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals.
and
council tax
Council Tax is the money that people pay to the council. It helps to pay for things like social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
.
people should pay and how things like the National Health Service (
NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals.
) should work.
to make sure that people with a learning disability who want to work can try work without being worried about losing their benefits.
People should be able to get support no matter where that person lives.
5 - Put people with a learning disability at the heart of plans to improve the NHS
People with a learning disability should be listened to and a part of any changes that the new government makes to the NHS. We often need reasonable adjustments when we have hospital and GP appointments.
People who work in health need to understand us, communicate clearly with us, and we need to be treated with
respect
Respect means showing someone you think about someone's feelings, wishes or
rights
Rights are the things everyone should be allowed to do like have a say, or go to school.
.
just like everyone else.
We hope the new government will work on these priorities for people with a learning disability.
