The roadmap, titled ‘Improving Lives – the Future of Work, Health and Disability’ can be found here. 

Dan Scorer, Head of Policy at learning disability charity Mencap, said:

“To bring about the transformational change required over the next 10 years, the Government now needs to take bold actions to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with a learning disability, so they too can experience the pride, independence and health benefits paid work can bring.

“However, we are alarmed that the needs of hundreds of thousands of people with mild or moderate learning disabilities have been overlooked. These are people who rarely get any support from social services or key benefits like Employment and Support Allowance.

“The government needs to ensure everyone with a learning disability gets the support they need - through the benefits system and through employment support services.”

-ENDS-

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk or for out of hours 07770 656 659.

Notes to editors

About Mencap

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

Visit www.mencap.org.uk.

For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact Mencap Direct on 0808 808 1111 (9am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or email helpline@mencap.org.uk.

What is a learning disability?

A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life.

People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.

Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty. Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’.