Jan Tregelles, CEO of Mencap, and Vivien Cooper, CEO of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, comment:
We welcome the Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb’s announcement today on the changes to the Joint Improvement Board tasked with overseeing the programme to resettle people from in-patient institutions like Winterbourne View. The Minister has reaffirmed that this important work requires strong leadership and management, and has given his personal commitment to ensuring this happens.
It is over two years since the BBC exposed the shocking abuse
Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared. of people with a learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things. at Winterbourne View and it is unacceptable that the circumstances of all 48 people who lived there are still not known. We are frustrated and concerned by this – as well as the wider lack of progress in ensuring that over 3,000 people with a learning disability and behaviour that challenges are properly supported to leave in-patient institutions, like Winterbourne View, and return to their local communities.
Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation recently met with the Care Minister, Norman Lamb, and called on him to take urgent action to address this situation. We believe 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
A council is also called a local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools, social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it. (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. . They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. Tax is the money that people pay to the council
A service gives people what they need, like healthcare services that help people when they are ill, and support services that give people support. ( 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. , NHS and local authorities owe this to the victims and families of the Winterbourne View abuse scandal, and thousands of others in in-patient institutions. We will continue to support work to make the changes needed and to challenge when progress is slow.
-ENDS-
For more information or to arrange an
interview
An interview is a meeting where you talk to someone or a group of people about something. When you have an interview for a job, you have to answer questions and say why you would be good at the job. The person who gives the best answers is offered the job.
with a Mencap
spokesperson
A spokesperson is someone who speaks up about something. They usually speak up on behalf of a group or
organisation
An organisation are a group of people who work together.
.
or
case study
A case study is a piece of writing that tells people more information about someone's
experience
Experience is when you have learned or tried something before.
.
, contact the Mencap Press Office, on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk.
About Out of sight
Out of Sight is a
campaign
A campaign is when people work together to try to change something.
report by Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and tells the stories of James, Chrissy, Joe, Emmanuel and Victoria. In the report, their families talk about the terrible
neglect
Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported.
and abuse their loved ones have experienced in institutions like Winterbourne View, often far away from home.
Mencap and The Challenging Behaviour Foundation are two of the voluntary
organisations
Organisations are groups like companies and businesses.
who were asked to sign a Concordat agreement with the Department of Health, to hold the government to account.
The charities will continue to work to ensure people with learning disabilities and their families have a strong voice in all of the Winterbourne View Joint Improvement Programme work, as well as providing support to families fighting to bring their loved ones back closer to home.
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
Education is when you learn things. When you fill in a form to get a job, education means you write where you went to school, college or university.
,
employment
Employment means having a job.
and
leisure
Leisure is when you have time to do things you enjoy like playing sports or going to the pub.
facilities.
Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
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 help@mencap.org.uk
About The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation provides information, support and training around challenging behaviour associated with severe learning disabilities, and leads the ‘Challenging Behaviour National
Strategy
A strategy is a plan to show what an organisation, or a person, wants to do and how they are going to do it.
Group’ which seeks to influence policy and practice nationally on behalf of individuals who challenge and their families.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation was founded in 1997 by Vivien Cooper, parent of a son with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging. Today the Challenging Behaviour Foundation is in regular contact with over 5000 families and professionals across the UK. There are an estimated 30,000 individuals in England with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging.
For more information visit www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk.