Mencap, the leading learning disability charity, responds to Boris Johnson’s first speech as the new Prime Minister and his commitment to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”.

Dan Scorer, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the learning disability charity Mencap, said:

We are pleased that our new PM mentioned social care in his first speech and that this is a priority for his Government. There is cross party consensus on the need for more money and we eagerly await his clear plan.

However, this plan must address working age disabled adults who account for half the social care budget .  People with a learning disability are less likely to have homes and or life savings that can be used to fund their care. A learning disability is a lifelong condition and people need care throughout their adult life. We hope the government will think long and hard about how their plans will energise not only the wealthy, who can afford their own care or insurance, but also disabled people who have already been left behind by years of austerity.

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    For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office:

    • email media@mencap.org.uk
    • telephone 020 7696 5414 (this is the same number for out of hours contact)

    Notes to editors

    About Mencap

    There are 1.4 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.

    www.mencap.org.uk  

    For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact the Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 (9am-3pm, 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

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

    • 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.