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policy

Our aim: a good life achieved for all

There has effectively been no national policy for learning disability for years. Learning Disability
England hopes its Good Lives: Building Change Together framework, with points for action and
debate, will spark debate and lead to a new strategy

t is now more than 10 years since However, whatever retrospective England (LDE) have started to build
Valuing People was launched in 2001, criticisms we might have of Valuing momentum towards a new strategy. Their
Iunder the New Labour government that People’s imperfections now, many of us Good Lives: Building Change Together
had come to power in 1997, writes look back on its time with longing and initiative, which they describe below, has
Simon Jarrett. regret that its power has waned and the a similar sense of excitement about it to
It emerged in a great spirit of optimism, optimism it brought almost vanished. what I and many others felt as Valuing
announcing itself as “a new strategy for People was being created.
learning disability for the twenty-first Clearly, some of the lessons of Valuing
century” with a foreword by prime In 2022, we do not need any People have been absorbed, and there is
minister Tony Blair. more reports – we just need a focus on relationships, belonging and
Rarely, if ever, had the spotlight been on emotional connectedness as well as the
people with learning disabilities in such a to get on with changing things practical concerns that featured in 2001.
positive way. For the first time for a so I and all my disabled friends Crucially, people with learning
learning disability strategy, the disabilities are at its heart, and everyone
government had consulted with and can live our lives who is part of the learning disability
actively involved people with learning community or connected to it in some
disabilities themselves, who worked with way is invited to make their contribution.
professionals, families, campaigners and There were discernible improvements in Community Living magazine is proud to
academics to create it. the quality of support, involvement, stand alongside and work with LDE to build
Valuing People was based on four key housing options and many other areas. and promote Good Lives to get back to the
principles of rights, independence, choice Most of all, for the very first time, people task of making lives better for people with
and inclusion. Its aims included better life with learning disabilities seemed to have learning disabilities in England, and to make
choices, more choice and control, support a seat at society’s table and were noticed this a government priority once more.
for carers, better health and improved and heard.
opportunities in housing and employment. It may come as a surprise to many that,
There was even new money on the technically, Valuing People is still the ‘It is not an endpoint. It is a framework to
table to support the implementation of learning disability strategy for England. start a debate and give ideas for action’
the strategy – tens of millions of pounds However, this is only because no new Learning Disability England invites
was made available to local authorities strategy has been brought in to replace it. participation in Good Lives
and voluntary organisations in a learning It has been allowed to wither on the vine,
disability development fund and an gathering dust on a shelf somewhere in he Good Lives: Building Change
implementation support fund. the Department of Health and Social Care. Together framework brings together
For 10 years, there was a feeling of Tpeople’s thoughts and ideas about
optimism and positivity, as ideas that had Time to stop the rot what it will take for everyone with
been talked about for years became For the past decade at least, there has learning disabilities to be able to live their
possible in reality. been effectively no strategy for learning good life. Work on it started in 2020,
Valuing People was not perfect of disability in England at all, and it shows. when a group of 40 self-advocates came
course. In retrospect, its ideas about The never-ending assessment and together in Birmingham.
full-time employment in mainstream jobs treatment scandals, the return to large- The framework is there for anyone who
for people with the most profound scale accommodation, the paring back of is interested. LDE hosts it but does not
disabilities seem based more on wishful all but the most basic support, the neglect control it. It is not an endpoint. It is not a
thinking than anything else, and had the of families, the absence of employment report. It is a framework to start a debate
effect of the specialist needs of this group and housing strategies – all of this speaks and give ideas for action.
being ignored in the hope that they would to governments that have taken their eyes “In 2022, we do not need any more
somehow meld with everyone else. off the ball and of a group who were reports – we just need to get on with
Some people with mild learning allowed a few years in the sun but have changing things so I and all my disabled
disabilities lost their support when they now started to be ostracised once more. friends can live our lives,” says Jordan
appeared to be coping well, sometimes It is a dangerous moment – but we must Smith, who co-chairs the self-advocate
with disastrous consequences. not lose hope. Rather, we must stop the representative body. This is part of LDE’s
The effect on the employment rate was rot and bring public and government “rep body”, made up of self-advocates,
minimal and many people remained in focus back on learning disability. families and professionals.
their communities but somehow not I am delighted therefore that Good Lives has six chapters. Each Seán Kelly
connected to them. campaigning group Learning Disability chapter looks at what is happening now

14 Vol 35 No 4 | Summer 2022 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk