Joint Committee on Human Rights - Adults with Learning Disabilities Enquiry
BILD was invited to run a briefing session to members and staff of the Joint Committee on Human Rights - Adults with Learning Disability Enquiry.
The aim of the session, which lasted just over an hour was to make members of the committee aware of the issues associated with communicating effectively with adults with a learning disability and to help the committee adjust its working practices.
Annie Lawton and Martin Hopewell ran the session and
shared with us a full account of their experience.
‘If you’d told me ten years ago that I would be here in the House of Lords
doing this – I would never have believed you’. That’s how Martin Hopewell summed
up his experience of co-training a BILD session for the Joint Committee on Human
Rights in the Palace of Westminster.
Martin and BILD Training Associate, Annie
Lawton have worked together for many years and are not fazed by much, but their
nerves crumbled as they came out of Westminster tube station to see Big Ben
towering above them.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is chaired by Andrew Dismore MP and consists of 12 Members drawn from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Committee’s role is to consider human rights issues in the UK and, at the end of March this year it called for evidence about the rights of adults with a learning disability. This process started by issuing a press release asking people to write with examples of whether the rights of adults with learning disabilities are being respected and to give examples of things like receiving services, being treated with dignity, accessing employment, relationships, family life or healthcare. This press release was also available in an ‘easy read’ format and the Joint Committee further demonstrated its commitment to hearing the views of people with learning disabilities by extending the deadline for replies by two months. As well as receiving written evidence, the Joint Committee invites witnesses to come and give their evidence to them in person and asked BILD if they could run a session to tell the committee about some of the issues this might raise.
Enter a very nervous Martin and Annie, clutching their power-point presentations and a bundle of name cards to put on empty seats. The cards were to get across the message that Martin is only one person with a learning disability and the Joint Committee members need to think about the different support that individuals might need. This was the main theme of the session which provoked some lively debate about the use of video evidence from people who do not use spoken communication and whether meetings should be in less formal surroundings with members dressed less formally. The video debate could run and run but Martin was clear that, despite the fact that the experience was very formal and the surrounding daunting, he would not have wanted it any other way. He felt that giving evidence was a very important task and did not want it ‘dumbed down’. However, he was also quick to add that other people might choose differently and needed clear information about what to expect so that they could make an informed choice about what would feel comfortable for them. One of the suggestions from the Joint Committee members was to produce a guide for people giving evidence. This might contain a DVD showing meetings in progress, pictures of the different meeting rooms and members and a clear explanation of what happens, together with different options for giving evidence.
As Martin and Annie kept reminding the members, there is no one size fits all solution to making the process more accessible but the Joint Committee certainly showed that they were willing to listen, learn and think about ways to be more flexible within their procedural boundaries.
Martin and Annie left through the main entrance of the Palace of Westminster,
passing a well known politician and his dog and dodging the tourist’s cameras
and G8 protestors as they thanked the policeman on the gate. As they stood
outside, Martin’s words said it all ‘Even if it was nerve wracking at first –
you really feel like you’ve achieved something’.
If you want to know more about the inquiry or the Joint Committee on Human
Rights, please go to
www.parliament.uk/jchr
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