This is BILD's News service for those in our community. See the latest news that affects people with learning disabilities, their families and those who work to support them.
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14 May: Disabled row councillor investigated by police
A Cornwall councillor who said disabled children should be "put down" is being investigated by police. Collin Brewer resigned earlier this year after his comments. He apologised and was re-elected earlier this month to the county's unitary authority. Devon and Cornwall Police said he was now being investigated after complaints about a recent interview with the Disability News Service website. More >
Read the latest from the Downssideup Blog about this >
9 May: Care homes face prosecution if abuse concerns are not reported Care homes will face prosecution if they do not report concerns that their staff are mistreating patients. The "duty of candour" on social care providers, a recommendation in the Francis report into the Mid Staffs NHS scandal, will be set out by health secretary Jeremy Hunt and would mean industry executives would have to tell health regulators if they thought their employees might be harming or neglecting elderly people. More >
3 May: 'Disabled children cost too much and should be put down' Councillor relected Collin Brewer, Councillor for the Wadebridge East seat in Cornwall who said 'disabled children cost too much and should be put down' and then resigned, has stood again andhas been relected, by just two votes. More > Coverage of his previous resignation > Downssideup blog response >
30 April: Lamb moots return of CQC ratings of adult social services The government may reintroduce assessments of the quality of council adult social services less than three years after abolishing them, care services minister Norman Lamb has said, he also threatens to 'name and shame' commissioners who fail to meet post-Winterbourne targets to review needs of people with learning disabilities placed in hospitals. More >
25 April: Treat 17-year-olds in police custody as children, court rules The High Court has ruled that 17-year-olds who are arrested and taken into police custody should be treated as children. In a landmark judgement, judges Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Kenneth Parker ruled that treating 17-year-olds at the police station in the same way as adults is unlawful. More >
25 April: Latest Access to Work statistics show halt to fall in new recipients After significant drops in the take-up of Access to Work since 2009 the latest figures show an increase of numbers helped including new claimants. More >
24 April: Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry reveals scale of illegal school exclusions Dr Maggie Atkinson, Children's Commissioner for England publishes findings from her School Exclusions Inquiry in her report, "Always Someone Else's Problem". It follows last year's report when, for the first time on record, schools admitted illegally excluding children. The report, supported by a survey of teachers, details the scale and nature of children illegally excluded. At a conservative estimate, this affects thousands of children in several hundred schools. More >
24 April: Failing social services may be going unchallenged, warns CQC chief Failing adult social services departments may be going unchallenged under the sector-led improvement regime brought in to replace annual assessments by the Care Quality Commission, the CQC's chief executive warns. More >
23 April: 'Sex abuse... even murder: How human rights are putting the mentally disabled in deadly peril' Daily Mail article by Rosa Monckton about the issues behind her organising a 'Right to Care' seminar in the House of Commons on 24 April. More >
22 April: Staff at NHS unit repeatedly abused severely disabled patients Vulnerable adults with disabilities such as learning difficulties, autism and dementia were allegedly subjected to horrific ill-treatment, including being slapped, punched, threatened, dragged by their hair and thrown into a ball pool. Many of the victims are unable to speak, and other health workers were too scared to report the shocking assaults because they felt “intimidated” by the perpetrators, Sheffield Crown Court was told. More >
22 April: Labour launches commission on integrating health and social care Labour has set up a commission to examine how best to integrate health and social care services in England in order to save money and deliver "whole-person care". The commission on whole person care, which will be chaired by John Oldham, a GP and former national clinical lead for quality and productivity at the Department of Health. More >
9 April: Respond to launch Winterbourne View Helpline From 11 April Respond are launching the Winterbourne View Helpline, 0808 808 0700 which is open Thursdays from 10 am - 4 pm. Funded by the Department of Health, this is for former patients, their families, friends, professionals and others affected by the abuse at Winterbourne View. More >
5 April: Funding to support learning and development of personal assistants Skills for Care is making over £1m of funding available through the Workforce Development Fund to support the learning and development of personal assistants and their individual employers. This is funded by the Department of Health as one of the priorities highlighted in the White Paper, Caring for our future: reforming care and support. The aim is to use the funding to drive the ongoing development of PAs and their employers by offering grants that are paid up front and includes associated costs, such as replacement/additional PA costs and travel.
More > 3 April: Mencap launch Charter for Clinical Commissioning Groups Mencap has launched a charter to eliminate health inequalities in the NHS, as new research reveals that over 1,200 people with a learning disability die prematurely every year in NHS care. They have aimed the charter at GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which replaced Primary Care Trusts on 1st April. More >
1 April: Major changes to the NHS from today 1 April saw the biggest reform to the NHS in its 65-year history, bringing substantial changes for health professionals in England. Community Care explains what's gone, what's come and how things will change >
26 March: Hunt overhauls social care regulation after Mid Staffs
Social care providers will receive performance ratings from specialist Care Quality Commission inspection teams working under a new chief inspector of social care, as part of the government's response to the Mid Staffordshire public inquiry. Adult social care staff will also be expected to comply with a new code of conduct and minimum training standards, published today by Skills for Care and Skills for Health, alongside the government's response to the Mid Staffs inquiry, chaired by Robert Francis QC. However, the government rejected Francis's call for adult care staff and healthcare assistants to be compulsorily regulated to help root out poor care. More >
26 March: Code of Conduct and National Minimum Training Standards launched
Skills for Care and Skills for Health launch the Code of Conduct and National Minimum Training Standards for Healthcare Support Workers who report to nurses or midwives and Adult Social Care Workers in England. More >
Download the National Minimum Standards for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England >
26 March: BILD calls on Government to put human rights at heart of health service in its response to the Francis Report
"What happened in Staffordshire Hospital shows how target-driven cultures, indifference and neglect can deny our most basic human rights. The care system is at a watershed moment. As practitioners, advocates and users of services we urge the Government to put human rights at the heart of compassionate health care." More >
25 March: Jan Tregelles named as new Mencap chief executive
Mencap has announced that Jan Tregelles, its current director of personal support, is to become the learning disability charity’s new chief executive. She first joined Mencap in 1983 as PA to one of the then directors. After leaving the charity to work in housing, she re-joined Mencap in 1997 to set up its housing arm, Golden Lane Housing. More >
22 March: Renowned self advocate, Mabel Cooper passes away at the age of 68 Born in 1944, Mabel had the misfortune to be separated from her family in infancy and to spend her childhood in a succession of children’s homes. Eventually, aged 13, she acquired the label of ‘learning disability’ which led to her being admitted to St Lawrence’s Hospital (a long-stay institution) in Caterham, Surrey where she remained for the next 20 years. Mabel left hospital in 1977 to live in the community, and in the 1980s she joined Croydon People First self-advocacy group, where she became the chairperson. In that role, and in her subsequent role as chair of London People First, she worked with people with learning disabilities to enable them to speak for themselves. In the 1990s, aware of the sweeping changes in learning disability policy and practice, Mabel began telling her story, see it here >
Mabel also contributed to three history of learning disabilities books published by BILD :
Forgotten Lives: http://bit.ly/XecWmL
Good times, bad times: women with learning difficulties telling their stories: http://bit.ly/15UpPSe
Crossing Boundaries: http://bit.ly/13x1tSR
20 March: Couple charged for keeping six-year-old autistic child locked in a cage in their basement Authorities in Missouri discovered the child naked, sitting in his own urine and feces, in a makeshift cage with plywood top that was secured with zip ties, tension straps and bungee cords. The cage measured approximately three-feet tall, three-feet wide and six-feet long. The autistic child's siblings told authorities they were rarely allowed to play with the child and that they would often feed him hot dogs and chicken nuggets through the bars of the cage. More >
19 March: Early death link to learning disabilities 'shocking' People with learning disabilities die on average 16 years earlier than they should, due to NHS failings, according to official research. The Department of Health, which commissioned the work, says this is unacceptable. The deaths occur due to delays or problems investigating, diagnosing and treating illnesses.
More > 18 March: Tenants with learning difficulties face prejudice and lack of suitable housing A lack of social and specialist housing coupled with prejudice and misconceptions is preventing people with learning disabilities living independently – and the situation is worsening. Many people with learning disabilities want to live independently and could do so with the right support, yet they are denied choice about where they live and who they live with, and are often shut away in residential care homes. More > Mencap report: Housing for people with a learning disability >
15 March: North Dakota may be first to ban abortions based on Down Syndrome North Dakota is on the way to becoming the first American state to ban abortions based on genetic “defects” like Down Syndrome. When diagnosed before birth, such genetic abnormalities prompt couples to have abortions 90 percent of the time. More >
14 March: Value of the adult social care sector in England estimated at £43 billion Research for Skills for Care has found the total economic value of the English adult social care sector is an estimated £43 billion and that the adult social care sector directly employs around 1.5 million workers in 1.7 million jobs, or about 6.4% of the total workforce. More >
6 March: Castlebeck care homes go into administration following abuse scandal Castlebeck, the company at the centre of a BBC-exposed scandal into physical abuse and neglect at one of its care homes, has gone into administration. Eleven care workers admitted a total of 38 charges last year after they were secretly filmed abusing patients at Winterbourne View near Bristol.
Administrators Grant Thornton have been brought in to manage the process. All 214 residents across 20 UK sites will still receive care from Castlebeck while a buyer is found, says the firm. More >
5 March: New legal health duty for children and young people with special educational needs A new duty will mean that Clinical commissioning groups - GPs who plan local health services - will by law have to secure services in education, health and care plans for children and young adults that include specialist services like physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy. At present councils have a legal duty to make sure that children and young adults with the most complex needs get the support they need to develop and become as independent as possible later in life. However, some parents have complained that health services can fall between the gaps. The special educational needs reforms will be discussed at the committee stage of the Children and Families Bill in mid-March, and are set to become law in 2014. More >
4 March: Care Minister warned personalisation at risk Personalisation is at "high risk of failure" unless bureaucratic council approaches that restrict service users and social workers are overhauled, care services minister Norman Lamb has been warned in an open letter. The letter comes from organisations that have championed personal budgets and the opening up of the social care market to increase choice for service users: In Control, Shared Lives Plus, Community Catalysts, Inclusive Neighbourhoods and Inclusion North. They said that while research showed how personal budgets could be used to most effectively improve outcomes for service users, many councils were taking the opposite approach. More >
28 February: Councillor resigns over disabled comment A councillor who said disabled children "should be put down" because they cost too much has resigned.
More >
27 February: Blackpool Primary School Teachers Suspended A headmistress and five teachers have been suspended - and a police investigation has been launched - amid claims that a child was locked in a room as a punishment. The suspensions at Revoe Community Primary School came after a member of Blackpool Council's education department raised concerns following a routine visit. Sky News understands the investigation is focusing on how isolation has been used as a form of punishment. More >
20 February: Disabled children are routinely illegally excluded from school Disabled children are routinely illegally excluded from school with a devastating impact on their education and mental health, according to new research from Contact a Family. Of their survey more than half of families have been asked to collect their child during the school day because there are not enough staff available to support them, and almost a quarter are illegally excluded every week and 15 per cent every day.
More >
18 February: Schools accused of operating secret 'punishment rooms' to deal with severely autistic children Investigations have been ordered into allegations that schools have been locking severely autistic children away in rooms as a way of dealing with their behaviour. Children's Minister Edward Timpson launched the investigation following a number of allegations of children being locked up in 'punishment rooms', for behaviour including being disruptive in class. A former teacher at a school in Newham, east London, has told of students who were locked in a room for being disruptive during lessons, as well as a ten-year-old girl who put her head and fist through a glass-panelled door after being locked away. More >
15 February: Golden Lane Housing and Mencap launch £10m charity bond The UK’s largest ever unlisted charity bond will buy houses for people with a learning disability. Golden Lane Housing, the housing arm of Mencap, has launched a £10 million charity bond which will raise money to buy homes for people with a learning disability.Based on soft-market testing, the GLH Bond will be the UK’s largest ever charity bond issue of its kind. Investors in the bond, which has a minimum investment level of £2,000 per investor, will receive a fixed gross yield of 4% per annum for the five year fixed term. More >
11 February: Being brought up by parents with learning difficulties This coming week's Women's Hour 15 minute drama is The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles, about a young woman with learning difficulties who announces she wants to have a baby. This weekend's Woman's Hour talked to Jill Huntsmith and her son Alex (who takes part in the drama) about being brought up by parents with learning difficulties. Listen again on the iPlayer, starts at 38.30.
Listen >
8 February: Police face investigation over physical restraint of disabled 11-year-old girl The police watchdog has launched an investigation into a complaint about the treatment of a disabled 11-year-old girl who was restrained by officers. The girl, who has Smith-Magenis syndrome, a genetic disability, appeared to be physically restrained with handcuffs and leg restraints by officers on five occasions in and around Horsham, West Sussex. More >
5 February: Children and Families Bill published by Government The Bill includes clauses on special education needs which aim to reform the SEN system. The clauses include the duty on local authorities to draw up Education, Health and Care plans and to set out a 'local offer' of services available to parents and young people. Edward Timpson, the Minister responsible for SEN and Disability within the Department for Education, has given more detail to the Council for Disabled Children about the government's response to the select committee's report and what happens next in the process. Includes: The inclusion of an explicit right to request an assessment; The requirement of Local Authorities to consult parents and young people in preparing Education, Health and Care Plans; The provision for those on Apprenticeships to have an Education, Health and Care Plan; Provisions for the new SEN Code of Practice to be consulted upon; The work of the SEN and disability pathfinders. More, including the Minister's letter, on the CDC website >
5 February: Disability hate crime helpline launched A new free telephone helpline for people with learning disabilities who have been victims of disability hate crime has been launched. The new 24-hour free helpline, Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime, has been launched by hate crime support organisation Stop Hate UK in England and Wales. Anybody who has experienced, witnessed or knows someone who is experiencing learning disability hate crime can contact the helpline on 0808 802 1155 for support and information. Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime is free to call from landlines and most mobiles and the number won’t show on a phone bill. More >
4 February: WHO's Executive Board resolution calls for better health care for people with disabilities The World Health Organisation's Executive Board has adopted a draft resolution on disability, to be debated at the World Health Assembly in May this year. The resolution endorses the recommendations of the World report on disability on and calls for WHO and Member States to ensure equal access to health services for persons with disabilities. The WHO Executive's draft resolution > The World Report on Disability > The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities >The World Report on Disability > The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities >
4 February: Judge rules learning disabled 'owed care' by health chiefs Health chiefs owe a legal duty to assess and review the community care needs of mental health patients in NI, a High Court judge has ruled. Mr Justice McCloskey held that, in suitable cases, social needs should be met within a reasonable time. The verdict has implications for more than 130 people with learning disabilities waiting to be resettled. Campaigners said the decision was an important legal victory for long-stay hospital patients. More >
1 February: NICE standards for social care Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb, today launched a 12 week consultation to establish a full set of NICE quality standards and guidance for social care. The Department is seeking ideas from care users, their families and carers, service commissioners, care providers and front line staff to help decide on future topics for NICE guidance and standards. The aim is to establish a full set of NICE quality standards and guidance in order to improve the quality of social care. More >
29 January: The Great Disability Scam Only half of all people with a disability are in work. Panorama investigates if one of the government's most ambitious welfare reforms, costing billions of pounds, can solve the problem of disability unemployment. Reporter Sam Poling reveals the private companies who are getting rich from the new reforms despite only being able to get a small fraction of disabled people back to work, and speaks to the charities who feel the most vulnerable in our society are being failed. Watch on the BBC iPlayer > Read a comment from BASE, the British Association for Supported Employment >
29 January: Police launch probe at Dundee care hospital
Tayside Police have launched an investigation into the behaviour of five members of staff at independent private care hospital Monroe House in Dundee. More >
28 January: Reasonable adjstments in eye care The Public Health Observatory and SeeAbility have come together to publish a report brings together a number of examples of reasonable adjustments that can be used to make eye care services more accessible for people with learning disabilities. Download the report from the IHaL website >
23 January: First newspaper designed for people with learning disabilities United Response have launched Easy News at a launch event in Parliament today. Easy News is the first newspaper designed to be accessible for people with learning disabilities. The first edition of Easy News consists of a summary of some of the biggest news stories from 2012, with subsequent editions focusing on more topical issues. Easy News will be published every two months and will be available in print and online. An audio version will also be available on CD and online. Download a copy here >
22 January: Met Police appeal in autism case The father of an autistic boy restrained by Metropolitan Police officers after he jumped into a swimming pool has attacked the force for challenging a ruling against them. Last year a judge said officers had falsely imprisoned and discriminated against the boy, known only as ZH. He was placed in handcuffs and leg restraints and put in a police van. The Met is to appeal against the judgement today, saying it could affect operational effectiveness. BBC News coverage > Channel 4 News coverage >
18 January: Ministers urged to find £2bn to fund 'moderate' care threshold The government must set its national minimum threshold for care at the 'moderate' level to prevent hundreds of thousands of people going without the support they need, despite a price tag of over £2bn a year. That was the message from a group of disability charities as they released research on the costs of implementing a national threshold at the 'moderate' Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) band and the impact on disabled people's lives of the higher eligibility thresholds in place across most of the country. More from Community Care >
17 January: New newspaper from United Response To mark their 40th birthday this year, United Response are going to launch Easy News - the first newspaper created to give people with learning disabilities the news in a format which is designed with them in mind. More about the launch >
16 January: How we communicate BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth, Michael Rosen meets parents, researchers and carers to explore the ways we communicate with people with autism or profound learning disabilities. Catch it on the BBC iPlayer >
11 January: Woman with learning difficulties can decide own pregnancy fate, court rules A young woman with learning difficulties who faced the prospect of a court deciding if her pregnancy should be terminated has the capacity to decide herself, the high court has ruled.
Mr Justice Hedley, sitting in the court of protection, said it was important to bear in mind that people with severe learning difficulties, who might not be able to function independently in the community in many other aspects of their lives, "may very well retain the capacity to make deeply personal decisions about how they conduct their lives". This could include decisions about choice of partners, the extent of sexual activity, making permanent relationships, "and decisions about their own medical care including, as in this case, the continuation or termination of pregnancy". More on Guardian website >
10 January: House of Lords debate disability services The House of Lords debate a report produce by disability charity, Scope: 'Over-looked Communities, Over-due Change, about disability services for people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds'. Debate sponsored by Lord Boateng. Read the Hansard report on the debate >
8 January: Kate wows on This Morning!
BILD staff member Kate Backley (pictured above, left) appeared on ITV's This Morning programme today and gave a television star performance! Kate was talking about her featuring in Channel 4's The Undateables on 22 January and spoke about how she was selected for the show, her reasons for joining the programme and how her dates went! You can watch This Morning on the ITVPlayer from tomorrow > Find out more about The Undateables on the Channel 4 website >
Read Kate's write up of her experience >
4 January: Mark Goldring to leave Mencap Mark Goldring, chief executive of Mencap, will leave the learning disability charity to join Oxfam GB in April. Goldring has been chief executive of Mencap since 2008. Prior to joining Mencap, Goldring worked as chief executive of and in the field for international development organisation VSO, as well as for the United Nations Development Programme, the UK’s Department for International Development and as Oxfam's country director in Bangladesh in the early 1990s. Jan Tregelles will act as Mencap interim chief executive whilst the search for a successor takes place. More from learning Disability Today >
3 January: Challenge to Worcestershire Council social care policy
A legal challenge has been lodged against a council policy to limit social care spending that critics warn will force younger adult clients into residential care. A 16-year-old disabled man, known as D, has applied for a judicial review of Worcestershire Council's maximum expenditure policy which would, usually, limit council spending on community-based care packages for those aged under 65 to the cost of meeting their needs in residential care. More on Community Care website >
