Transcript Slide 1

Next Steps for the Campaign
The emerging reality
This is a pincer attack on the rights of disabled people. If
we just focus on the 1.5 million people with the most
significant disabilities - over the next four years they are
likely to lose:
•£4.6 billion in social care support
•£4 billion in disability living allowance
•Termination of ILF
•Cuts to Supporting People
•Many further cuts in housing support
•Reductions to other benefits - especially for those not in
work
So, more than £8 billion of the total £27 billion (>>25%)
which government is saving from departmental budgets is
being born by less than 3% of the population - those who
And many other cuts will continue to fall
on:
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People with less severe,
but still significant,
disabilities
People with mental
health problems
Women suffering
domestic violence
People not in work
Refugees and asylum
seekers
and we are already the most centralised welfare state and the 3rd most unequal society after USA and Portugal
An economic crisis caused by the bursting
of a bubble created by...
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Bankers who benefited from bonuses
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Investors who benefited from unsustainable profits in
finance industry
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Politicians who benefited from the illusion of a
booming economy
Home owners who benefited from unsustainable
house price increases
Who did not benefit from the bubble? - the
poor and disabled people
Not just cuts - but targeted cuts
Protected
Cut
Pensions
Disability benefits
Healthcare
Social Care
Education
Social Housing
£350 billion out of £500
£40 billion
Universal, mainstream, for ‘ordinary
people like us’
Special, marginal, for
‘the poor & unfortunate’
or ‘scroungers’
Delivered by nationalised systems
with high visibility
Delivered by complex
and diffuse systems
with low visibility
The cuts are just a symptom - there are
long-standing problems to address
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Weak entitlements - eligibility thresholds high and rising,
housing rights weak, legal rights weak
Super-taxation for disabled people - means-testing,
charging
Poverty traps - benefit systems that punish families,
savers, earners and disabled people
Weakened families - support focused on crises,family
control undermined, families disrespected
Imprisonment for many - up to 20,000 people with
learning difficulties in prison
Pre-birth and at-birth eugenics - 92% abortion rate for
unborn children with Down’s syndrome (UK)
Perhaps we could
1. Do nothing - the cuts are inevitable - nothing can be
done, we just have to cope the best we can - the world
is simply unfair
2. Rely upon others - other people and organisations are
already set up to campaign - we don’t need another
campaign we’ve got nothing new to add
3. Just stay positive - there will be positive opportunities
for change and reform in the cuts - this is really a good
thing - it will help break the reliance on ‘services’
...or alternatively
There are some opportunities,
amidst the madness
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Clarify the values - define the beliefs that
help us make progress
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Improve practice - innovate and reform
using technologies that we know work
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Build bridges - connect with each other
and with other groups for mutual support
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Advocate change - propose policy and
legislation that supports progress
This crisis is part of the third
phase of deinstitutionalisation
1. Closing institutions
2. Personalising services
3. Reforming welfare
To put people fully in control
of their own lives...
....as equal citizens.
We didn’t expect this to be easy?
The story so far...
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Next steps for an ordinary life - new and old leaders met
to reflect on the future for people with learning
difficulties.
Comprehensive Spending Review - individuals and
organisations begin to realise what is going to happen.
Something must be done - letter to be published in the
Times - but to what purpose?
Campaign is born - 1,000+ individuals sign up, plus
many organisational members - initial structures
developed...
Scottish Campaign - major event and manifesto written
Welsh Campaign - steering group formed 2 weeks ago
...lots achieved in 4 months
Our Purpose
Everyone is equal, no matter their differences or disabilities. A
fair society sees each of its members as a full citizen - a
unique person with a life of their own. A fair society is
organised to support everyone to live a full life, with meaning
and respect.
Scottish manifesto & Joint Human Rights Committee
Submission
1.human rights: this means embracing the European Convention on Human
Rights... a fundamental redesign of the obligations of government at every
level to secure citizenship for all.
2.the right to support as an objective right established in law: this will
remove the dependency of older and disabled people on ‘gifts’ from
professionals...
3.provide families and individuals with early support: this will prevent
crises, reduce the need for expensive interventions, and end the indignity of
severe eligibility thresholds.
4.put people back in control of their own lives: this will enhance personal
autonomy and dignity by restoring people’s right to control both their lives
and any essential support that they need.
5.good housing: this will give people the right to live in their own accessible
homes, with a choice of the full range of different types of tenure...
6.guaranteed minimum income free from means-testing: this will create
the necessary incentives for people to work and make contributions to civic
life...
7.end the current super-tax on older and disabled people levied
through local authority charges: this will end the indignity of older people
having to spend or give away all their savings...
Seven key principles...
1. Family - we give families the support they need to look after
each other.
2. Citizenship - we are all of equal value and all have unique
and positive contributions to make.
• Community - we root support and services in local
communities.
• Connection - we all get chances to make friends and build
relationships.
• Capacity - we help each other to be the best that we can
be.
• Equality - we all share the same basic rights and
entitlements.
The possible scope of the Campaign
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People with learning difficulties
Older people
Children and families
Disabled people
Mental health
Women and children
The poor
Community sector
Local government