This is a response from Speaking Up to the call for evidence regarding the human rights of adults with learning disabilities. This document details a number of our initiatives which exist to further the human rights of people with learning disabilities.

SPEAKING UP

  Speaking Up is an award winning charity, based in Cambridgeshire, which exists to give disabled people a voice in the shaping of their lives so that they can move away from a position of disadvantage and exclusion.

  The founding insight of Speaking Up was that a voice is the key to unlocking the door to a better life. We observed big differences in life-outcomes between those with and without a voice.

  Our distinctive approach is Voice/Action/Change—the idea that if you give people a voice, they are then in a better position to take positive action, after which the likelihood of a change in personal outcomes increases substantially.

  We support people with disabilities, learning disabilities or mental health issues to play a leading role in shaping their life through advocacy services and a number of innovative, user led initiatives.

BEST PRACTICE

  Speaking Up's initiatives have won some of the most prestigious awards in the charity sector, including the Queens' Award for Voluntary Service (2006), The Charity Awards (2006) and the Third Sector Award for Leadership (2006) recognising the success they have achieved.

  We believe that these initiatives are positive examples of practical means of securing the human rights of people with learning disabilities and ensuring that people are able to speak up for themselves, particularly through the user-led approach of our initiatives. All our projects aim to offer people with learning disabilities the same opportunities to play an active role in their community and to be valued citizens as all other members of society.

OUR PROJECTS ARE DETAILED BELOW

Next Steps

  Next Steps is an innovative, user-led service which provides personalised training for individuals with learning disabilities who wish to leave Local Authority Day Centres and play a more active role in their community. Next Steps training courses range from one to two years and develop invaluable life skills including; "Travel Skills", "Cookery Skills" and developing self-confidence. Prior to joining Next Steps, many people with learning disabilities lack the life skills or confidence required to participate in their community, forcing them to live lonely and isolated lives. Next Steps acts as a "stepping stone" enabling people with learning difficulties to move into a position where they can play an active role in their community.

  Next Steps is a user-led service. People with learning disabilities who enrol in Next Steps decide how it should be run and what topics will be covered in the courses and workshops. This ensures that the service remains relevant and truly reflects the needs and wants of people with learning disabilities.

  Next Steps has been a massive success, 95% of graduates from the service moving into either paid or voluntary employment or further education. Many of the people who enrol in Next Steps have spent much of their previous life in Local Authority Day Centres where there is a lack of opportunity around personal development and community involvement available to them.

  Next Steps is a positive example of empowering people with learning disabilities to play an active role in their community by developing the skills and self-confidence needed to do so. Without the opportunity to develop these essential life skills, people with learning disabilities can find themselves isolated and excluded from society.

The Cambridgeshire Parliament

  The Cambridgeshire Parliament is a unique, user-led initiative which represents the views of over 1500 learning disabled people across Cambridgeshire relating to the provision of services. The parliament meets bi-monthly, bringing together learning disabled people, councillors, senior managers and service providers to discuss issues affecting people with learning disabilities and how services for disabled people can be improved. The parliament gives learning-disabled people "a place at the table".

  The Cambridgeshire Parliament consists of 25 "MPs" each with a learning disability who are elected by their peers to represent the views of learning-disabled people in a particular area or at a particular service. This highly innovative, user-led approach empowers people with learning disabilities to speak up and ensures the parliament truly represents the views of people with learning disabilities.

  The Cambridgeshire Parliament has been a huge success in highlighting the issues and views of learning-disabled people in Cambridgeshire, ensuring their voices are heard and creating positive changes in services. The parliament has also provided a number of innovative ways of empowering "hard to reach" individuals, such as those with profound learning disabilities, to speak up through the use of story boards or video footage. The parliament has also established a cabinet of people with profound learning disabilities ensuring that their voice is heard and a Minister for Diversity representing the views of learning-disabled people from minority groups.

  The parliament has been so successful that Speaking Up are now beginning to disseminate the model across the UK by providing consultancy and resources to other groups who wish to start their own user-led parliament.

Consultancy, Training and Publications

  Speaking Up provide a range of user-led consultancy and training courses to companies and organisations addressing issues and shortcomings around disability, increasing understanding of the needs of people with learning disabilities and ensuring that their rights are respected. These training and consultancy services are led by people with learning disabilities who have been trained through Speaking Up's "Training 4 Trainers" programme. The user-led approach of our training and consultancy services promotes best practice and ensures that information and advice is relevant and that organisations are addressing the needs of people with learning disabilities.

  Through consultancy and training, Speaking Up aim to create a "level playing field" ensuring that people with learning disabilities have the same opportunities and receive the same treatment as anyone else.

  Speaking Up has provided training and consultancy to a wide range of professionals including Nurses, Police Officers and Council Officers. These training services are designed to increase the understanding of learning disability issues within these organisations ensuring that people with learning disabilities are treated equally and not discriminated against directly or indirectly, an issue highlighted in the Mencap report Death by Indifference.

  Speaking Up also produces a number of accessible publications designed to inform people with learning disabilities of their rights and options. Speaking Up produced the accessible versions of the Disability Equality Duty. Other publication topics include When someone dies, Moving Home and Sex and sexuality. These publications ensure that people with learning disabilities have the same access to information as other members of society.

Young People Speaking Up (YPSU)

  YPSU is a range of services, projects and courses designed to support people aged 11-25 years with learning disabilities, who are making the transition into adult life, to speak up for themselves.

  YPSU provide advocates to support young adults to speak up and have a say during crucial points in their lives such as educational review meetings, where decisions will have a lasting impact on their future. These meetings can often be confusing and the opinions of parents, carers and social workers can often drown out the voice of the individual involved. YPSU ensures that individuals with learning disabilities are able to make their views and wishes known and that decisions are not made without consulting them.

  YPSU also supports individuals with learning disabilities who are making the transition from youth services to adult services. YPSU provide advocates who ensure that people with learning disabilities making this transition are aware of all the options and can make an informed decision.

ADVOCACY

  Speaking Up provides a range of advocacy services in secure units, hospitals and the community to support individuals with learning disabilities or mental ill-health to make their voices heard. Speaking up ensures that their advocacy services solely represent the views and wishes of the individual, and ensure the individual is aware of all the options available to them, enabling them to be the architect of their own destiny, our advocates are not advisors.

  In order to ensure best practice Speaking Up only employs professional paid advocates, not volunteers, to ensure they have the time and qualifications to represent individuals effectively.

  Our advocates will stay with an individual until the issue is resolved; this includes supporting the individual to approach outside organisations, such as the housing association, to ensure the individual is not discriminated against and their wishes are represented. Our advocates do not sign post other organisations and then leave the individual to resolve the issue alone.

  Speaking Up also provides independent advocacy services in over 20 hospitals and secure units across the UK to ensure that residents' human rights are being met and they have the opportunity to speak up, complain and have access to all options they are entitled to. Although our advocates are independent they work in collaboration with secure units and hospitals in order to promote best practice from both sides.

  After a successful pilot, Speaking Up now provides an Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy service (IMCA). This service provides an advocate to support people who are facing a major decision such as a change in accommodation or serious medical treatment and lack the capacity to make major decisions independently. IMCA advocates work independently from other parties such as family members or care workers to ascertain the wishes of the individual and provide this information to the relevant organisations.

  Currently, Speaking Up employs 45 advocates providing advocacy services to 1750 disabled people across the UK. In the last year our advocacy services have touched the lives of 2500 learning-disabled individuals.

IN CONCLUSION

  As detailed above, Speaking Up is an organisation which exists to further the human rights of adults with learning disabilities. Speaking Up work in a context where human rights, choice, control, opportunity and inclusion are foremost. We believe, and external recognition suggests, that our work is innovative and effective in this regard.

  Part of Speaking Up's future strategy is to replicate this work on a much larger scale and increase awareness of these new mechanisms for ensuring that the human rights of adults with learning disabilities are respected.

23 May 2007