Disabled People: User-led Organisations

Lord McKenzie of Luton Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2011 Grand Committee

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Wheeler for securing this debate today. I did write out a bit of a script, but having just listened to some powerful contributions I think I will discard most of it. My noble friend says that this is her first Question for Short Debate; I feel sure and hope that it will not be the last. I was particularly pleased when she referred to Nasa Begum and the work that she has done, because when we talk about social workers it is all too often when there is a problem and somebody is being challenged. There are many people in that field who do fantastic work, day in day out. They are unsung heroes and it is nice to have an opportunity, even given the circumstances, to be able to join in the praise for somebody who has achieved a great deal.

When I saw that the list of speakers contained the usual suspects, I knew it was going to be a powerful debate. If there is any benefit in not being a Minister, it is that I am not responsible for answering such questions these days. Picking up on a couple of points in the contributions so far, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Addington, that it is generally not about lack of good will. Government policymakers and local government do not set about their task to get it wrong or to damage and hurt people. It is about understanding. The noble Lord talked about the need to encourage an interface. If he was looking to me for pearls of wisdom on that, I may disappoint him but there is no overall prescription for how you deal with it. You have to work at it hard and recognise the need for that.

The noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, has an effective way of chiding politicians to remind us that we came in at the end of this process and that people had been engaged many years before we even woke up to the issue. I accept that, while the mantra of “nothing without us” carries through from the 1980s until today. The issue about ULOs challenging stigma is particularly pertinent. We all agree that ULOs need to be properly understood, resourced and supported.

There are issues about infrastructure funding and I turn now to the £3 million fund that has been announced recently. The noble Baroness referred to the Localism Bill and the opportunities it presents.

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[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

My Lords, I was going on to localism but, before I do so, perhaps I may recap. I walked out to vote with the noble Lord, Lord Addington, and I think that what he was seeking for me to say earlier was not to report some success I had had with working with colleagues from dyslexia groups but to report the failure; that however much one had tried, it had not succeeded. So perhaps I can clarify that.

Before I get to localism perhaps I should refer to the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, which I found fascinating. I went to a seminar at the Centre for Mental Health earlier in the week. The seminar was about getting people into employment, although not necessarily through user-led organisations. It emphasised the key importance of having a mentor who stays with a person and how the one-to-one relationship makes an important difference. One can see the added benefit if that person comes from a user-led organisation as well.

My noble friend Lady Wilkins made the incredibly telling point that if you are not disabled you cannot understand the daily living reality of being disabled. That is why it is so important that we have user-led organisations. She expanded on some of the difficulties of getting funding and winning contracts. I have seen that locally in Luton in relation to a case where, although the process is not yet complete, small organisations have already missed out because they are competing against big organisations which are used, on a national basis, to getting the process right; they know exactly what is required and smaller organisations are therefore missing out.

This actually ties in with issues around localism because if localism is about empowering individuals, local communities and local groups to have a greater say over their lives, the rights in legislation have to be real for people and not just nominal rights. Some are fettered by quite a few powers held at the centre by the Secretary of State, but that is for another debate. People must be supported in being able to take up and make real use of those rights and funding should be attached to doing that.

Briefly, and to reiterate points other noble Lords have made, questions were put about the commitment that the previous Government made. The Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People report said that,

“by 2010 each locality (defined as an area covered by a council with social services responsibilities) should have a user-led organisation modelled on existing CILs [centres for independent living]. This recommendation has been taken forward as part of the cross-government Independent Living Strategy”.

I am right to ask the Minister whether that is still part of this Government’s approach to these matters—is that still a commitment they would wish to take forward? Putting People First talked about the transformation of adult social care and stated that,

“councils should have an enabling framework to ensure that people can exercise choice and control and have access to advocacy, peer support and brokerage systems with strong links to ULOs. Where ULOs do not exist, a strategy to foster, stimulate and develop ULOs locally should be developed”.

Is the noble Lord, Lord Freud, able to say anything further on that matter? Reference has been made to the £3 million-worth of funding that has been made available. I join others in supporting and congratulating the Government on doing that. But that funding is spread over four years and it has to cover things such as a new national head and somebody to be seconded to the Office for Disability Issues from a ULO, and the document talks about ambassadors and experts to provide skills and training support. It also refers to there being a facilitation fund for ULOs. Does all of that have to come out of the £3 million over that four-year period? Specifically, is that fund part of the £3 million? The press release that accompanied the announcement said that the facilitation fund would be,

“available for ULOs to bid for small to moderate amounts of money for specific projects”.

Might the noble Lord, Lord Freud, let us have his interpretation of what “small and moderate” might mean in these circumstances? I conclude on localism by referring to the community right to challenge. There is an opportunity there for ULOs but it must be a real opportunity. They must have the capacity to be able to do that, and perhaps the noble Lord might be able to say something further about that.