What would you do if you were PM for the day?
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Discussing Policy and Politics for Good Lives at the LDE Conference in London.
As one of the conference sponsors, we couldn’t wait to hear what Learning Disability England (LDE) members thought politicians should be thinking about as they canvass for our votes. LDE Conferences are always packed full of lively discussions and this week’s London conference was no exception. The programme of workshops on the theme of Policy and Politics for Good Lives, highlighted that attendees were brimming with ideas ahead of this year’s election.
As part of the More Than a Provider partnership, Certitude’s Aisling Duffy co-presented a workshop entitled ‘Influencing Policy Nationally’ to discuss some big ideas that originate from our experience of working alongside the people we support.
During discussions Aisling asked the workshop participants to consider ‘What would you do if you were prime minister for the day?’ These are some of the things people told us;
- Make food banks more accessible
- Make the transition from children to adult supports easier
- Introduce equal leadership and have people with lived experience working alongside MPs on the same salary
- Make care contributions and available support more equal in all locations
- Ministers to have lived experience of the sectors they represent as a bare minimum
- Make housing that meets people’s needs
- Create more employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities
- Change how we measure growth so it focusses on people’s wellbeing not on GDP
- Have more experts by experience in decision making
- Change from tribal politics to collaboration
- Recover more tax from global businesses
- Restrict the amount of houses that people can own
- Level up social care with the NHS
- Better conditions and pay for support workers
Some ideas got more support than others, but one thing everybody agreed on, was that in the lead up to the next election it was important for politicians to ensure they understood voters who might communicate differently. To fully understand everybody’s aspirations for a good life.
More details about the More Than A Provider Big ideas will be available soon, and if you missed the London Conference there’s still time to book for the Online LDE conference on the 21st February – more details here.
