What a fascinating morning! I was at St Stephen's Club in Westminster on Thursday attending a 'Chatham House' roundtable on the future of specialist care for adults with learning disabilities.
The event, chaired by David Brindle from The Guardian, was attended by professionals from the Department for Health, Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Valuing People Support Team, IDeA, and the Institute for Public Policy Research, along with several other care organisations and charities.
It began with keynote presentations from Dame Jo Williams, Chief Executive of Mencap, and myself, along with a provider viewpoint from Bob Lewis of the Care Management Group, and then a two hour discussion on a way forward.
Overwhelmingly, the message was clear. We need to raise the awareness of Learning Disabilities; we need Government to be clear in their expectations - and harder still, to stick to them long enough for us to deliver. We need to accept that there's no 'silver bullet' quick answer, and although we can make efficiencies in our own organisations, this of itself isn't enough to balance our collective books.
As I said in my presentation, I hope this morning wasn't just another talking shop, and that we'll see some real actions and outcomes as a result of our morning together.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Just another talking shop?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
What would you do?
Just sat on a train next to a Mum and her young daughter. The little girl took out a puzzle, which asked her to insert various five letter words into a grid, so the fourth letter in each word spelt a new word in its column.
The first picture was of a boat - she asked her Mum what the word was, and her Mum told her "Yacht".
"How do you spell that" asked the youngster.
"Y - A - G - H - T" came the reply. I thought I'd misheard, but Mum repeated this twice as her daughter wrote in the letters.
What would you have done? Let it pass by or allow the Mum to teach her daughter the wrong spelling? Would this be seen as 'poking your nose in' or being helpful, and what does it say about our "look the other way" society?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Brown hits slippery patch on oil
Just saw this story from the KCC Press Office:
"Gordon Brown has urged oil industry leaders to come up with ideas for improving supplies as fuel prices soar. The government has announced new moves to increase oil production in the North Sea. Number 10 says it wants to make the most of the UK's reserves."
Isn't this just typical? The Government makes a higher profit off fuel tax than almost any other country, yet faced with impossibly high fuel costs at the pump, faced with the slow lingering death of our once-great haulage industry, faced with motorists rebelling against unaffordable fill-ups, what does our Prime Minister do?
Does he look at ways to reduce the price at the pump? Does he explore alternative energies? Does he look at tax breaks for hauliers? Does he use the obscene Government windfall from the rocketing barrel price of crude to ease the pressure?
No. He orders North Sea production to be raised, using up precious resources faster so he can provide more over-taxed fuel and make even more profit from his own citizens.
Enough is enough. End the madness. Change the Government.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Secondary School Admissions in Kent
Last year my daughter left primary school and we entered, like thousands before us, the maze that is school admissions. We were at various times confused, frightened and angry, feeling that if we put a foot wrong we would be wrecking our daughter's life for ever.
I have three pieces of advice:
- Firstly, take a look at the Kent County Council Secondary School Admissions Guidance - click on this bullet point to take you straight there;
- Secondly, go anywhere you have to, and pay any price for a copy of "HOW TO WIN YOUR SCHOOL APPEAL" by Ben Rooney - published by A & C Black, the ISBN number is 978-0-7136-8236-6, and the price at time of writing is £9.99. Again, click anywhere on this bullet to go straight to the Amazon page (although there are many other suppliers of the same book!)
- Thirdly, ask advice from your Kent County Councillor - we all regularly get dozens of calls at this time of year from parents in the same situation you're in right now, and can advise and assist with the process, even though the Labour Government now won't allow us to represent parents at admission appeals... To find your local Kent County Councillor, click on this bullet to jump to the KCC website and find your local Member by party, area or postcode.
I hope within these three points, you find something of help. Remember, when you get to put your case at an appeal, don't argue as to why your child won't like the school you've been given; argue as to why he or she will positively bloom at the school for which you're appealing.
Remember in your preparation to ask the school admissions staff for the PAN (Published Admissions Number) for the last five years or so, as well as the number the school actually admitted - if the latter is higher, this will allow you to demolish the argument that to take extra "will prejudice the efficient delivery of education" as they've already set a precedent.
Ask also whether there is any 'fall out' during the school year. Most schools lose the odd one or two pupils during the course of a year or two because the family moves, or the school doesn't always suit. If this is the case, you could argue that admitting your will only push numbers up for a few months.
Don't lose heart - and good luck!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Eurovision - or Euro stitch up?
It's official. The Eurovision Song Contest is no longer a showcase to vote for the best song writing talent in Europe. It's a trading floor of diplomatic etiquette, where votes are a currency to be used to kowtow to allies and show subservience to superior states.
I know it's meant to be fun and not taken too seriously, but it's beyond me how Andy Abrahams (http://www.andyabraham.co.uk/) can be applauded on X Factor week after week by Osbourne, Walsh and Cowell (not to mention nine million of the British viewing public) yet last night scrape through in last place with fourteen votes - six from San Marino and eight from Ireland.
I was not altogether surprised to hear last week that the UK will always be guaranteed a place in the Eurovision final, solely because the competition receives far and away the highest amount of funding for TV rights - from the dear old BBC, which through our licence fees is ultimately through you and me.
Maybe it's time to agree that Eurovision was fun while it was fair, but with the EU costing the UK upwards of £16m a day, we're probably giving Europe enough of our hard earned cash.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
One of the daftest comments I've heard
I was in Woolworths in Sevenoaks this afternoon, and bought a newspaper, a couple of CDs and the DVD of Will Smith's "I Am Legend".
The young girl at the checkout put through the paper and the CDs, then picked up the DVD and asked "Have you seen this?"
She seemed quite surprised when I said I hadn't, but told me what a great movie it was.
If I had seen it, why would I be buying it?
"They'll shank you good"
Just watching BBC News, and a report about young people and the prevalence of knife crime, in the wake of the deaths of Paul Erhahon and Kodjo Yenga. Their reporter visited South East London, and met with youths in Lewisham.
When asked why he carried a knife, one thirteen year old answered "because everyone wants to kill me these days".
The saddest thing was the two young white teenage girls on the report, who in the "faux Caribbean" accents adopted by so many inner city young people these days, spoke unintelligibly about "all the boys carrying shanks and straps" and how if you bumped into a group who had a 'beef' with your group, "they'll shank you good".
I grew up in South East London, went to school in Lee Green and at one stage lived in Morley Road in Lewisham. And I don't recognise it at all. What on earth has Sir Steve Bullock, elected Labour Mayor of Lewisham and his multi-million pound Council machine, been doing?
Judging from the frightened young people on the BBC, he's given up.
