Letter sent for local press publication re Enable Scotland ‘conference’ 30-Nov

Sir:
The Enable-sponsored meeting held on Monday 30-Nov in conjunction with Dumfries & Galloway Council, supposedly to inform and involve learning disabled people and their families and carers about a new initiative towards personalisation, was a hypocritical dog-and-pony show, which left many attendees feeling patronised, insulted and frustrated. After two hours of presentation ringing with morally and politically correct reassurances that the council’s proposed personalisation programme is all about consultation and putting the learning disabled person “at the centre” of the support, Enable did not allow a single question from the floor, despite very polite requests. Judith Proctor, Head of Strategic Planning, Commissioning and Performance for the council, spoke at length and in detail about the new initiative without once mentioning the proposed closure of four ARCs, in which she is a key player. We still have many unanswered questions. Why do so many families have similar stories of neglect, indifference, poor communication, inadequate monitoring and ineffective support from the council? Why is the council reducing funding for learning disabled and other disabled people when it proposes increasing funding for its own administration? Why are the ARCs threatened for closure when they represent for many learning disabled people their best – often their only – support programme? Why has the senior management of the council not addressed the weaknesses in its social support programmes? Perhaps the most puzzling question is why did Enable and the council collude in wasting time, energy and taxpayers’ money in putting on this hypocritical and deeply insulting caricature of a consultation exercise?
Yowann Byghan