North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has written to Flintshire County Council urging them to reconsider their plans to end expenses for young adults with learning difficulties on work placements.
Mr Isherwood, who is Co-Chair of the Cross Party Group on Disabilities and Chair of the Cross Party Autism Group, has been informed by a number of constituents that the expenses will be stopped at the end of March.
In a letter to the Council’s Chief Officer of Social Services, Neil Ayling, Mr Isherwood said “this appears to be in breach of both the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Social Model of Disability.”
His letter states:
“The Social Model of Disability – which Welsh Government adopted in 2002 as the basis for disability-related policy making - makes a clear distinction between impairment and disability. “Disability is defined by the disabled people’s movement as “the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in society on an equal level with others due to social and environmental barriers”.
“One constituent whose son is a young adult with learning difficulties attending a County Hall job placement 2 days per week and only receiving travelling expenses, advises me that their son’s £4 per day expenses are being stopped.
“He states that he was told Flintshire County Council are stopping this benefit for all young people who attend day opportunities, only saving Flintshire County Council £70,000 per annum, knocking confidence instead of building it and cutting expenses from the most vulnerable, and asks “what signal are they sending out about self-worth?”
“The Welsh Government‘s Framework for Action on Independent Living, published in 2013, includes a commitment to “Increased employment rates for disabled people” and states:
“Education and training are key to employability. To make an impact on employment rates for disabled people it is crucial that, as well as having programmes in place to support employment, we support disabled children and young people so that they have access to the same educational and training opportunities as their peers”.
Mr Isherwood added: “These are blunt cuts, not efficiency savings, which will add to pressure on Council services and budgets. This is precisely the wrong approach to managing reduced budgets. As the Wales Audit Office stated last December, Councils need to consider alternative models of delivery, but some councils were “still too slow to realise opportunities to reduce expenditure”.