What actions are being taken?
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This is a ‘living document’, capturing what is currently being done, and/or actions that are planned – it will be updated as and when progress is made and as more actions are taken. It brings together a range of activities and work being carried out by various individuals and organisations and aims to co-ordinate and amplify the impact. If you think that something you are doing aligns with the themes of the action plan and you’d like to consider including it as one of these actions, please get in touch.
Looking for actions for policy-makers?
Short-term
Increasing awareness of what advocacy is, how it can help, and what advocacy people with a learning disability are entitled to
Advocacy is extremely important to ensuring that people with a learning disability have their rights respected and their views, wishes, and preferences upheld. It was raised that there was a lack of knowledge, particularly among family carers, about what kinds of advocacy is available and what advocacy people with a learning disability are entitled to, and that it would be useful to have a guide to this.
Progress:
- As part of the Family Carer Advocacy Resource (a joint project by the CBF, Pathways Associates, Warrington Speak Up, Bringing Us Together, Advonet, and Cloverleaf), a section was included on what advocacy is available to people with a learning disability and how to access this – this should help family carers to support their relatives to access advocacy, and to challenge the system if their relatives are not getting the advocacy that they are entitled to
Next steps:
- To continue to promote this and raise awareness
- To explore if/how this can be adapted to be relevant to other groups as well as family carers
Supporting family carers to access advocacy
Advocacy can also help family carers to support their relatives and to navigate complex systems. During the process of co-producing this plan, the lack of knowledge that family carers have of their rights to advocacy, and their difficulties accessing it, was raised as a major problem. It was also raised that, as many family carers act as informal advocates, it would be useful to provide them with information on what support is available to help them in this role.
Progress:
- The Family Carer Advocacy Resource includes details on what advocacy family carers can access, and what support is available
Influencing the Building the Right Support Delivery Board to a) review and b) act on the recommendations of the Review of Advocacy
As part of the Building the Right Support programme, NHS England commissioned a ‘review of advocacy’ for people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals. This review was published in October 2023, and included a number of recommendations for improving the state of advocacy.
The Senior Level Advisory Group for this review are continuing to work to influence the Building the Right Support Delivery Board to review and act on these recommendations.
Progress:
- The Senior Level Advisory Group have written to the Building the Right Support Delivery Board setting out the importance of reviewing and acting upon these recommendations
Medium-term
Increasing the availability of effective independent advocacy
The Review of Advocacy highlighted that the provision of effective independent advocacy is patchy and inconsistent across the country, and that it is unclear “what advocacy is available to people and where”. The CB-NSG will be working to clarify who is responsible for funding independent advocacy, and ensure consistent commissioning of independent advocacy across England.