By Theresa Shearer, CEO of The Piper Group, a strategic partnership across Sense Scotland and ENABLE Scotland
THE right of every person who has a learning disability in Scotland to live the life they choose, in the community of their choice, supported by the people and organisations they wish, has been hard won over the last six decades.
It is the privilege of social care providers and charities to empower individuals to do so, and with that comes the responsibility to attract and retain the best quality people into our workforce in order that we can make that human right real.
I also believe that despite the strides made in enshrining these rights in legislation, policy and practice – not just in Scotland, but across the world – we cannot afford to get complacent. During a turbulent period of political strife across Europe, we must continue to work in partnership with other countries to protect and promote these rights, and to show solidarity where they are challenged.
Today, as experts from around the world gather in Glasgow for the Congress on the scientific study of learning disabilities at the SEC (for which ENABLE Scotland is proud to be a lead sponsor), a key topic of discussion among the 1,200 delegates will be just that. In the wake of Brexit, how do we ensure the future of cross-border co-operation with partners and maintain a healthy flow of social care workers?
In a sector where 38 per cent of Scottish social care services already have staff vacancies, there is a real risk that limiting migration from the EU will only exacerbate staffing issues. For the 120,000 people who have learning disabilities in Scotland, the implications are stark. A Scottish Parliament committee report claimed that, without access to EU workers, social care services would be placed “under severe strain”, while the King’s Fund has highlighted the negative impact of immigration salary thresholds on social care services.
The Congress organisers, the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD), reflect the outward-looking nature of learning disability organisations. It is the largest and oldest scientific organisation of its kind, and this conference will see Scotland become a hub for worldwide research over four days. I will be among delegates to share in this international co-operation.
For years ENABLE Scotland, as the nation’s leading charity for people who have learning disabilities, has led the charge in partnering with counterparts from around the world to share knowledge and learning. As a founding member of Inclusion Europe and the host of its inaugural meeting in Scotland 30 years ago, we will continue to play our role in such efforts. Since that meeting, there are now 39 countries participating and campaigning for positive moves to protect the rights of people with disabilities. I am proud to serve on its board.
Looking forward, efforts must be made to ensure Scotland and the UK as a whole remain an integral part of global initiatives to secure the rights of people who have a learning disability. We must also look again at the implications of restricting freedom of movement, and identify ways of ensuring that social care services do not see a dramatic decline in staffing from the EU. To tolerate any further risk to providing minimum levels of staff for services in a climate which is already challenging would be a betrayal of the progress we have made.
I hope this week’s Congress gives us an opportunity not just to look back at progress we have made domestically and with our international partnerships, but to plan ahead to how Scotland and Europe can continue, together, towards securing equality for all members of society.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here