I agree with Christine. There are a variety of ways of cracking this nut.
I just object on principle to elected officials who hide behind Council
Officers and who mouth empty and self-justificatory words. These same
individuals are keen to be seen to "consult" with us, but I doubt the
genuineness of these claims when they aren't backed up with meaningful
actions. Community Care Charges are perhaps the single most effective way
of driving down service take up by Disabled People. I remain just a little
less than convinced
about the willingness of those who impose such punitive and unjust charges
upon Disable People to seriously take on and challenge our oppression.
self-assessment for example is something local authorities have been aware
of for a number of years. Likewise direct payments are something which
Councils committed to the empowerment of Disabled People could do everything
within their power to support. Instead we see at best a reluctance on the
part of most Councils genuinely to engage with these issues and instead we
get what I perceive as being in the main, hot air pure and simple. This is
sometimes presented in thick bundles of Community Care Plan style documents,
but it's more often than not hot air all the same.Anything we have gained as
a Movement has been in the teeth of opposition from the vast majority of
these elected officials it seems to me.
When Council Social Services Departments and Health Authorities change their
Assessment Criteria to reflect a social approach to Disability I will think
we are really starting to have an impact on them. We do then need a way of
engaging with both the professional bureaucracy which gatekeeps access to
the essential services we need and a way of holding to account Councillors
and other politicians who presume to speak on our behalf. If they want to
benefit from the expertise of Disabled People let's see if they are prepared
to pay for it.
I don't object in the least to being consulted about things which affect me,
I'm just a little insulted when the people who ask me what I think do so
with their backs turned, their hands over their ears and their eyes shut.
(They are mostly white non-Disabled men as Christine points out).
Regards,
Mike Higgins
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