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Date published: September 25, 2020

Response to government social care Covid-19 taskforce report

With the UK government having recently released its Covid-19 taskforce report and winter plan for adult social care, here is the public response from the three co-chairs of the learning disability and autism advisory group: Shared Lives Plus CEO, Alex Fox, Trevor Wright (InSight Autism CIC) and Rachel Moody (Lived Experience co-chair).

The response outlined five high priority recommendations:

  1. Accessible guidance and communications
  2. Restoring and maintaining vita support services
  3. Expanding PPE and testing
  4. Tackling isolation and loneliness
  5. Seeking and supporting people who may be in crisis.

While the taskforce did not highlight or reproduce these recommendations in its own report, it does make clear that the government should read and respond to them. The general view of the advisory group is that they would have liked to have seen a greater focus on people with learning disabilities, autistic people and their families in the over-arching report. The group has offered to continue to help the government to act on these recommendations and has written to Helen Whately MP, Minister for Care, on this matter, including a copy of the response.

The full response is outlined in the two documents below, one of which is an easy read version, which can be downloaded.

With thanks to the team at Learning Disability England who kindly helped create the accessible version.

This page has been updated on 6 January 2021 with letters below:

  • The response from the Care Minister Helen Whateley MP to our letter which updates us on what the government are doing to support people with learning disabilities and autistic people during the pandemic  – this has an easy read version and an annex which sets out a response to each of the group’s recommendations
  • the response from NHS England to our letter and sets out what the NHS and its partners are doing to support people with learning disabilities and autistic people during the pandemic  – this also has an easy read version.