What we plan to do.

The Disability Rights Commission.

The Disability Rights Commission will be important in helping people with their rights under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The Department of Health will also work with the Commission to think about the way forward for advocacy for all disabled people.

Independent Advocacy.

People told us that independent advocacy is very important and we agree that it should be available to everyone who needs it.

There will be more money put into independent advocacy.

You should be able to choose help and support in your local area.

There will be a new National Citizen Advocacy Network.

We will also work with the self-advocacy movement.

We will pay special attention to advocacy for people from minority ethnic communities.

We will ask more of you about all of this.

Direct Payments.

Direct payments will be easier to get. If you meet the rules and ask for a direct payment, social services must help you. Advocates will help this happen.

Direct payments will also be available to 16 and 17 year olds and to the family carers of children who meet the rules.

Being involved in Individual Plans.

You told us that services should be based on your wishes and ideas and that planning should start with you.

Services will start to use a ' person centred planning approach'. There will be training to help everyone do it properly.

We also expect to see fairer access to services across the country.

Making a plan.

These new Person Centred Plans will happen over the next few years.

You will have a co-ordinator for your plan. This might be your care manager or anyone else you choose, like an advocate.

Your plan should include all areas of your life; this means Health, Social Care, Education, Work, Leisure, Housing and Communication.

All of these departments should work together listening to your needs and saying what they can do for you. Care managers will work in this new way.

You can choose who needs to be involved in making your plan. Unless you say you do not want them, your family should be involved as well.

Being involved in decisions.

People with learning disabilities should be fully involved in all decisions and services that make a difference to them. This starts from having your own plan right through to having a say about Government policy.

Organisations and services will also include people with learning disabilities in making decisions. We will check that this is happening.

National Forum for People with Learning Disabilities.

The new National Forum for People with Learning Disabilities will help with national policy.

The group will be more representative and include people from all over England. This will also help to look at what is happening in local areas.

Information and communication.

There will be more accessible information and equipment to help people communicate. People who need special equipment will be able to get it.

Information will be made available in different languages

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