Sense comments on Social Services & Well-being Bill (Wales)
29 January 2013
The Social Services & Well-being Bill (Wales), introduced in the Welsh Assembly on Tuesday, is welcome but needs further clarity to ensure deafblind people continue to receive specialist assessment of their needs, according to Sense Cymru.
“Sense Cymru is pleased that the Bill will give the Welsh Government the choice to continue this key entitlement for deafblind people who need support to go shopping, get to work or their GPs. We call on the Social Services Minister to continue these entitlements to ensure that no deafblind people in Wales miss out on the support they need to live independently,” said Wayne Lewis, Sense Cymru’s Head of Services.
The Law Commission, the independent body that examines the law in England and Wales, has also recommended that the right to a deafblind specialist assessment continues. *
The Bill maintains local authority registers for people who are “both blind and deaf”. Keeping a local authority register ensures that local councils are aware of how many deafblind people are in their area and helps planning for services in the future.
Sense Cymru also believes the register should include all people who have any degree of combined sight and hearing difficulties that affect their daily lives.
* The Law Commission report, Adult Social Care, said: “While there would be some overlap with the assessment regulation on ensuring proportionate assessments, in some cases a specialist assessment should always be required…At a minimum, we suggest that the existing requirement in statutory guidance for a specialist assessment for deafblind people should be elevated to the regulations.” (Paragraph 5.86)
Media enquiries
Jenny Rush
Tel: 07754 889 339
Email: jenny.rush@sense.org.uk