Liberal Democrats visit Scope in Sully

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Kirsty Williams visited Scope's Sully Skills Development Centre for over an hour, talking to service users and staff and being shown round the service, including visiting the new sensory room and fledgling sensory garden.

The staff were all involved in a sponsored cycle to raise money to complete the sensory garden so there were lots of people on exercise bikes!

Personalisation on the agenda

We talked about the setting up of Sully Voice, Sully's elected service users committee, and the kinds of activities the service offers to help promote independent living skills and confidence. We also talked about personalisation, which the Liberal Democrats are supporting in their manifesto, and the importance of providing suitable support to disabled people who are using direct payments and individual budgets so they can make the most of the opportunities personalisation offers.

...and welfare cuts, too!

We also raised some of our concerns about the impact spending cuts and welfare changes were having on disabled people, for example the impact of reassessing everyone on Incapacity Benefit and the problems with the Work Capability Assessment. Nick agreed that support such as information, advice and advocacy, brokerage and adequate levels of funding for people on direct payments was vital for personalisation to work and that being able to access the right support to help people find work was crucial.

Kirsty Williams signed the Scope Cymru pledge for Assembly candidates, using Scope campaigns officer Matt O'Grady as a table!