---

Adults with Learning Disabilities

That is a good point. Indeed, all employers should consider such opportunities. We should not have stereotyped predispositions about the particular roles that people might play. We can identify a person's skills and strengths and find roles and responsibilities in a variety of settings and organisations. From memory, I believe that South Lanarkshire council authority has realised a remarkable achievement, given the number of people with learning disabilities whom it employs in a variety of roles. I suspect that it is driven by one individual, who is intent on championing that in his local authority. We should have such champions in every local authority, driving forward such changes. We need to support change through wider action, and there are encouraging moves afoot. I want to pick up on some of the points raised in the debate. The Home Office seeks to take strong action on hate crime, and specific guidance will be published for crime and disorder partnerships. The Crown Prosecution Service is consulting on how it should approach witnesses with learning disabilities. Lord Bradley is currently undertaking a review into diverting individuals with mental health problems and learning disabilities away from the criminal justice system—a subject that occupied much of our debate. We expect that review to be published shortly, and we will respond to Lord Bradley's recommendations. Even now, work is going on in the criminal justice system. "Valuing People Now" seeks to address the problem, and work is under way to ensure that the specific needs of offenders with learning disabilities are included in the delivery programme on offender health. We are monitoring the implementation of the forthcoming good practice guidance for commissioners of forensic services for those with learning disabilities; and offender management processes should include a health screening programme, so that we can identify an offender's learning disability and any physical or mental health problems that they may have. That should be the start of an individual health action plan for those in the criminal justice system. Good practice is being developed on learning disability awareness training for prison staff to help them identify and understand the issue, and to communicate better and manage offenders in custody with learning disabilities.