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Adults with Learning Disabilities

I shall not get drawn into that debate. All that I can tell the hon. Gentleman is that Lord Bradley, whom I mentioned earlier, is conducting a review into how individuals with mental health problems and learning disabilities can best be diverted from an inappropriate route through the criminal justice system and in the direction of other services and support. That diversion might happen at different stages throughout the system. Once that report and our response to it are published, we will have a chance to examine whether we have fully grasped the issues that need to be addressed. My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon asked about the Electoral Commission and the voting rights of adults with learning disabilities. I can confirm that, of course, the Government are happy to work with the Electoral Commission and other bodies to identify possible improvements to make the electoral process more accessible to people with learning disabilities. The office of the national director and the Ministry of Justice will work with the commission to explore the issues that he raised. Furthermore, the Department for Children, Schools and Families is working to improve the support available for the parents of children with learning disabilities, ensuring that they know their rights and can hold local services to account. All of that is fundamentally important if we are to change what I call the cultural landscape surrounding people with learning disabilities. I found the contribution from the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin) fascinating. Over the past 10 years, funding for adult social services has increased by 50 per cent. in real terms. The changes that I have just described came about because we have ensured that local authorities have been given more resources to meet the needs of adults with learning disabilities. I was intrigued by his contribution, given that he is writing the Conservative party manifesto. If I understood him correctly, he said that resources to pay for care for adults with learning disabilities and to ensure their human rights could be "self-financing"—I think that he used that word. That appears—I do not know whether this is the case—to be the clearest signal that the Conservatives do not intend to invest additional resources in adult social care for the most vulnerable people and that any improvements would come from savings in other services that they receive. That might be unfair, but organisations reading this debate might want to explore that interesting item further with the Conservative party and to ascertain exactly what its intentions are. To sum up, we have had a clear debate this afternoon. The Government have a clear, cross-Government vision. We have stronger governance and accountability across national, local and regional areas, we are developing better skills across the work force, and we are taking steps to develop a healthier culture across society at large. Now that we have put those key components for change in place, they are already making a difference to people's lives, and they will do even more for people with learning disabilities in future.