Users to get power to demand action

People will be able to demand council action on problems with their social care services under a new power proposed in the white paper.

Community calls for action, which will cover all local government services, will enable the public to lobby ward councillors who must then either try to solve the problem themselves or refer it to an overview and scrutiny committee.

The white paper also proposes giving overview and scrutiny committees the right to require social services to provide evidence when requested and to recommend independent inquiries.

Andrew Lee, director of People First Self-Advocacy, an organisation run for and by people with learning difficulties, welcomed the plans but said work needed to be done to ensure all people with learning difficulties were aware of their rights.

“A lot of times people with learning difficulties don’t know where to go because they are pointed in the wrong direction,”
he said.