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Valuing People Now (DH, 2009) recognises that some people, particularly those with complex needs, have been missing out. It has made ‘including everyone’ a priority for the next three years. With reference to Tom's story, this paper will consider the reasons why people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) remain among the most marginalised people in society today, what has changed since Valuing People (DH, 2001) and what needs to change in the next three years of delivering Valuing People Now (DH, 2009) if we are to rise to the challenge of ‘enabling extraordinary people to live ordinary lives’ (McConkey, 1998).

The purpose of this paper is to address the fact that under current Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funding guidelines, diagnostic assessments for apprentices with additional learner needs are deemed an ineligible cost, which has the potential to reduce access to additional funding and support.

The approach of this paper is to critically evaluate the surrounding literature, government reports and Mencap review produced since the apprenticeship levy and present the implications of these funding guidelines relating to access to apprenticeships and the practical effects of apprentice’s experience and development.

The finding presented by this paper is that the definition of diagnostic assessments as an ineligible cost reduces the quality of training delivered by providers and assurances to apprentices that they will be fully supported from the start of their training.

The limitation of this research was the minimal amount of government/ESFA documentation addressing this subject within apprenticeships.

The practical implications of this paper relate to the on-going delivery of apprenticeship training in the UK, and the detrimental effect of reducing access to diagnostic assessments for apprentices with undiagnosed additional learner needs under the current wording of the Education Skills Agency guidance.

The government policy is currently under review to address this area which is considered an ineligible cost for supporting apprentices with recognised additional learner needs.

The value of this paper is to align with recent Mencap review and collaboratively readdress the ESFA’s current positioning of diagnostic assessments for apprentices with undiagnosed learning difficulties and disabilities as an ineligible cost and non-standardised requirement.

As a commentary on the article by Ian Hood, the purpose of this paper is to consider participation of people with a learning disability in the lead-up to the 2015 UK general election. It looks at available data on participation and the barriers people face to engagement in the national debate, the process of registering to vote as well as voting itself.

A number of initiatives taken to increase participation are considered and their success evaluated. Available data on participation and previous research are also considered.

It is possible to boost the numbers of people engaged in voting and related activities. More research is needed to look at the impact of moving to a system of individual electoral registration and at whether overall participation by people with a learning disability is increasing over time. The barriers identified need to be tackled if people with a learning disability are to be more fully engaged in voting and the national political debate.

Findings will be of particular value to those organisations and individuals interested in increasing the proportion of people with learning disabilities voting in future elections.

These words have been written by a society chairman who has had a limited direct ‘family caring’ role but for the past 10 years has striven, with others, to provide local support for adults and children with learning disabilities, and their carers, and to campaign to the limit of their ability.

This paper aims to provide a commentary on the previous paper in this issue “The Confidential Inquiry (CI) into the deaths of people with learning disabilities – the story so far.”

The author considers the potential impact of the CI in reducing the health inequalities and premature deaths of people with learning disabilities.

The author considers how the process of conducting the CI described in the paper will address the fundamental issues of indifference and discrimination documented in the Mencap report, Death by Indifference.

The author suggests that, in conjunction with the findings that the CI will publish in the future, that the political will to change the way health services are delivered to people with learning disabilities in the future will be crucial.

This article explores the law relating to the sexual abuse of people with learning difficulties and proposes a number of key changes that need to take place in order to offer people with learning difficulties greater protection from abuse.

Tackling discrimination, stigma and inequalities in mental health is a major UK government objective. Surveys have suggested that mental health services are institutionally racist. Most research has focused on stigma associated with schizophrenia despite well‐documented prejudice against people with other psychiatric disorders.The aim of this study was to assess stigmatised attitudes towards people from two ethnic groups with substance use disorder and learning disability. The 20‐point Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used to assess stigmatised attitudes. A representative panel of members of the general public were randomised to receive a questionnaire with a picture of a European or African‐Caribbean man and a fictitious description of alcoholism (first round) or Down's syndrome (second round) six months later. Results were received for over 198 subjects (response rate 79‐84%). There was no difference between the score for the African‐Caribbean vignette or the European vignette for either alcoholism (mean AMIQ score 0.43 standard error = 0.39; n = 100 Vs 0.98 standard error = 0.53; n = 110; effect size r = 0.11; p = 0.2059;) or learning disability (mean 1.71 standard error = 0.22; n = 100 Vs 1.98; standard error = 0.30; n = 98; effect size r = 0.07; p = 0.2559).The study showed that ethnic origin had no significant difference on stigmatised attitudes towards someone with alcoholism or learning disability. Although a larger study would have increased power to detect a statistically significant difference it seems unlikely that a difference of the observed magnitude would be of any practical relevance.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a service evaluation that gathered feedback from people with a learning disability on their experience of lockdown in Jersey and Guernsey. This feedback was intended to guide planning for service provision during any future lockdown and for life as we exit lockdown.

An accessible survey was sent to everyone accessing learning disability services across the two islands and Mencap in Jersey. Data was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to identify patterns in the data and key themes.

Most respondents felt safe, calm and happy and valued support from services. Key themes emerging from the data included the importance of relationships, messages of safety, keeping busy and communication.

This survey has been undertaken at a time where there is a paucity of research and consultation with individuals with a learning disability self-reporting on their experiences of lockdown, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using data from a survey of social services departments, this paper looks at how local authorities are addressing the needs of people with learning disabilities for protection from crime and abuse within the context of adult protection developments. Previous research indicated that victimisation of this group was less likely to be treated seriously by key agencies. Here, the situation is reassessed.