Press Release

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Research carried out by United Response, as part of the project, revealed that while 80% of people with learning disabilities supported by the charity are registered to vote, only 16% participated in the last general election. This compares with 61% turnout across the nation as a whole.

Funded by the Electoral Commission, Every Vote Counts!, is an easy to use, free-of-charge, multimedia tool aimed at making politics directly relevant to the lives of the people with learning disabilities. United Response worked with the people it supports and support workers to develop the easy to understand CD-Rom, booklet and website.

The resource helps support workers better engage people with learning disabilities and covers everything from why politics is important, to how to support someone to lobby their MP or to join a local action group. The resource also addresses key practice issues facing support workers such as assessing capacity to vote and supporting people in an unbiased way.

Lizzie, who has a learning disability and is supported by United Response in London, said:

"Politics affects us in the newspapers. Politics affects us on public transport. Politics affects us through everyday life.

"It is important for making decisions. When politicians sit round the table they have to make the best decision for us."

Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response said:

"Politics is about everyone. By engaging people with learning disabilities in the democratic process we are involving them in the decisions that affect their everyday lives. But our research shows that the complexity of the democratic system and a lack of easy to understand information means that at the moment far too many people with learning disabilities are not being given the opportunity to participate and have their say.

"We hope that by providing people with learning disabilities with the information they need and in a format that is accessible to them, the Every Vote Counts! resource will open up politics to a group of people who are among the most disenfranchised in society.”

The Every Vote Counts! resource forms part of a three year campaign funded by the Electoral Commission and launched by United Response to help people with learning disabilities become better engaged.

To register for a free copy of the Every Vote Counts! resource and to find out more about the project go to www.everyvotecounts.org.uk or email everyvotecounts@unitedresponse.org.uk

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More information

For more information please contact Sarah Bartlett or Jaime Gill in the United Response Press Office.

• email Jaime.Gill@unitedresponse.org.uk
• Sarah.Bartlett@unitedresponse.org.uk
• or call 020 8246 5122 / 020 8246 5237

Notes to editors

1. United Response is a top 100 charity operating in England and Wales, providing a range of support and services for more than 1,500 people with learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical disabilities. We employ over 2,000 people across the organisation and have won many awards for our pioneering work since being founded in 1973.
   • Our mission is to enable people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities to take control of their lives.
   • Our vision is a society where disabled people are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
   • The services we provide depend on each person we work with. We can provide 24-hour support for people with profound physical needs, or just a few hours for those who need less support to live their lives. We can job coach someone into meaningful paid employment. We can provide outreach support for someone with a mental health need or help people who find it difficult to communicate by making information more accessible. The key to our success is that we work with each person to do the things they want to do, supporting them to communicate what they want and tell us how we are doing.
   • In support of our vision, we also campaign to improve the lives of people with disabilities in society. This may mean lobbying decision makers such as MPs to ensure that people’s voices are heard or it might mean working directly with disabled people so that they can be more directly engaged in the democratic process. We also work with employers to ensure that more people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities get a fair opportunity to work.
   • In 2008 alone, we were shortlisted as best employer in the Third Sector Excellence Awards and highly commended for our Annual Report. We also won a highly prestigious National Training Award for the investment we make in our staff. To find out more go to www.unitedresponse.org.uk (this opens a new window).
2. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Its aim is integrity and public confidence in the UK's democratic process. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections.
3. In 2007, The Electoral Commission awarded United Response a grant of £123,586 to implement Every Vote Counts, a three year project aimed at making politics directly relevant to people with learning disabilities, to extend their understanding of how politics affects their everyday lives, and to support them to become actively involved.
4. In 2008, United Response carried out a survey to find out how involved people with learning disabilities currently are in the democratic process. The survey was sent to 196 United Response services.
   • The survey asked support workers for information on the number of people currently registered to vote at the service and also for information on whether or not people are using their vote. In services where people are not registered or using their vote, respondents were asked to give reasons for this. Respondents were also asked for their experiences of supporting people to vote and to participate in the democratic process - what they had tried, what had worked, what had not, what they had learnt. They were also asked what they hoped to achieve in the future in terms and what help they might need to achieve this. All information was supplied anonymously and respondents were asked not to give information on individuals or on how people chose to vote.
   • Fifty-two services responded to the survey, providing feedback on the experiences of 227 people with learning disabilities and 252 people who support them.