Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative has warmly welcomed the publication by the Welsh Government of the Integrated Quality Statement for People with a Learning Disability, alongside its new three-year Learning Disability Transformation Programme.
The landmark statement sets out a clear, whole-system commitment to ensuring that people with a learning disability can live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives in their local communities. An easy-read version of the statement is available on the Welsh Government website.
As one of Wales’ leading non-profit social care providers, we have been supporting people with learning disabilities and autism to live independently in their own homes and local communities since 1989. Operating as a unique multi-stakeholder co-operative, our organisation gives equal voice and ownership to the people it supports, their families, and our colleagues across Wales.
Welcoming the announcement, Geraint Jenkins, CEO of Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative, said:
"The statement says something many people with a learning disability, their families, and those of us who support them have wanted to hear for a long time: people with a learning disability are people first. They have the right to happy, healthy, fulfilling lives in the places they call home, and good support is a whole-system responsibility, not the job of specialist services alone.
"Much of what the statement describes reflects what we try to do every day at Cartrefi Cymru. That means support built around what matters to each person, and lives full of friendships, work, volunteering, and leisure. As a multi-stakeholder co-operative, co-production is part of how we are built, not an add-on."
We are particularly encouraged regarding the four core pillars outlined in the Government's new direction:
- Community, not hospital: The commitment to help more people live safely and well close to home, building on the Stolen Lives: From Hospitals to Homes work. Nobody should be in hospital because the right support isn't there in their community.
- Meaningful lives: Recognition that education, leisure, relationships and paid work are central to wellbeing.
- Better evidence: A national commitment to data and outcomes. We have invested in measuring outcomes that matter to people, and we'd be glad to share what we've learned.
- Workforce: Valuing the skills of support workers across all sectors, including the third sector.
We eagerly anticipate the publication of the Welsh Government’s detailed implementation plan. Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative stands ready to contribute to this, ensuring that the real lived experiences of the people we support, their families and our colleagues are heard and drawn upon.
Geraint Jenkins said: “The next stage is where the vision becomes real, and where providers, people with lived experience, and families need to be at the table. We are proud to be part of Wales' long tradition of leading the way in learning disability support. Today's publication is a real opportunity to build on it together, and we are ready to get started."