The document details an event aimed at encouraging people with learning difficulties in Leeds to engage in the political process by asking questions to local MPs ahead of the May 2015 general election. Over 50 attendees participated, primarily individuals with learning difficulties, who posed questions on topics such as employment, sports involvement, public transport access, and the simplicity of the benefits system. Responses from MPs Greg Mulholland, Fabian Hamilton, and Stuart Andrew highlighted initiatives and proposals to support individuals with learning difficulties in these areas.

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People with learning difficulties
questioning Leeds MPs
13th March 2015

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Contents
Page
Introduction 3
Who came? 4
The questions 5
The answers 7
Get in touch 26

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INTRODUCTION
Connect in the North, Dimensions, The Bridge (part of Health for All
in Leeds) and Parliamentary Outreach all worked together.
We planned the event and ran it together.
We wanted to encourage people with learning difficulties to vote
in the May 2015 General Election.
We decided to run an event where people with learning difficulties
could ask questions of Leeds MPs and learn why it is important to
vote.
We invited all the Leeds MPs.
2 agreed to come.
They were Greg Mulholland (Liberal
Democrat) and
Fabian Hamilton (Labour).
Neither of the Conservative MPS were able to come.
After the event we sent them the questions and asked for their
answers. Stuart Andrew (Conservative) gave us his written answers.
We ran the event at the Bridge.

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WHO CAME?
Over 50 people came. Most of the people who came were people
with learning difficulties.
Cathy Wintersgill from Connect in the
North welcomed everyone.
Gary Hart from Parliamentary
Outreach ran the morning session
about voting.
Dave Robinson from Dimensions
chaired the session in the afternoon
where people with learning difficulties
asked questions of their MPs.
Carl Shaw and Rob Ellerby From
Dimensions filmed the event and took
photos.
Martin Brennan from the Bridge set up
the PA (Public Address system).
Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat)
and Fabian Hamilton (Labour) both
came.

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THE QUESTIONS
People with learning difficulties had lots of ideas for questions.
They voted for the questions they most wanted to ask

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These are the 6 questions people with learning difficulties asked
Questions Votes
1. What will your party do to help
people with learning difficulties
get jobs?
a. Also, what about education
to help people get jobs?
25
2. What will you do to get us more
involved in sports?
13
3. What will your party do to allow
us to use our bus passes before
9.30?
15
4. Should wheelchair users have
priority over prams on buses?
12
5. What will your party do to make
the benefits system simpler and
less scary?
9
6. Want will you do to keep us
safe?
a. Including on buses
b. And on roads
9

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What will your party do to help people with learning difficulties get
jobs?
a. Also, what about education to help people get jobs?
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer – we need more support for people and more
tailored support. People need support to get into work and to stay
in work. We need to focus more on those it’s harder to help. We
also need to provide support for employers.
The government’s Disability Confident campaign aims to change
employers’ attitudes to employing disabled people.
About education - All local authorities have to publish their “Local
Offer” saying what they provide for people with “special
educational needs”. We want to continue work to improve
education which will help people get jobs.

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What will your party do to help people with learning difficulties get
jobs?
a. Also, what about education to help people get jobs?
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer – I agree with Greg’s points. We also need
economic growth and an end to austerity. We need to create
more jobs and end discrimination.
A good example of creating new jobs is what Crossrail has done in
London. Crossrail is a publically owned and funded company. They
have created lots of new apprenticeships.
Government contracts that say a company must employ a certain
number of disabled people could help. Developments like a tram
for Leeds could create more work opportunities for people.
The system already exists to train on the job. Education after age 16
continues to be a priority.

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What will your party do to help people with learning difficulties get
jobs?
a. Also, what about education to help people get jobs?
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer
As a Party, we have launched a £3 million Supported
Internships trial which was launched in 15 further
education colleges. This helped people get paid jobs,
voluntary work and further education. All colleges can
now create Supported Internships.
As part of this, the trial involved a structured learning
programme that is tailored to the individual needs of the
person, and it will equip them with the skills they need for
the job, with the help of expert job coaches.

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What will you do to get us more involved in sports?
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer
There is a sport for everyone. We need to find out what stops
people taking part in sport and do something about it. That could
include things like stadium design.
The Equality Act is very important. We need to change attitudes. I
am involved with the Rhino’s Foundation. Through the Foundation I
try to encourage more people to get involved in rugby

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What will you do to get us more involved in sports?
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer – we need to change social attitudes and do
something about prejudice. We need to educate people as
prejudice is a barrier.
My motto if “Fairness, Justice and Equality”.
Both Fabian and Greg said that they will come to the Leeds
Learning Disabilities World Cup in June.

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What will you do to get us more involved in sports?
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer -
Sport England receives funding from the Government to help
people with learning difficulties play sports. They run a lot of
programmes for people with different needs.
The legacy of the Paralympics has seen more people with learning
difficulties compete in sports.

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What will your party do to allow us to use our bus passes before
9.30?
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer
I don’t know what Labour’s position on this is, but I will find out and
take this issue back to my party. In my opinion public transport
should not be profit making. Councils should run public transport.

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What will your party do to allow us to use our bus passes before
9.30?
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer
I need to feed this back to the Liberal Democrat party. We are
consulting people with learning difficulties about barriers to work
and this is probably one of them.

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What will your party do to allow us to use our bus passes before
9.30?
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer
Unfortunately, this is an issue for bus companies. It is an issue for
people who are trying to get to college or to a job before 9.30
though, so I would be happy to discuss this in Parliament if I am re-
elected in May.

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Should wheelchair users have priority over prams on buses?
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer
I don’t know, that is a hard question. Buses need to be more
adaptable so that it doesn’t have to be choice between
wheelchair users and people with pushchairs.

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Should wheelchair users have priority over prams on buses?
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer
At the moment wheelchair users get priority. It is often possible for
pushchairs to be folded up. This isn’t usually possible with
wheelchairs.
It should always be possible for someone who uses a wheelchair to
get on a bus.

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Should wheelchair users have priority over prams on buses?
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer
Wheelchair users should be given access on a bus, and it
should not be a case of people having priority. Buses generally
have extra room for wheelchair users, and it is important that
this area is reserved for them with enough room for both
wheelchairs and prams.

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What will your party do to make the benefits system simpler and
less scary?
2.
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer
The new Universal Credit is intended to make things simpler.
The work capability assessment (brought in by the last
government) has had problems and is being changed. We hope
this will make it better for people with learning difficulties and
people with mental health issues. This will be an issue for the next
government.
Many people complained about ATOS. They have now been
replaced by Maximus.

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What will your party do to make the benefits system simpler and
less scary?
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer
I would take the private sector out of it. ATOS only made profits
when they met targets for saying that people could work, when
they couldn’t. That way they made more money.
We need a simpler system with simpler language.
This, and the last, government have tried to reduce benefits by
making it harder to claim.
We also need to change attitudes. We all pay taxes including
VAT. Benefits are not charity they are a right.

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What will your party do to make the benefits system simpler and
less scary?
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer
My Party has already made the system simpler by giving
people control over their own budgets. By having health and
care plans, we hope that people will feel they have the
support to meet their needs.

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Want will you do to keep us safe?
a. Including on buses
b. And on roads
Leeds North West
Greg’s answer
Everyone has the right to feel safe. We have made progress in
recognising hate crime.
We need to educate people through school and beyond. We still
need to do more. This includes listening more to people with
learning difficulties. We need to train bus drivers. They should report
disability hate incidents or face disciplinary action.
Speak to your councillor if there are problems with cars where you
live. “Brake” is a charity with ideas for improving road safety. They
want to increase penalties for driving offences.

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Want will you do to keep us safe?
a. Including on buses
b. And on roads
Leeds North East
Fabian’s answer
Children learning together from the age of 4 would help to reduce
prejudice
We need to train bus drivers to deal with bullying. It is hard without
conductors. If it was a public service there might be conductors.
It is important to police any anti-discrimination laws. That means
that we need the police, bus conductors and Police Community
Support Officers (PCSOs) to help.
On roads we need more 20 mile an hour zones. We need better
public transport and more lanes just for cyclists. Then there would
be fewer cars.

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Want will you do to keep us safe?
a. Including on buses
b. And on roads
Pudsey, Horsforth, Aireborough
Stuart’s answer
Bus companies are taking a lot of responsibility for this, by
ensuring all buses have CCTV facilities and that they take a zero
tolerance approach to any kind of discrimination and bullying
on buses. Inspectors and the Police also undertake patrols to
ensure good behaviour on buses.
On roads, my Party does everything it can to keep them safe.
For example, there are a lot of road safety campaigns, which
help people to learn how to cross roads safely. It is also
important for people to know that the Police are always on
hand to keep them safe.

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Thanks to Paul Sellers from Dimensions for this fabulous record of the
day.

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GET IN TOUCH
Connect in the North
By phone  0113 270 3233
Write to
Connect in the North,
Bridge House, Balm Road
LEEDS
LS10 2TP
Website
By email
www.citn.org.uk
info@citn.org.uk
Facebook http://www.facebook.com
/CintN
Twitter @ConnectintNorth

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Dimensions
By phone  0300 303 9095
Write to
Dimensions,
6-8 Churchill House,
Meetinghouse Lane,
Sheffield,
S1 2DP
Website
By email
http://www.dimensions-
uk.org/
enquiries@dimensions-
uk.org
Facebook https://www.facebook.co
m/dimensionsUK?fref=ts
Twitter @DimensionsUK

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The Bridge
By phone  0743 270 2911
Write to
The Bridge
Health for All (Leeds) Ltd,
Holbeck Community
Centre,
90A Elland Road,
Leeds,
LS11 0AB
Twitter @thebridgeleeds

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Parliamentary Outreach
By phone  0207 219 1650
Write to
Parliamentary Outreach
Service,
Houses of Parliament,
London SW1A 2TT
Website
By email
www.parliament.uk/outrea
ch
parliamentaryoutreach@p
arliament.uk
Twitter @UKParlOutreach
@UKParliament
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