What does the Comprehensive Spending Review mean for deaf children?

Image courtesy of NDCS

It’s been two days since the Government announced it’s future spending plans and how it was going to slash the deficit, and I’m still not sure what I think. I suppose if you’ve been told that it’s going to be Armageddon and the end of the world, you’re just kind of dazed and relieved that you’re still standing and that the kettle is still working. In short, the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) was bad. Very bad. But not as bad as we thought it might be. At least we don’t think so. And not just yet. But definitely still bad.

For example, on education, we were told to expect budget cuts of 10 to 20%. Instead, it seems to be around 5% and the part of the budget spent on schools is effectively being frozen, rather than cut (though this means less money for things like social care and youth services). This means that the overall funding for things like specialist support services for deaf children should remain static. Putting to one side the fact that deaf children in England are already 42% less likely to do as well in their GCSEs as other children and the huge variations in the help deaf children receive, this is quite a relief.

But it’s still bad. And the reason for that is because it will be local authorities who decide what to do with the pot of money for schools. And there are no guarantees they will protect funding for deaf children. Some local authorities have already started to cut services for deaf children, and all will be under pressure to move the money around. And even if the pot of money is static, there are figures suggesting that the number of deaf children are rising. In a system which is already unfair, this can only lead to more variations in the help that deaf children get.

The National Deaf Children’s Society has launched an urgent new campaign action for supporters to email their councillors and ask them to protect funding for services for deaf children. Within 24 hours, it’s already had a massive response from people concerned about this. Please do support the action and spread the word if you can.

I’m still digesting other parts of the CSR, but one thing to watch out for is Disability Living Allowance for children. The benefit hasn’t been cut. But there are signals the Government wants to tighten up the assessment process. And there is also a proposal to cut the mobility component of the benefit for those who are in residential placements (as if people in residential placements are vegetables who never go out). This could have damaging implications for parents of deaf children who attend residential special schools. NDCS is seeking urgent clarification on that one.

What were your thoughts on the CSR? Leave a comment below or email me at campaigns@ndcs.org.uk.

PS NDCS’s full immediate response to the CSR can be found here.

Memo to the BBC: your promotional DVDs…

If you are going to send me – a deaf person working in a deaf organisation in a role that involves campaigning for the rights of deaf children and young people – a marketing DVD about “oustanding children’s content” from CBeebies and CBBC, along with a covering letter that states BBC has a responsibility to produce content “in a language and style our young audiences will understand”, you may want to consider putting subtitles on the DVD.

Just a thought.

UPDATE (8/10/10): Following this blog, the BBC sent me a very nice email apologising and explaining that the DVD was a limited print run of DVDs for key stakeholders, and that all programmes shown were subtitled when shown on TV (as is all BBC content on their main channels) and on commercially available DVDs. I’ve also been promised another DVD with subtitled content. It’s much appreciated that the BBC have taken the time to respond in this way.

Campaigning for deaf children at the Conservative party conference: day 2

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) has been busy playing political bingo today on our last day at the Conservative party conference, trying to track down our top targets. And I don’t think we’re doing too badly. The team has now spoken to the entire Conservative front bench team on education and two of the top targets on health, as well as a few other key MPs. Very happy indeed.

It’s not been easy though finding them all though. But our young ambassador, Megan (who has her own blog), has come up with a bright suggestion to make it easier to spot out top targets in the future. Basically, all MPs should be required to wear hats. The more important the MP, the bigger the hat they should have to wear. And the Prime Minister should have a hat that can be seen from miles away. Simple.

Megan meets Chris Skidmore MP

Megan has been a powerhouse and has done an amazing job in explaining to MPs the challenges the deaf young people face. It’s also been good for MPs to meet someone who has a mild/moderate hearing loss. I think sometimes there is a perception that children with mild/moderate deafness have lesser needs than those with severe/profound deafness. I think there’s also a tendency to equate deafness = sign language users. Megan has done a great job of showing that a) deaf young people with a mild/moderate hearing loss are still “deaf ” and still need help and b) if this is help is given, deaf young people can do absolutely anything.

But enough of me, what did Megan think of today? Here’s her report from the day.

How have the meetings gone today? How did you feel when speaking to the MPs?
The meetings were interesting, and although some were more serious, others had a light-hearted air about them. I quite enjoy speaking to MPs; I would liken it to dialogue with any other person – except, perhaps, that there is more emphasis on conveying a particular idea – and I did not feel any particular unease throughout.

What did you speak to the MPs about?
I discussed my own experiences with the education system, primarily focusing on special educational needs and Teachers of the Deaf.

And what did the MPs say to you? Did they seem interested to learn about your experiences? Ask any questions?
The MPs had a variety of responses, ranging from “mhmm, yes, yes” accompanied by a series of nods, to actively discussing issues they were aware of in their own constituencies. One MP even used me as an example in one of his fringe meetings!

What else have you been up to today?
I attended some nice fringe meetings, one of which was about the coalition government and another on education. I also was stood, coincidently, in the path of the Camerons, so I was asked to stand to the side and had a brilliant view of them as they walked by.

You said yesterday conference was a bit like a school playground? Have your views changed? Do you have any views on how the conference could be different?
I believe the conference is still very much like a school playground; everyone speaking to each other before moving onto the next person and people networking left right and centre. I believe the conference, despite being somewhat hectic, is quite efficient. Although, I still say everyone should wear identification hats.

What’s been the best thing about being here at conference?
I think the best aspect of the conference is the learning environment it provides, people gather together to discuss issues, promote their own interests and in the process may become more knowledgeable on others’ issues.

And the worse?
The breakfast-in-a-bag, is certainly the least… enthusing part of the conference.

What advice do you have for any deaf young person coming to party conference in the future?
I would advise that you should be firm in your experiences, and enthusiastic. For one to enjoy the conference to it’s uppermost. It may be useful to have some interest in politics, or at least a vague general knowledge, to benefit from the diverse topics discussed within the conference.

Finally, any plans to work in politics or campaigns in the future?!
I find politics incredibly interesting and hope to embark on such a career in my future. I also enjoy campaigns, however I think I shall read law first.

A big relief to hear that we haven’t put Megan off from working in campaigns and politics. If she can handle two days with the Conservatives, then I can well imagine that in around ten years time I’ll be coming to conference to lobby Megan the newly-elected MP.

And that’s about it from Birmingham and the party conferences. Back to civilisation when full analysis to follow. Once everyone has had a proper night’s sleep for the first time in three weeks!

Campaigning for deaf children at the Conservative party conference: day 1

The party conference travelling circus has now dropped us off in Birmingham where we’re now busy stalking Conservative MPs, campaigning for deaf children. And we’ve now been joined by Megan, a deaf 15 year old, who has popped along to tell MPs about her own experiences of education and explain why she’s supporting the National Deaf Children’s Society Hands up for help! campaign.

And our first day has gone pretty well. We’ve managed to hit two of our top Tory targets. Firstly, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education (and the one with a deaf sister), who got a quick briefing about some of our concerns on academies and acoustics. He was receptive, positive and promised to nag his officials for answers to our questions. And secondly, Graham Stuart MP, who is chair of the influential Education Committee which holds the Department of Education and Ofsted to account. His words of advice to the Government was that they should “just chill and get it right”. Pretty good advice, I would say.

At the end of the day, I caught up with Megan to find out how she was surviving the conference. Here’s what she had to say:

For those that don’t know, where are you and why are you here?
I’m at the Conservative Party Conference, Birmingham as a guest for NDCS, discussing my experiences with MPs with the aim of reducing cuts which would directly impact the education of deaf individuals.

Planning the day ahead at the Conservative party conference

How did the day start?
The day started at 7am, when I got up and dressed. Shortly after this, I retrieved my breakfast-in-a-bag from outside my door. We then gathered downstairs and ate, before Jess and I headed off to a discussion about climate change I particularly wanted to attend.

What did you do throughout the day?
Over the course of the day, I attended a few more discussions mostly about education. These were very intriguing and I now have a better idea of the Conservative stance on education, as well as the opinions of some of the other speakers.

How did the meetings with the MPs go? What did they learn from you?
In my opinion, the meetings with MPs were successful. I found the individuals to be diverse, some being more humorous than others. I would like to believe that the MPs left the meetings with a greater understanding and that deaf children would be taken into greater consideration when they do decide where cuts should be made.

What do you think so far of the Conservative party conference?
I think the conference is certainly interesting, different. In some ways it reminds me of a school playground, with everyone milling around in a hectic manner. I think the issues which are raised will now have a greater chance of being considered and I believe the conference reminds attendees of the many problems with the world.

How are you feeling now?
Somewhat tired, but I certainly found the experience, thus far, to be great. I doubt it’ll be one I forget any time soon.

What’s happening tomorrow? Are you looking forward to it?
Tomorrow, I have some more meetings, and yes, I am looking forward to it; hopefully, I learn something new.

Very excited to see what Megan gets up to tomorrow. Will be back again then for another update on the last day of conference campaigning for deaf children.

PS If you can’t wait until then, don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter at @NDCS_UK.

Campaigning for deaf children at the Labour party conference

My colleague has returned from the Labour party conference in Manchester in one piece which is good news. Apparently, it was all a very interesting atmopshere what with the brothers fighting it out to decide who will be leader. I assume this is referring to the Milibands rather than what’s going on in North Korea but anyhow.

It sounds like the team were rushed off their feet meeting with MPs to let them know about the National Deaf Children’s Society Hands up for help! campaign. Again, all the MPs seemed very positive and keen to do what they can to help make sure deaf children get a fair chance at school. Some examples included:

* Pat Glass MP, who seems to know more about special educational needs (SEN) than the rest of the Houses of Parliament combined. She strongly agreed with one of the recomendations of the Hands up for help! report: that local authorities should join forces to make sure that they can offer a comprehensive package of support to every deaf child. In fact, she tried to do this when she worked on SEN in London. Great minds thinking alike, etc.

* Rosie Cooper MP, whose parents are deaf and who has been a leading figure on the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness. She was very keen to get more information about services for deaf children in her local area and even more keen to write letters, table parliamentary questions and so on to highlight some of the issues raised in the report.

* Michael McCann, MP from Scotland. Michael has three deaf siblings. And one of his siblings has four deaf children. They should call themselves the McCann deaf factory. Again, very supportive and keen to help make sure that deaf children in Scotland get the help they need too.

I also heard that my colleague did some effective stalking and managed to track down Ed Balls MP, who used to be Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and is still a strong champion for disabled children, as well as a leading figure in the party. Rather gratifyingly, Ed had heard of the campaign and said he would read the report with interest. Very gratifying, indeed.

And finally the conference were a good opportunity to talk about wider and important non-education issues that affect deaf children – such as play and mental health services.

All in all, it sounds like another successful conference for the National Deaf Children’s Society. Next week is the third and final conference as the team heads to Birmingham for the Conservative party conference where we’ll be handing over to Megan, a deaf young person, to lobby MPs on education issues, instead of us. Really looking forward to it.