Adults with learning disabilities need more help to access the polls

Learning disability care specialists, , have invited political parties to work with them in helping more people to vote on election day.

With estimates showing that only around 16 per cent of adults with learning disabilities voted in the 2010 General Election, the Trust wants to see figures improve this time round and has opened its door to politicians who wish to help.

As Jeff Parry, head of complex behavioural needs, explains: “We have been working hard to engage the people we support in using their legal right to vote. The law says that anyone with a broad understanding of what voting is about, and the ability to choose between candidates is eligible to vote.”

As a result, the Trust has already held the first in a series of ‘Meet the Parties’ events, attended by two Labour candidates, Ian Boulton, candidate for Filton and Bradley Stoke, and Jo McKarron, candidate for Kingswood; with Liberal Democrat MP Steve Webb also scheduled to visit on April 16.

Of the event, Ms McCarron comments: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to speak with service users at Milestones Trust. It is really important that people from all walks of life have a say on the issues that impact upon their everyday lives... I hope our audience left with a clear idea of what a Labour government would do for them."

Key discussions on the agenda included employment, benefits, transport, immigration and social care funding. One of the adults who Milestones Trust supports, Mike, said: “I found it quite helpful. I’m hoping to vote. It was quite useful to know what they’re working for.”

Reaching out to voters who do not usually vote has been a theme of the 2015 election so far, with the ‘Bite the Ballot’ campaign claiming to have run the most successful voter registration campaign ever, registering 441,500 people during the week of 2–8 February alone when National Voter Registration Day was held to promote their cause.