SCOPE'S SPEAK FOR YOURSELF CAMPAIGN

Early day motion 1325, tabled 9 January 2006 by Roger Berry (Labour). Signed by 127 members.

That this House notes the significant difficulty many people with communication impairments face in getting the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) equipment and on-going support they need to communicate; further notes that without the means to communicate people cannot express themselves freely, discuss ideas or make choices, which severely limits their life chances; further notes that current statutory provision is a lottery based on age, postcode and impairment type; regrets that there is no statutory right to AAC equipment; further regrets that local equipment budgets often will not meet the high costs of complex assessment, AAC equipment and on-going training and support that AAC users need; further regrets that the Communication Aids Project, which has provided much needed additional funding for communication equipment for more than 4,000 children since 2002, is set to end in March 2006; and calls on the Government to establish a statutory right to AAC and national standards for provision of AAC services to ring-fence adequate funding so that every person with a communication impairment in the UK can speak for themselves.

Signatures by party: Labour 65, Liberal Democrat 33, Conservative 18, DUP 5, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 1.