A tale of two LCOs

2010-02-16T02:02:00.000-08:00

“On Wednesday, the National Assembly received legislative competence over certain aspects of mental health. It’s a process we and our mental health voluntary sector colleagues have been engaged with ever since Jonathan Morgan AM first introduced his request for these powers back in February 2008. The LCO has enjoyed full and active cross party support and I’m delighted it’s finally become a reality. Having seen the Welsh Assembly Government’s proposals for its first piece of mental health legislation, I’m optimistic that we could see changes introduced that’ll make a real difference to the lives of people experiencing mental ill-health. It was one of three bids for law-making powers (LCO’s) that were approved last week; the other two relate to aspects of environmental law and to the Welsh language.

Sadly, it does not appear to be such a success story for the Housing LCO, the future of which appears to be hanging by a thread. This is the second attempt to gain powers in Wales over aspects of housing and due to the impending general election the clock is ticking! This draft of the LCO encompasses a range of issues, including homelessness, right-to-buy and housing support services. Although supported by committees at the Assembly and the House of Commons, it now appears to have run into difficulties. I hope that politicians at both ends of the M4 can find a way of getting this important work back on track before it is too late.”

Ewan

Ewan Hilton's latest blog

2010-02-08T03:24:00.000-08:00

Monday: Attended Voice10, the Social Enterprise Coalition’s annual conference. Our own social enterprise, http://www.notjustnuts.co.uk/ had a stand there, and it was great to see the positive reception they got from other attendees. Also it was great to see the launch of the Social Enterprise Mark, http://www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk/ which will hopefully motivate people to buy goods from social enterprises in the same way that the Fairtrade Mark has promoted awareness of fair-trade. Great performance by No Fit State Circus to celebrate the launch.

Tuesday: Went with fellow mental health organisations Mind Cymru and Hafal to meet with the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the new Local Health Boards. The fact that we (as representatives of the Wales Alliance for Mental Health) were the first organisation they’ve met with in that joint forum hopefully illustrates their awareness of the need to improve mental health services. They certainly seemed interested in what we had to say, and I really hope that this is the start of mental health being given the priority it deserves.

Wednesday: Another conference; this time the Public Service Management Expo. Some interesting speakers and workshops, although I think it’s fair to say that I won’t be subscribing to the Ruth Badger school of leadership!

Thursday: Meeting with Shelter Cymru in my role as Chair. There’s a strong correlation between mental ill-health and poor housing/ homelessness, and it was interesting to read Clare Allan’s article in the Guardian this week about the relationship between mental ill-health and social housing http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/feb/03/council-housing-failures-mentally-ill. Also great to see the Housing LCO making progress. Bought a NotJustNuts hamper for a friend’s birthday (largely because it’s full of things I want to eat, and I’m hoping he’ll share it with me!).

Friday: Catching up with staff about what’s been a pretty eventful week. Public Affairs Manager’s very excited that the Mental Health LCO made it through the House of Lords on Monday (which means Wales should be getting the power to legislate on mental health in the next few weeks) and our Marketing Officer’s been updating me on the progress of our new online petition, calling for Wales to have a mental health anti-stigma campaign just as England and Scotland do. We really want as many people as possible to sign up, so please check out http://www.gofalcymru.org.uk/index.php?page=61 and encourage all your friends and family to do the same!