Kelly Tolhurst Conservative Party candidate for Rochester and Strood.
This is Kelly Tolhurst s email:
Dear Mr Watsell,
Thank you for contacting me about my views on the care that disabled people receive in our society, I’m very pleased that you have set up the Disability Medway Facebook page and think it’s a highly worthwhile cause.
Firstly, I am fully committed to disabled people receiving the same rights to participate in society and think that it is crucial that we strive for fairness. I agree it is essential to ensure that disabled people get the support they need so that they can live full and independent lives. That is why the Government is supporting people with physical, mental or cognitive conditions to live independently.
Secondly, spending on the main disability benefits will be higher in every year to 2020 than it was in 2010 and the Government is committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the opportunities and support they need to get and keep a job. The Disability Confident Campaign is key to support employers in working with the Government to halve the disability employment gap. Indeed, many disabled people can work, want to work, and need our support to get into work and this is highlighted by how the number of disabled people working has increased by more than half a million in the past three years. This is a great achievement and I’m immensely proud to have been part of this.
Thirdly, I am very pleased with what the Conservative party has managed to achieve in recent years for children with disabilities. I welcome the plans to introduce a system that will ensure every child is funded fairly and according to their specific needs, delivering the pledge to build a country where success is based on merit, not privilege. This will help to turn Britain into a country where success is defined by work and talent, not birth or circumstance.
The system for identifying and meeting the needs of all children with Special Education Needs (SEN) and disabilities is designed to deliver the right support for all children, so that they can achieve their potential and their education puts them in good stead for fulfilling adult lives. You may be aware that the Department for Education has consulted on proposals for a fairer national funding formula that will ensure high needs funding is allocated based on children's needs and the schools they attend.
The proposed formula ensures no local authority will receive less high needs funding than they do now, and that the local authorities that are currently less well funded receive an uplift of at least 3 per cent in each of the next two years. Rochester and Strood uses the local funding formula to estimate the number of children with special education needs a school is likely to have are allocated up to £6,000 per pupil per year. I am very encouraged that the Department for Education provided an additional £92.5 million of high needs funding to local authorities for the 2016-2017 year, and I welcome that a further £130 million will be provided for 2017-2018.
Finally, I do think that the Conservative Party offers the fairest approach to people with disabilities and are the most determined in helping them achieve the goals they wish to pursue. Should I be re-elected on 8th June I will continue to fight for disabled people and would welcome your views on how Rochester and Strood can improve its disability services.
Yours sincerely,
Kelly
Kelly Tolhurst
