• Lead partner: Queen’s University Belfast
• Partner Organisation: Action for Real Change UK, Compass Advisory Network (NI), Praxis Care (NI), Mencap Cyrmu (Wales), Richmond Fellowship (Scotland) and the Ann Craft Trust (England)
• Twitter: @arcni_GOVH
• Final report: Executive summary
• Final report: Easy Read Executive summary
• Final report: Welsh Executive summary
• Final report: Welsh Executive summary Easy Read version
• Final report: Full report
• Final report: Action Plan

The 12 month commission is led by Queen’s University Belfast in partnership with Action for Real Change UK, Compass Advisory Network (NI), Praxis Care (NI), Mencap Cyrmu (Wales), Richmond Fellowship (Scotland) and the Ann Craft Trust (England).

The research is exploring how people with learning disabilities and their organisations, can best influence the policy and practice of adult safeguarding. In developing policies to keep people safe, it is imperative that disabled people themselves have direct influence.

The research is coproduced by a team of researchers, including those with lived experience of a learning disability and is due to complete in the spring of 2020. The research seeks to provide something new about promoting independent living by:

• Identifying the different approaches to exerting influence on adult safeguarding policy which have been taken by people who have a learning disability and the relevant DPOs;
• Exploring what works in different contexts by looking closely at successful examples where people with learning disabilities and the relevant DPOs have influenced adult safeguarding policy and practice;
• Making recommendations on approaches to take and identifying barriers and enablers to exerting influence on adult safeguarding policy.

The contact for this commission is Dr Lorna Montgomery, School of Social Policy, Education and Social Work. [email protected]