P-04-577 Reinstate Funding to the Real Opportunities Project – Correspondence from the Petitioner to the Committee, 22.06.15

Dear Committee,

Thank you for your letter dated March 2015 in which you referred to correspondence received from The Minister for Finance. Whilst all of us in support of the petition appreciate it is not the ministers responsibility to control WEFO funds the intention of the petition was to raise an awareness to the Assembly of the lack of resources actively being made available to Young Adults with Learning Disabilities or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

It is with great regret that we have been informed of the decision to not support the requests for European funding to relaunch The Real Opportunities project but instead plough funding into a new initiative that will support a broad spectrum of needs whilst not directly supporting those previously targeted by The Real Opportunities Project.

In your letter I was disappointed to hear that the committee saw the ministers response as satisfactory grounds to move to close the petition without waiting for the WEFO decision on the topic, furthermore I would like to reiterate the fact that the proposal on how to use The Mix as a model of best practice was intended to highlight the ease of running a service in support of young people and in no way a direct request for funding to The Mix. This move by the committee to close the door on the thousands of young adults and their families in dire need of support following the closure of the Real Opportunities Project has not only upset myself but the many other people behind our petition. 

Surely you can see the need to be proactive on this situation. By funding initiatives, either with WEFO money or money from The Welsh Government, to support young people now we will see a reduction on the pressure on other services, such as the NHS, needed to support not only these young people but their families.

I shall end my letter by urging you, the committee, to reconsider the options available as a result of this petition, surely it is not too much to ask that a full review be carried out to highlight the shortfall of services to the vulnerable young people served by the Assembly.

Thank you for your time.

Yours Faithfully,

Aled Davies

Petitioner.