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This paper revisits the aspirations of the authors for supported employment development from 1997 against a changing policy context with the introduction of Valuing People and Valuing People Now. It reviews developments in employment policy, innovation, the framework for funding supported employment and changes in the level of employment for people with learning disabilities since 1997. It summarises the progress in this area over the period, and suggests the need for further action to deliver the Government's vision of employment inclusion and to secure the rights of people with learning disabilities to a place in the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on “A summary of government initiatives relating to employment for people with learning disabilities in England”.

In her paper, Blamires outlines the development of policy in employment for people with learning disabilities. This commentary explores whether this policy development is having any impact.

The statistics indicate that development of policy does not appear to be making a difference. It is concluded that this is about how it is being implemented and the time it takes for policy to have an impact. What is needed to fully implement these changes is a huge cultural shift, changing people’s mindset about what people with learning disabilities can achieve.

This paper provides an individual perspective on the impact of policy on the lives of people with learning disabilities.

Ambridge residents live with extended kin and non-family members much more often than the population of the United Kingdom as a whole. This chapter explores cultural norms, economic need, and family and health care to explain patterns of coresidence in the village of Ambridge. In landed families, filial obligation and inheritance norms bind multigenerational families to a common dwelling, while scarcity of affordable rural housing inhibits residential independence and forces reliance on access to social networks and chance to find a home among the landless. Across the socioeconomic spectrum, coresidence wards off loneliness among unpartnered adults. Finally, for Archers listeners, extended kin and non-kin coresidence creates a private space where dialogue gives added dimensionality and depth to characters who would otherwise be known only through their interactions in public spaces.