TEENAGER Connor Sparrowhawk will be given a “lasting legacy” by a public consultation being launched today.

The 18-year-old drowned in the bath after suffering an epileptic fit at in-patient learning disability centre, The Slade in Headington, in 2013.

Care Minister Norman Lamb will today announce plans to give people with learning disabilities and their families more rights, in a campaign called No Voice Unheard, No Right Ignored.

Mr Lamb said he wanted to reduce the number of people sent to short treatment centres, like The Slade.

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The Liberal Democrat added: “Short-term assessment centres like the one that Connor was in are supposed to be short-term, but more often than not patients end up being there a lot longer.

“This consultation is about allowing people with learning disabilities to live in the community with assistance and give their families a voice.

“The most frustrating thing I have found since being a minister is that families feel they’re not being listened to. We need to give them back their voice.”

Connor’s mum Sara Ryan has been involved in writing the proposals, along with campaigners seeking justice for Connor’s death, which was judged as preventable by an independent investigation commissioned by Southern Health.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Mr Lamb said: “I said right from the start of this process that I wanted Sara and the campaign group involved as it needed to pass their test.

“We couldn’t just rattle out some proposals and show them to the group. They needed to be involved every step of the way.”