Would you like to share your experiences and views to contribute to a better society for disabled people?
New proposals to improve the lives of disabled people have been set out by the Disability Unit (DU) – part of the Cabinet Office – which has been established to address barriers faced by disabled people in the UK.
The DU are asking for people’s views and comments on each proposal with the responses informing the final Disability Action Plan in 2023-2024.
You can find a link to the document at the end of this article, but the questions can be summarised as follows:
- To what extent do you agree with this proposal?
- Is there anything else you would like the government to do/consider?
Here is a summary of the proposals:
Electoral office: DU wants to increase the representation of disabled people in office with plans to review funding for reasonable adjustments for candidates and to provide a gov.uk page for information and support.
Accessible playgrounds: DU plans to make it easier for local authorities to create or refurbish accessible playgrounds for disabled children by creating an online hub.
Emergency planning and resilience: DU proposes greater engagement with disabled people’s organisations, with the aim to increase disability inclusion when planning for events such as extreme weather.
Climate change and mitigation: DU wants to ensure the needs of disabled people are responded to when addressing climate change.
Disability enabled badge: DU aims to develop a Disability Enabled Badge to encourage business and services to train their staff in disability awareness, with the aim to increase disability awareness and make it easier for disabled people to identify these services.
Special Olympics: DU plans to work with the DCMS to commission a report into the feasibility of hosting the special Olympic games in the UK in 2031, with the aim of raising awareness of learning disabilities, celebrate wider talent and potential, and increase grassroots participation.
Addressing access refusals for guide dogs: DU aims to work with guide dog organisations to discuss what more can be done to address refusals experienced by people with guide dogs e.g. fining businesses.
Raising the profile of assisted technology: The DU plans to create activities in Government to raise the profile and understanding of assisted technology, with the aim of ensuring the Government can understand up to date technology and be able to advise and support disabled people in this area.
Wellbeing and opportunities for disabled children: The DU proposes to establish a task force across government departments to increase wellbeing and opportunities for disabled children. The areas to be looked at include transition to adulthood, bullying, personal safety, and the impact on wellbeing.
Support for disabled parents: The DU plans to establish a task force to improve support for disabled parents in areas such as family courts and child protection, accessing health and social services.
Disability evidence and the data improvement programme: The DU aims to focus on the experiences of disabled people, not just outcomes, with the aim of providing a clearer picture of how policies impact people.
Disability foresight: The DU proposes to better understand the evolving issues and priorities for disabled people with the aim of planning future scenarios.
Finally… your views. The DU wants to hear what YOU think about these proposals. The deadline for submitting views is 6 October 2023.
You can read the action plan in full and write your responses here: Disability Action Plan: Consultation (publishing.service.gov.uk)
