Welsh Government Consultation Document
“Framework for Action on Independent Living Supporting disabled people
to lead an independent life”
Children in Wales is the national umbrella organisation in Wales, bringing
organisations and individuals from all disciplines and sectors together. Its aim is to
make the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child a reality in Wales.
Children in Wales fights for sustainable quality services for all children and young
people, special attention for children in need, and ensures that children and young
people have a voice in issues that affect them.
Children in Wales has over 200 organisations in membership, including the major
voluntary children’s agencies, professional associations, local authorities and health
bodies, as well as many smaller community groups. Children in Wales facilitates as
variety of forums including a disability forum for professionals and a network for
young disabled people, a parenting forum, a poverty network and practice exchange
groups in North and South Wales. Children in Wales works in partnership with the
National Children’s Bureau in England, Children in Scotland, and internationally with
Eurochild and the International Forum for Child welfare.
Children in Wales welcomes the development of the Framework for Action on
Independent Living. This response has been completed following discussion in the
All Wales Disability Forum meeting which is attended by professionals from the
statutory and voluntary sector who work with disabled children young people and
their families.
1.
Looking at the analysis and actions in sections 3.1 – 3.7, have we
identified the right priorities and have any key issues within them been
missed? If so, how should these be addressed?
Children in Wales believes that the right priorities have been identified but we
suggests that the following additions are added to the sections.
Accessible and supported housing
Additional ideas to support the development of accessible housing could include:
 The identification of ‘accessibility champions to help promote accessible
design and building.
 Government funding of developments should be dependent upon housing
being built to lifetime homes standard, with a minimum percentage being
wheelchair accessible.
A barrier free transport system
Ideas to support a barrier free transport system could include:
 The introduction of travel buddy schemes.
 Greater standardisation in the rules for small mobility scooters on trains and
buses.
 Ensuring timetables and other travel information such as delays and
cancellations, are delivered in ways that are accessible to all.
Accessible and inclusive places
It is important to ensure that community facilities and services are fully accessible so
that disabled people can get to and use local shops by incorporating inclusive design
principles into any new infrastructure. One way to achieve this is through the use of
an online assessment tool to assess the disability awareness of communities.
Accessibility could also be improved by removing all unnecessary street furniture to
allow a clear passage for all including disabled people.
Increased use of temporary ramps and provision of the means to call for assistance,
and a requirement to provide access statements on all buildings used by the public
will also lead to improved accessibility for disabled people.
2.
Are there examples of good practice that should be highlighted in taking
forward action under the Framework?
Examples of good practice that can be included under the heading Information,
Advice, Advocacy and peer support
Information –Derwen, Integrated Team for Disabled Children, Gwynedd.
The Information Officer in the Team produces a quarterly newsletter “Enfys The
newsletter for disabled children and children who are ill in Gwynedd and Mon”. In the
summer edition articles included a report on the success of disabled children from
the area who took part the Urdd Eisteddfod, dates for the diary which advertised fun
events for disabled children as well as a family weekend and dates for the parent
support group as well as the activities of children with additional needs who attend
schools in Gwynedd and Mon.
Advocacy - Powys Advocacy Service for Young People (Tros Gynnal Plant)
Hosted by Tros gynnal, this service provides advocacy for young people in Powys,
from their office base in Builth Wells. The project has supported many young people
with autism, learning disabilities or complex needs in a variety of ways. All the young
people have been responding to challenges in their lives and have been helped to
put forward their views and secure their rights in areas such as housing, education,
child and adult protection and transition.
The project has arranged meetings with statutory services, schools and colleges to
raise awareness about advocacy in general and the benefits and potential of the
project. An awareness raising session has been held at the Further Education
College in Powys and this has highlighted the difficulties that face young people in
attaining employment opportunities, when leaving college. It is apparent that there
are lots of issues that face young people in transition, and that having an advocate to
help them navigate the system and to make sure that they are always at the centre
of any planning makes a big difference to these young people’s lives. The support
they have received has helped them become more assertive and more able to have
their say. Much of the work will include the use of augmentative communication
techniques.
The wide range of issues being addressed include options after school/college;
improving the individualised support offered by service providers; and supporting
individuals with challenging behaviour/complex needs. Two young people have been
supported to join the Project’s Management Board. Individuals are also being
supported to attend the local Junior Safeguarding Children Board (which young
people have renamed “Eat Carrots, be safe from Elephants”) and have helped
develop the Anti-bullying Guide for Powys. They were also involved in the
recruitment of the local Autism Co-ordinator. An informal peer advocacy is being
developed. This project is extremely well managed and has developed a structured
approach to recording its work and monitoring the impact of its input.
Examples of good practice that can be included under the heading personalised care
and support
Real Opportunities/ Cyfleoedd Gwirioneddol Regional SEN Transition to
Employment Project
Real Opportunities is a project that works with young people aged 14-19 years old
with a Learning Disability, Severe and Complex Needs or an Autistic Spectrum
Disorder to help them become as independent as possible in their adult lives. To do
this, the project works closely with young people and their families and professionals
to develop a transition plan that is totally centred on the young person. Real
Opportunities staff help young people, their families and other professionals to
achieve the goals laid out in the plan by providing access to training, activities and
direct support. The latter is based on five pathways in the transition to adulthood,
which encompass different areas of life: - Life Long Learning, Independent Living,
Leisure Opportunities, Relationships and Employment. This is achieved with the
following interventions:
•
Transition Planning
•
Person Centred Planning & Family Liaison
•
Work Preparation & Employment Support
•
Skills for Living Independently
•
Youth Inclusion & Peer Mentor Development
•
Psychological Support & Behaviour Management
The project is based in 9 local authorities in Wales - Caerphilly, Bridgend,
Carmarthenshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Merthyr,
Pembrokeshire and Torfaen. Young people are indirectly supported by the training
and recruiting of peer mentors. Each Real Opportunities team has a peer mentor
coordinator who trains colleagues and peers within the young person's life to be able
to support him/her in a more natural setting, promoting greater integration into the
workplace and community and providing support in a more personal way.
The project is also seeking to improve and develop methods of best practice across
Wales for supporting young people with Special Educational Needs through
transition, and has contracted research and evaluation services from the Welsh
Centre for Learning Disabilities in order to evaluate success of the interventions and
project methodology and to disseminate best practice as widely as possible.
Resources will be made available, for free, in a Real Opportunities Tool Kit. The
toolkit will include project administrative procedures including referral forms, jobs
descriptions and project methodology as well as Person Centred Planning
resources.
Example of Good Practice that can be included under A barrier free transport system
The Yellow Card
Clebran and Gwynedd Council’s Transport Service have devised a “Yellow Card” to
help young disabled people when using public transport. The purpose of the card is
for public transport staff to recognise that the person may perhaps require assistance
e.g. to remind the passenger when to get off the bus; to speak more slowly and
clearly; to give extra time for a wheelchair/walking frame user to get on and off the
bus. This will depend on the person’s needs and there will be a space on the card to
include these details. A 6 week pilot took place in the summer where 3 young people
used their cards on bus journeys. This was successful and the Yellow Card’ should
be available to all disabled people in the near future.
3.
Are there issues affecting the other groups covered by the Equality Act
2010 which should be included? If so how should these be addressed?
None come to mind
4.
What is the likely impact on children, and how could the Framework be
strengthened to further support disabled children?
Creating an "inclusive and enabling society" (as set out in the Ministerial foreword)
must start with children, ensuring that disabled children themselves develop “can do”
attitude early in life through participation in mainstream activities, coupled with the
provision of the right equipment at the right time to support independence and selfhelp skills. (Please see annex 1 for a Paper Children in Wales delivered to the Cross
Party Group on Disability on the Framework for Action on Independent Living).
Schools accessibility: Research, carried out by a parent who contacted Children in
Wales expressing concern about this issue and published in the South Wales Echo
on 10th April 2012 has shown that in Wales the majority of high schools remain
largely inaccessible to wheelchair users. The Framework for Action accepts this and
states that “The Welsh Government will remind local authorities of their duties as set
out in the guidance Promoting Disability Equality in Schools particularly in relation to
school buildings and the requirement to publish a disability equality scheme”. Many
authorities still do not have an Accessibility Strategy or data on the accessibility of
their schools. Schools are exempt from the duty to make reasonable adjustments to
physical features under the Equality Act 2010, even though it applies to all other
public building. Rather than adaptations being regarded as anticipatory, the guidance
allows for improvements to be made "over time". Children in Wales recommends that
the Welsh Government holds local authorities to account on this, and seeks
evidence that demonstrates progress and plans leading towards full accessibility for
all pupils
In order to strengthen the Framework to further support disabled children and young
people, Children in Wales recommends that the following two priorities are included
in the Framework.
Increased Disability Awareness to challenge negative perceptions of disability.
Many disabled children and young people have told Children in Wales about the
effect that negative attitudes toward disabled people have upon them. To overcome
this Children in Wales recommends that disability awareness raising and training
should be embedded in school life from an early age.
Ideas for achieving this could include:
 Making disability awareness training part of the curriculum.
 Enabling more integration of disabled people at school.
 Inviting disabled people to visti, schools, and share their experiences.
 Including disability sports in physical education lessons for all pupils, for
example Boccia, which was featured on TV as one of the Paralympics’
sports.
Young disabled people report that often non disabled people do not understand the
barriers they face in fully participating in society and add that this affects their selfconfidence and self-esteem. They feel that some professionals, especially teachers
and healthcare practitioners, as well as employers need a better understanding of
disability, which could be achieved by ensuring all public-facing staff, such as local
authority staff, health staff and transport staff have disability equality training.
Workplace disability equality training could be provided by disabled people
themselves and an award to recognise best practice among employers could be
offered.
In order to change perceptions of disability, more disabled people need to be
involved in community activities and decision-making processes and represented in
senior positions in society or public-facing roles. This can be achieved by providing
accessible information about how disabled people can get involved in decisions
affecting local areas and providing mentoring, coaching and confidence building. For
young disabled people, early intervention and preventative approaches which are
often critical to ensuring they can realise their aspirations.
Access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities
Access to everyday play and leisure activities is the major issue for young disabled
people. Disabled children, young people and their families continue to face
considerable barriers accessing the same opportunities for play, leisure, sporting and
cultural activities as other children and families.
There have been a number of positive developments in recent years but the choices
open to disabled children and young people remain extremely limited. The issues
preventing equal access include:-
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Infra structure - groups for children and young disabled people such as
Interplay (Swansea), VIVA (RCT) and Inclusive Play (Cardiff) which
specialise in supporting disabled children and young people to access
inclusive play do not exist throughout the whole of Wales and where they
do, are financially vulnerable.
Resources – disabled children and young people do not need support staff
“joined at the hip” to enable them to access play and leisure activities but
increased staff ratios can be vital, in particular for those children with
complex health needs or challenging behaviour.
Coordination between sectors – There is often a range of services
providing opportunities for play. Providers in each area need to look at
sharing resources in order to provide more opportunities by not duplicating
provision.
Built environment- providers often put emphasis on access issues such as
wide doorways, access to all areas and disabled toilets, however, the
main issues for disabled children could be access to a quiet room, for time
out and adequate changing facilities (not disabled toilets).
Staff attitudes – There is a need for all staff to undergo awareness training
and inclusion training in order to emphasise that inclusive play should be
an integral part of the process from planning to delivery.
A range of provision – Disabled children and young people have many
differing needs and this should be reflected in a range of play
opportunities. Some children are not able to access traditional play
services due to specific needs such as autism (not being in places with
large amounts of people) therefore it is vital that a range of opportunities
are provided. The “One services fits all” approach should not be used in
the planning of services.
Children in Wales’ recommendations to Welsh Government on how to increase
provision include the allocation of significant resources to provide increased staff
ratios to support inclusion in play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities and improve
planning mechanisms within and between agencies
Interplay is a good practice example of the provision of play and leisure activities to
disabled children and young people. The organisation works throughout Swansea
and Neath and Port Talbot and provides a service based on the individual needs of
the young people attending. They therefore support some young people to access
more mainstream provision whilst providing quality opportunities for those needing a
more specialized service. They are funded through many streams including grant
giving trusts and a service level agreement from both Local Authorities.
5.
What are the best and most practicable ways of supporting the growth
and effectiveness of disabled people's organisations across Wales?
The report emphasises the importance of disabled people's organisations in Wales.
For many disabled children and young people, these groups offer invaluable support
to enable young disabled people to learn about their rights. For example, the
Children in Wales ‘Together 4 Rights’ (T4R) group. This group provides a structure
for young disabled people to be supported to play a full and active part in the
decision-making processes that affect their lives. The group aims to give young
disabled people from across Wales opportunities to:
 Meet and have fun
 Understand their rights
 Raise issues of concern in their everyday lives
 Have a voice in decision-making affecting themselves and their peers
 Build their capacity, by increasing their confidence and self esteem, to
become effective participants in the decision making process
T4R currently works with young people aged 11-19 living in ESF convergence areas,
and is planning to expand this work later this year.
Please see annex 2 for an information Sheet which gives further details about T4R
including highlights from their programme and feedback from professionals and
young people about the group.
6.
What can be done to promote the establishment of more Centres for
Independent Living across Wales?
We do not feel we can offer suggestions in response to this question.
Catherine M. Lewis.
Development Officer (Disabled Children)
Children in Wales
25 Windsor Place,
Cardiff
CF10 3BZ
Tel: 02920342434
e mail Catherine.Lewis@childreninwales.org.uk
.