Independent Living
A policy development paper
on disability
Danny Alexander MP
2
Foreword
The purpose of this paper is to develop a long-term framework for
Liberal Democrat policy on disability. It represents our long-term
ambition to significantly improve the position of disabled people in
society.
This papers contains policy proposals to deliver this aspiration –
much like the Prime Minister’s strategy unit report, Improving the Life
Chances of Disabled People, it should not be seen as a list of shortterm spending commitments. These will be spelled out in our
manifesto at the time of the next general election. Specific proposals
for reform of the benefits system will be brought forward through the
Poverty and Inequality working group that has recently been
established.
Nor is this paper intended to be over-prescriptive. In many of the
policy areas discussed, there will be changes over time that will mean
it would be inappropriate to lay down detailed policies now. Rather,
the general approach of this paper is to ensure that future decisions
are taken within the overall policy framework of Independent Living.
In a fair society being disabled should not mean a person is more
likely to be in poverty than a non-disabled people. However, 29% of
households with a disabled adult are in poverty compared to 17% of
households without a disabled adult. It is therefore not surprising that
research by the Department for Work and Pensions has found that
the extra costs to disabled people are not currently met by the
support they receive through benefits and services.
With an ageing population, the number of disabled people should be
expected to increase. The Disability Rights Commission estimate that
within 35 to 40 years there could be nearly a 60% increase in demand
for support from carers. Addressing some forms of inequality, such as
the age discrimination that exists in regard to some disability benefits,
would call for significant extra resources.
3
So to make independent living a reality for disabled people, when
decisions are made on the reallocation of resources resulting from
greater economic activity of disabled people, closing the gap between
extra support provided to disabled people and the extra costs faced
by disabled people should be a priority.
Greater independent living is not only beneficial for disabled people,
but also for society as a whole. Helping those of working age to find
employment delivers additional economic growth tax revenue, and
lower benefit expenditure. For older people independent living also
delivers substantial wider benefits and savings.
Danny Alexander
August 2006
4
Summary and Recommendations
This paper sets the overall direction for the future development of our policies
for disabled people. It sets out proposals that will enable disabled people to
enjoy the same rights that other citizens expect.
The main proposals to meet these aims that are discussed in this paper are:
Rights to Independent Living
 Consultation on updating of existing legal definitions of disability and
replacement of ‘duty of care’ with ‘duty of equality’
 Monitoring and enforcement of equality legislation
 Public awareness initiatives, particularly to promote equality of disabled
people
Services for independent living
Establishment of network of Centres of Independent Living (CILs)
 Central government to undertake a financial impact assessment of the
commitment to CILs network
 Central government to work with regional government offices and local
authorities to assess the existing and potential capacity of Direct Payment
Support Services (DPSS)
 Consultation with public private and voluntary sector service providers on
changes that may be necessary to:
o Promote the growth and regional coverage of a strong DPSS sector
o Provide a robust regulatory regime to ensure a level playing field for
the public, private and voluntary sectors and ensure high standards
of service and protection of disabled people from abuse and substandard DPSS providers.
Roles of CILs
 An ethos and a democratic structure allowing all users an opportunity to
participate in decisions on how the CIL is managed and the services it
provides
 Provide brokerage services for use of individual budgets
 A one-stop point for information and advice
 Serve all disabled people, including older people and parents of disabled
children
5
Requirements for direct payments and individual budgets
 Inclusion of as many funding streams as possible
 Advocacy services to support budget holders
 Genuine choice of services
 Choice for budget holders in level of responsibility exercised
 Protection of budget holders through regulation of services
 Available to parents and guardians of disabled children
Health and Care services
 Greater co-ordination between health services and social services
 Improved prevention and early intervention
 Consultation on the merits and the impact of a right to request not to live
in residential care
 A sufficient, better trained, social care workforce
 Roaming packages to ensure entitlements are valid from one area to
another
 Funding for hospice care for terminally ill children
 Disability equality training for all health and social care staff
Education and transition to adult life
 A stronger duty on LEAs to provide places in a mainstream school or
access to special schooling
 A stronger duty on Trust Schools to accept disabled children
 A right to advocacy to help parents and their children make decisions on
the best provision in their individual case
 Disability equality to be part of the citizenship curriculum
 Disability equality in teacher training programmes
 Radically overhaul the SEN system to one in which the every child has an
assessment of their individual learning needs, with clear best practice
guidance
 Link funding to assessments of learning needs, rather than funding
schools on simple headcount that assumes the cost of education every
child is identical, regardless of whether they are disabled or have SEN
 Ensure there are sufficient statutory requirements on Academies and
Trust Schools to take disabled and SEN pupils and to work in cooperation with other schools to meet the needs of such pupils.
 A national strategy to provide an equitable and easily understood system
for planning, funding and placement of disabled and SEN learners in
further and higher education
 Centres for Independent Living having a role assisting learners in their
transition and brokering provision of further and higher education within
the locality or region
6
Employment and Welfare
Extra support benefits
 Include a new category of communication needs in Disability Living
Allowance
 Extend entitlement to the higher rate of the DLA mobility component to
people who are registered blind.
 Address age discrimination in the benefit system
Job retention
 A formalised entitlement to rehabilitation leave
 Extend Access to the Condition Management Programme (CMP) to those
on sick pay or rehabilitation leave
 Consultation on inclusion of mental health conditions in employer liability
Separation of benefit processing from employment support
 Job Centre Plus to be reformed as a purchasing and regulating body with
regional and local presence and a gateway to income replacement
benefits and employment services
 Employment and job search support to be procured from a range of
public, voluntary and private providers and partnerships based on clear
objectives with stable contracts and funding
Support programmes to meet all needs
 Reform of the Personal Capacity Assessment (PCA) focussed on
providing individual action plans and improved understanding of disability,
and in particular mental health problems
 Investment to ensure access to health management, work experience,
training and employability programmes
 Reform of Access to Work so that decisions are made for individuals
when seeking work, rather than for a specific job once it has been offered
Support for employers
 Promote use of Access to Work with employers
 Partnership with employment support providers
 Promote disability confident businesses
 Government to lead by example in employing disabled people
7
Home and family life
Housing
 Incorporation of the Lifetime Homes Standard (LHS) into building
regulations
 A requirement for local authorities to maintain an accessible housing
register
 An enhanced duty on local authorities to ensure sufficient provision of
accessible housing their area
 New powers to ensure disabled people can be housed in localities with
best access to transport and services for disabled people
Transport
 Extending DDA duties to cover scooters on trains
 Disability equality training for rail network station staff
 Addressing the abuse of disabled parking facilities
 Protect disabled drivers from the impact of congestion charges and roaduser charges
 Extend parking fines to drivers who block accessible features of the built
environment.
 Enforce DDA requirements for buses and provision of accessible buses
on designated accessible routes
 Prevent non-disabled people blocking access to designated seating for
disabled people
 Support new European laws on air travel for disabled people
 Extend Disability Discrimination Act requirements to passenger sea craft
Carers
 A right to access employment support programmes
 Ending the 21 hour study rule on carers
 Carers to be entitled to working tax credit if employed for more than 16
hours per week
 A right to respite breaks
Relationships
 Disability equality training for family planning professionals
Leisure and social lives
 Disability equality training for customer facing staff in the leisure sector
 Increase in the amount of audio description television programmes
8
Introduction
Liberal Democrats believe in a society which is fair and in which no-one is
enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. Disabled people experience
greater poverty, have lower educational attainment and are often left to depend
on uniform services that limit their life chances.
Since the last Liberal Democrat paper on disability, 1999’s Breaking Down
Barriers, there has been considerable legislative change, particularly with the
extension of the Disability Discrimination Act. Ideas are changing too. Liberal
Democrats must respond to disabled people’s wish to take responsibility for
their own lives through independent living; and we must test our policies against
the social model of disability.
Understanding Disability
Disability is not simply about medical diagnosis or health condition. Disabled
people may have particular medical needs, but disabled individuals should not
have their personal identity medicalised any more than non-disabled people.
A social model of disability provides a valuable understanding from which to
approach policy making for disabled people. A social model focuses attention
on the barriers that policies must address so that more disabled people
experience the same life chances as non-disabled people. However, definitions
are necessary to allow objective decision-making and more work is needed to
frame a definition of disability under a social model which also allows clear
decision-making.
Failure to understand disability leads to prejudice against disabled people. This
prejudice is perhaps the greatest barrier preventing disabled people from
having the same life chances as non-disabled people. By addressing society’s
negative assumptions about disabled people we can help to overcome their
exclusion. For Liberal Democrats this exclusion is unacceptable.
The cost of disability discrimination extends beyond disabled people
themselves. A million disabled people who are not in employment say they
would like to work. Their exclusion from work is a loss to the economy and a
cost to the tax payer. There is also a social cost to the whole of society in
keeping our diversity hidden and excluded.
Independent Living
Liberal Democrats believe in upholding human rights, yet disabled people
frequently face infringement of both their human and civil rights.
9
Disabled people have responded by demanding rights to independent living.
This does not mean unassisted living, but it means having the same choices
and freedoms as non-disabled people. The purpose of independent living is to
enable disabled people to play their part in society as full and equal citizens,
with the rights and responsibilities that entails.
This includes a right to the same choices and controls as non-disabled people
in areas such as education, work, care and leisure. Choices must be made at
the individual level, with high quality independent advocates provided if
necessary.
We recognise that many of the barriers to independent living result from lack of
resources. It is unrealistic to expect unlimited resources. However, we believe
that change is necessary. As disabled people make a greater contribution to the
economy, and as the economy grows, there is a strong argument for making it
a priority to close the gap between the level of support currently provided to
disabled people and the extra costs they face.
Scope of the paper
As in our last paper giving policies for disabled people, we have avoided the
temptation to discuss different types of impairments. For independent living to
be achieved, disabled people must be treated as individuals. Some may have
similar impairments, but different individual aspirations. We need a policy
framework the effectiveness of which does not depend on a disabled person’s
particular impairment.
Legal definitions of disability are less important than the provision of universal
legal rights that disabled people can have recourse to when necessary. A rights
based approach can also more effectively address the simultaneous
discrimination which can affect disabled people who experience other forms of
discrimination – for example on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, or
race.
As a policy development paper, this paper seeks to build upon, rather than
replace, the Party’s 1999 Policy Paper ‘Breaking Down Barriers’. While some of
the proposals in the 1999 paper have been overtaken by subsequent
legislation, other proposals remain party policy.
This policy development paper was commissioned by the Federal Policy
Committee. While the paper is principally intended to aid development of
Federal Party policy, it is recognised that parts of the paper cover areas for
which the Party in England, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Welsh Liberal
10
Democrats and the Northern Ireland Local Party determine policy. In
particular, it is recognised that in areas of policy which are the responsibility of
the Scottish Liberal Democrats, some of the proposals in this paper are not
directly applicable due to changes which have already been driven forward by
the party in government in Scotland. Any formal adoption of specific proposals
contained in the paper must take place in accordance with the constitutional
requirements of the Federal Party and its constituent bodies.
11
The Right to Independent Living
Independent living is a fundamental right. Whilst rights should be enshrined in
statute, they must not only exist on paper, but throughout society and the
attitudes of both its disabled and non-disabled members.
Equality Legislation
We need to move towards a rights based approach to protection of disabled
people, with equality at its heart. For disabled people to progress in society, and
attain greater independence and equality with non disabled people, we need to
move away from legal definitions that categorise disabled people and enshrine
the duty of the state towards them in a paternalistic role.
 Update existing legal definitions of disability and replace a ‘duty of
care’ with ‘duty of equality’
Some of the legal definitions of disability that are still in use are in legislation
that was drafted more than 50 years ago. The statutory ‘duty of care’ for
local authorities is also coming under increasing criticism for being outdated
and resulting in practices that increase dependency. Consultation is required
on how a combination of a rights-based framework and legal definitions of
disability rooted in a social model can more effectively meet the needs of
disabled people.
 Monitoring and enforcement of equality legislation
For equality legislation to work effectively for disabled people, it needs to be
properly monitored and enforced. The new Commission for Equality and
Human Rights must be sufficiently resourced to do this job. Consideration
should be given to the extent to which it should have an inspectorate role for
public bodies. It could work in similar way to the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate
in providing reports to identify areas for improvement, rather than simply
lambasting failure.
Discrimination and abuse
In a survey conducted by Scope, 22% of disabled respondents reported having
experienced harassment in public in relation to their impairment. Abuse of
disabled people in residential care continues to be a serious problem.
 Public awareness initiatives
Throughout this paper, areas are identified where a greater understanding of
disability equality is needed. These will help improve public attitudes towards
disabled people, but to assist disabled people in become more active and
visible in our society a more general approach to addressing public attitudes
is likely to be necessary. The government should not necessarily take a lead
role on this, but should support it as far as possible. The New Office for
Disability Issues is probably best situated to take a lead.
12
 Portrayal of disabled people
The under representation of disabled people and negative portrayal of
disabled people in the media is still a frequent occurrence. There is a role for
the Office of Disability Issues in encouraging a more balanced and fair
portrayal of disabled people, working with the Press Complaints
Commission.
Democratic participation
There are still many barriers to disabled people participating as equal
democratic citizens in the running of their country. The most basic right, the
right to vote, can even be difficult for many disabled people. Much more proactive use needs to be made of the Disability Discrimination Act to enforce the
democratic rights of disabled people, including making polling stations more
accessible, and disability equality training for returning officers.
13
Services for independent living
The great challenge for a policy based on delivering independent living is to
meet the vast diversity that exists amongst the disabled population. The type of
impairment a disabled person has and the age at which they became disabled,
as well as their individual abilities and wishes, calls for a framework that allows
for diversity in the extent to which independence is exercised in accessing
services.
For example an elderly person whose vision has recently become seriously
impaired may prefer a standard package of support rather than take on the
complicated personal management of their entire care package. However, a
person with a long experience of living with a physical impairment may have
very clear ideas about the kind of support that will best meet their personal
aspirations and would wish to exercise control over the spending of as many
pooled support budgets as possible to meet those aspirations as effectively as
possible.
The move away from paternalistic provision towards achieving independent
living does not mean unassisted living. It is important that the structure that
emerges meets the needs and choices of all disabled people, not just the most
articulate and outspoken advocates of their right to independent living.
Individual budgets and Centres for Independent Living
The move to user-led organisations and individual budgets will provide the
opportunity for many disabled people to procure services that reflect their
individual needs and aspirations. However, those disabled people should not be
overlooked who do not wish to exercise this extent of control and whose
greatest need is to know that there is quick provision of the support they need
based on expertise that they do not possess themselves about their impairment
and likely needs.
Centres for Independent Living (CILs)
The Government accepted the recommendation of the Strategy Unit report,
Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People (2005) that each local authority
area should have a user-led Centre for Independent Living (CIL) by 2010. This
is an important commitment and will not succeed if local authorities do not
receive support from central government.
14
As a priority, we need:
 Central government to undertake a financial impact assessment of
the commitment
The commitment will doubtless have cost implications. Despite adopting
the commitment, the government has so far had nothing to say on
possible need for central funding. The Strategy Unit called for
consideration to be given to funding implications in the next spending
review, but without an assessment of the resources required to ensure an
effective network of CILs, the is little chance that there will be a decent
outcome for CILs in the spending review.
 Central government to work with regional government offices and
local authorities to assess the existing and potential capacity of
Direct Payment Support Services (DPSS)
 Consultation with public private and voluntary sector service
providers on changes that may be necessary to:
o Promote the growth and regional coverage of a strong DPSS
sector
o Provide a robust regulatory regime to ensure a level playing
field for the public, private and voluntary sectors and ensure
high standards of service and protection of disabled people
from abuse and sub-standard DPSS providers.
CILs are not generally service providers and a network of CILs is not
envisaged as a network to deliver services. One of their main roles will be
to provide advice, advocacy and brokerage for disabled people using
individual budgets to procure services from providers, so the growth of the
DPSS sector is as essential a part of the move towards independent living
as a national network of CILs.
The proposal in the Strategy Unit report called for each Centre for Independent
Living to be modelled on existing user-led CILs. However, there is great
variation in services that existing CILs provide. This is due to factors such as
differences in ethos, demand and resources. Each CIL does not have to have
the same structure of ownership and management; being user-led does not
preclude CILs having public, voluntary sector, mutual or private ownership and
management structures. But a clearer idea is needed of the kind of services
and support that CILs should provide than is given in the suggestion that they
should be modelled on existing centres. Each CIL should as a minimum:
 Have an ethos and a democratic structure allowing all users an
opportunity to participate in decisions on how the CIL is managed
and the services it provides
Whatever ownership and management models each CIL uses, their
governance should allow full participation and involvement of users. This
may for example, be in the form of a board of governors democratically
elected by the CIL’s users. Beyond the democratic involvement of users,
15




each CIL needs a user-led ethos for provision of its services that is
understood by all staff.
Provide brokerage services for use of individual budgets
Disabled people will need advice and support in using individual budgets.
Brokerage services should not only provide this, but should protect
disabled people from the bureaucracy that may arise in the management
of individual budgets and procurement of services.
Be a one-stop point for information and advice
Disabled people need specialist advice on many areas of their life, e.g.
benefits entitlement, education and training opportunities, legal
entitlements in a range of situations, accessible goods and services.
Provide independent advocacy services
For some CIL users, provision of information on their rights, entitlements
and choices in different situations will be enough. But not everyone is able
to self-advocate. Some may lack the knowledge, expertise or confidence,
while others may not be able to because of the nature of their impairment
or condition.
Serve all disabled people, including older people and parents of
disabled children
CILs must be able to respond to the needs of all disabled people,
whatever their age. Being user led carries an inherent danger that the
most articulate or larger groups of disabled people who are subject to the
same type of disabling barriers dominate the organisations at the expense
of the interests of the less articulate and those with the least common
requirements. CILs should be inclusive organisations for all disabled
people.
Direct payments and individual budgets
Piloting of individual budgets is underway that will provide an evidence base. It
is too early to be prescriptive about how individual budgets should work in
practice and flexibility is likely to be needed; but the following features should
be present:
 Inclusion of as many funding streams as possible
 The pilots should allow for as many services and funding streams from all
relevant government departments and agencies to be offered as part of
an individual budget instead as are necessary to deliver independent
living opportunities.
 Independent Advocacy
As discussed above, not all disabled people are able to self-advocate.
However, they can still achieve greater independence and selfdetermination through the use of individual budgets with the support of an
advocate than they can do through the provision of uniform services.
16
 Genuine choice for services
As mentioned above, those taking advantage of individual budgets will
face a barrier to independence and equality if a range of equality service
provision is not available for them to procure. Because of the dominance
of the public sector in providing services, the relationship between the
provider and the disabled person is likely to change before there are
genuine alternatives available. But the growth in alternatives is vital to
enabling disabled people to achieve independent living.
 Choice in level of responsibility exercised
Not everybody wants to take full responsibility for every aspect of their
own support requirements. Disabled people would find themselves
subject to a new form of discrimination if they were forced to take
responsibility to an extent that non-disabled people do not have to.
 Protection / regulation
People sometimes make poor decisions for which they are responsible.
But people can also be taken in by rogue service providers or suffer from
poor quality service. There will therefore need to be a robust system of
regulation of Direct Payment Support Services across the public,
voluntary and private sectors to protect disabled people from rogue
providers and poor quality services. A harder decision needs to be made
on where to draw the line in protecting people from the problems that
could result from bad decisions made on the use of their budgets.
 Available to parents and guardians of disabled children
So far piloting of individual budgets has been mostly focussed on disabled
adults, but disabled children should also be able to access individual
budgets. Their parents or guardians would generally need to have an
advocacy role, but as far as possible disabled children should be
encouraged to speak for themselves.
Health and Care services
Individual budgets will change the relationship that disabled people have with
provision of health and care services. But the NHS and local authorities will still
continue to have major roles and need to take a more co-ordinated approach.
The level of support that some disabled people either need or have provided to
them has left many institutionalised. There is evidence that the dependency that
results from institutional care is not only a barrier to developing independence,
but can adversely affect health. There are also ways in which health services
for disabled people can be improved. The main areas of health and social care
that should be addressed are:
 Greater co-ordination between health services and social services
The distinction between health and social care is often unclear, but there
are artificial divides between health services and social care services. The
most effective model for health care is a social model that treats not just
17




the condition or impairment, but takes a more holistic approach to the
individual and their environment. To avoid problems of duplicated
provision, gaps in provision, delays in provision and confusion over who is
responsible, health and social care services need to work much more
closely. This is already the case in some areas, where local authorities
and hospital trusts and PCTs have found their own ways of working
together more closely. Central government must help spread best
practice and look at areas where changes to legislation and funding
structures could ensure a more streamlined approach.
Improved prevention and early intervention
One area where health and social services will continue to have a vitally
important role - that CILs and individual budgets are unlikely to change is with newly disabled people. Identifying an emerging impairment or
health condition and acting early can prevent deterioration of health and
loss of independence, which benefits not just the individual but brings
valuable efficiency savings. Newly disabled people will not be in contact
with CILs and may even be hostile to the idea that they are disabled.
Clear lines of responsibility and a more proactive approach are needed by
health and social services to ensure that early intervention with the most
effective support for maintaining health and independence is provided.
Consultation on the merits and impact of a right to request not to
live in residential care
The question of whether there should be a right to request not to live in
residential care was raised in the 2005 green paper on social care,
Independence, well-being and choice. However, the government has
since avoided pursuing the idea. There are clearly practical and cost
implications that may not be possible to overcome in every case, but this
could be taken into account. It would prevent residential care decisions
being taken for reasons that suit local authorities’ social services
departments, rather than the individuals concerned.
A sufficient, better trained, social care workforce
The government estimates that there is a shortage of 110,000 care
workers (11% of the necessary workforce) and that only 25% of the
workforce has a relevant qualification. The regional picture in many areas
is worse, with rural areas often the worst affected. The main impact of this
situation is a lower quality of care provided to disabled people.
Roaming packages to ensure entitlements are valid from one area to
another
When disabled people move to another area, they face the prospect of
being re-assessed for their social care needs. While a new location, new
home or other life changes may require changes to the services received,
many needs stay the same and should not need to be reassessed, which
not only costs the local authority but can be stressful for the person
affected. Roaming assessment packages could simplify the process and
18
help lead to a more consistent level of service provision across local
authorities.
 Funding for hospice care for terminally ill children
The way in which Primary Care Trust spending operates has meant that
while adult hospices usually receive some PCT funding, children’s
hospices are receiving none and are entirely dependent on charitable
sources.
 Disability equality training for health and social care staff
For some disabled people, an impairment or health condition will mean
more contact with health services than many non-disabled people. All
NHS staff need a level of core skills in disability equality, not just those
who most regularly provide treatment and support to disabled people.
 CILS to advise on Community Equipment Services
Lack of funding within the NHS means that currently many disabled
people have to self fund or approach charities to get their equipment
needs met. This results in many disabled people having inadequate or
inappropriate equipment. In particular there are shortfalls in the provision
of appropriate wheelchairs, augmentative and alternative communication
equipment and other assistive technology which is vital to enable disabled
people to live independent lives.
Education and transition to adult life
Disabled children are not lacking in aspiration; but there remain barriers to them
reaching their full potential. This can prevent them reaching their full potential in
further and higher education; gaining employment; and receiving equal pay.
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that the scope and
level of aspirations among disabled 16 year olds is similar to those of their nondisabled counterparts. Similar proportions aspired to continuing education,
training and work. Earnings expectations were also the same. But by 26,
disabled people are nearly four times more likely to be out of work, while those
in work earn 11% less than non-disabled counterparts with the same level of
qualifications. And despite the optimism at 16 years, disabled people are
already twice as likely not to be in education or employment at this age than
their non-disabled counterparts.
Action must be taken to address the unacceptably poor outcomes for young
disabled people. There must also be improvements to the key transition phase
as young disabled people move on to receiving adult support, so that the same
educational and training opportunities exist for disabled learners in further and
higher education as for non-disabled learners.
19
Disability equality in schools
To ensure disabled children have the same chance to reach their education
potential as non-disabled children, there should be:
 A stronger duty on LEAs to provide a place in a mainstream school
or access to special schooling whenever requested.
Currently parents and disabled or SEN children are let down both by
being forced to take a place in a mainstream school when that is not their
wish, or a special school when their preference is for a mainstream
placement. While there is a need to increase inclusive schooling, it would
be illiberal to force all disabled children to attend a mainstream school,
especially as currently some mainstream schools are not providing the
quality of education for disabled and SEN children that should be
expected. We need to deliver both quality and choice and this is likely to
require a less rigid approach to how this is provided. Much greater
partnership between mainstream and special schools in a locality is
needed to maximise the benefits of inclusion in mainstream schooling and
the quality and expertise of special schools. Monitoring of Section 316
should also be carried out to ensure it is not being used as a loophole to
avoid duties to provide mainstream placements.
 A stronger duty on Trust Schools to accept disabled children
With the increase in Trust Schools and their greater specialisation, more
schools in an LEA area will need to be accessible to ensure that disabled
children have the same choices as non-disabled children.
 A right to independent advocacy to help parents and their children
make decision on the best provision in their individual case
This may best be provided through the proposed Centres of Independent
Living, which should exist in all local authority areas by 2010. CILs can
provide expert advice for parents and can help ensure that the wishes of
the child are understood and taken into consideration in agreeing
decisions on a child’s schooling.
Whilst the inclusion of more disabled children in mainstream education will
greatly improve disability understanding amongst all pupils, it is also important
that children learn about disability and that teachers do no treat disabled
children in a discriminatory way. This should be addressed by:
 Making disability equality a part of the citizenship curriculum
Negative attitudes towards disabled people still pervade our society.
Disability can be hard to understand for children and young people.
Disability equality education within the citizenship curriculum can help to
address these negative attitudes.
20
 Including disability equality in teacher training programmes.
Many teachers themselves report that they feel ill-equipped to teach SEN
and disabled children, with a TES survey showing a third of teachers had
no disability equality training on their teacher training course and a further
quarter only receiving a day’s training or less. Such training should also
be included in the training that Liberal Democrats have called for preschool teachers to receive.
Meeting the needs of Disabled and SEN pupils
Nearly 20% of pupils are categorized as having some sort of SEN and nearly
3% of pupils have had SEN statements. Around three-quarters of children with
new statements are placed in mainstream schools.
There are high levels of parental dissatisfaction with the current approach to
SEN pupils and statementing. Some parents have found local authorities
unwilling to make statements, while other have been forced into placement
decisions against their wishes. There is a lack of consistency across the
country in the quality of how SEN statements are made and the outcomes that
result; and a possible conflict of interests that should be investigated as
assessments are not carried out independently of LEAs.
Some of these problems are related to a schools system that has become
focussed on assessment and attainment, rather than raising standards by
improving the quality of provision and focussing on pupils individual needs. This
is further borne out in research by the Sutton Trust, which found that the top
200 performing non-selective state schools take far below their fair share of
SEN pupils. A change of approach is needed that would:
 Radically overhaul the SEN system to one in which the every child
has an assessment of their individual learning needs, with clear best
practice guidance
Only around 15% of SEN pupils are statemented. Moving towards a
system where every child has an assessment of their learning needs
would ensure all SEN pupils’ needs are adequately addressed. The group
that are currently statemented would be likely to receive the most
complex assessments and need the most regular reviews, but assessing
all pupils will help schools determine their overall needs and improve their
strategy to meeting the needs of disabled and SEN pupils.
21
 Link funding to assessments of learning needs, rather than funding
schools on simple headcount that assumes the cost of education
every child is identical, regardless of whether they are disabled or
have SEN
Weighted funding according to the assessment of children’s particular
needs would ensure that all schools have the necessary resources to
provide the support and carry out the reasonable adjustments required by
the DDA that the individuals they are educating require. It would support
opportunities for more disabled and SEN pupils to attend mainstream
schooling.
 Ensure there are sufficient statutory requirements on Academies
and Trust Schools to take disabled and SEN pupils and to work with
other schools to meet such pupils’ needs.
Academies are able to refuse to take SEN pupils and the future spread of
Trust Schools is in danger of further restricting choice and access for
disabled and SEN pupils relative to other pupils. It is particularly important
that placement decisions are not restricted to simply which school a child
attends and whether that is a special school or a mainstream school. For
many pupils the answer may be to spend time attending both.
There is no evidence that delaying the start of formal learning for those who
may be ready at 5 years is damaging to their long term educational attainment.
There is growing evidence that starting formal education too early damages
many children who are not ready. It has been linked to behavioural problems
and low aspirations that may continue throughout a child’s schooling. It may
worsen some of the conditions covered by the current definition of SEN, such
as social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is worth considering delaying
the start of formal education until children are 7 years old as is already the case
in several European countries. This would not mean delaying the start of
learning. Structured and play-based exploratory learning progresses
fundamental skills that in some cases may be underdeveloped if formal learning
starts too soon.
A more favourable environment that improves the long term educational
attainment of both disabled and non-disabled children and their well-being
could be achieved by:
 Reducing primary class sizes
This existing Liberal Democrat policy, while intended to benefit all pupils,
would allow primary teachers to provide the level of attention necessary to
improve opportunities for pupils with SENs to be educated alongside their
peers. This would increase inclusion; improve the opportunities for pupils
with SENs to remain in mainstream schooling throughout their education;
and improve disability equality understanding in non-disabled children.
22
Further and higher education and the transition to adult life
The Adult Learning Inspectorate has been very critical of Further Education and
Higher Education opportunities for disabled people, suggesting there is too little
specialist assessment and guidance available across all types of provision.
Improvements could be achieved by:
 A national strategy to provide equitable and easily understood
system for planning, funding and placement of disabled and SEN
learners
The report of the Steering Group of the Learning and Skills Council has
recommended that a national strategy is needed to coordinate the
regional and local delivery of further and higher education. This would
ensure consistent regional provision of high quality post-16 education and
training centred on the needs of disabled and SEN learners. While
diversity of courses is a strength, the resulting diversity of funding streams
needs to be simplified to aid access.
 Centres for Independent Living having a role assisting learners in
their transition and brokering provision of further and higher
education within the locality or region
The Adult Learning Institute suggested a regional network of Independent
Assessment Centres to carry out this role. CILs may be better placed to
carry out this role more effectively and at lower cost. They would already
be doing much of the work that the Inspectorate highlighted in bringing
clarity to multi-agency arrangements so that education and training
providers can coordinate provision of services to an individual with their
other needs. CILs should already have links with LEAs that could improve
the planning of transitions into post-16 education.
 Provide diverse course structures with modular programmes to
build up to qualifications over times scales that meet individual
needs
It is already Liberal Democrat policy to allow students to combine
academic and vocational training through modular course structures in
higher education, which would also allow greater flexibility in when and
where studying takes place. The flexibility this allows is particularly suited
to the needs of may disabled and SEN learners, whose pace of learning,
or fluctuating health may require breaks from study. All post-16 learners
would be able to work at their own pace towards the eventual attainment
of a higher education qualification.
23
Employment and equality
While three-quarters of non-disabled working age people are in work, only a
third of their disabled counterparts are employed. Around 2.7million of the
unemployed disabled people are receiving Incapacity Benefits (IBs). Of these
around a million say they wish to work. With greater disability equality in our
education system, our benefits system and from employers, it is likely even
more would be confident about the idea of working.
The structure and reform of the benefits system is a key issue to be addressed
by the policy working group on Poverty and Inequality, which is due to report to
the Autumn Federal Conference in 2007. It would therefore be inappropriate in
this paper to propose in detail reforms in this area.
What follows here are some specific reforms to benefits system as it affects
particular groups of disabled people, as well as proposals to improve the
structure and operation of the Personal Capacity Assessment and welfare-towork programmes as they affect disabled people.
Extra support benefits
The benefits system serves two clear and distinct purposes. The first is to
compensate people for lost income, so that no one is without a means to
support themselves during a period of unemployment. The second purpose is
to meet the extra costs many disabled people experience in trying to live as
independently as other citizens.
Incapacity Benefit seeks to perform both functions. On the one hand it exists to
replace the income lost when someone is out of work for reason of sickness of
disability. On the other, it is higher than Job Seekers Allowance because
individuals concerned face higher costs and may be on the benefit for some
time (although there is no equivalent rate for long-term JSA recipients). This
extra support for disabled people is explicitly linked to their being out of work,
rather than on achieving equal citizenship and independent living.
At the same time, the benefits that are meant to meet the extra costs of
disability are failing to do so, as has been found by a review of research
conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP Working Paper
19). The effectiveness of extra supports benefits could be improved by:
 Including a new category of communication needs in Disability
Living Allowance
Communication support for some disabled people is a very clear need
and fundamental requirement for equality and independent Living. Lack of
24
support for communication needs leads to social exclusion of disabled
people and the lack of social confidence and independence contributes to
low economic activity of disabled people.
 Extending entitlement to the higher rate of the DLA mobility
component to people who are registered blind.
Assessments for the mobility component are mostly based on physical
impairments that make it difficult for a person to walk. The exclusion of
those whose ability to move around independently is limited due to sight
loss is unfair. The higher rate would allow greater opportunity to address
this through the use of private transport, taxis and guides. The
government has costed the change at £61 million.
 Address age discrimination in the benefit system
People who become disabled after 65 are entitled to Attendance
Allowance, which provides extra support for similar needs to those
covered by the care component of Disability Living Allowance. However,
there is no entitlement to any support for those with mobility impairments.
While the cost of an immediate removal of the age based barrier which
prevents access to mobility support for those over 65 is prohibitive at
around £3 billion, dealing with this bizarre and inconsistent position
should be part of a long-term review of the benefit system.
Employment support and employment market
Job retention
Most claimants of incapacity benefits who have were previously in a job expect
to return to work. But the longer they remain on IB, the less likely this is to
happen. A strategy is needed to prevent so many people losing their jobs when
they become sick or disabled. An effective strategy would include:
 Consultation on introducing a right to Rehabilitation Leave
Too many people who are in work go onto benefits after acquiring an
impairment and their chances of finding work are substantially reduced. It
is thought that taking time off work to learn to deal with a disability would
be a ‘reasonable adjustment’ as required by the Disability Discrimination
Act, though this has not been tested in the courts. Formalising this as an
entitlement to rehabilitation leave, allowing both the employer and
employee to adjust to the disability and make adjustments to allow them
to remain in work, would be clearer and simpler. Consultation with
business, especially smaller firms, would be needed to frame the precise
terms of the proposed entitlement and ensure that costs to business are
kept to a minimum.
25
 Extend Access to the Condition Management Programme (CMP) to
those on sick pay or rehabilitation leave
CMP has been a successful part of Pathways to Work, the programme to
assist incapacity benefit claimants back to work. It should be used to help
people before they become claimants, so that it helps prevent them losing
their job in the first place.
Separation of benefit processing from employment support
Job Centre Plus currently has a dual role in both making decisions on benefit
entitlement and in providing job seeking and employment preparation support.
This requires staff to be skilled in both roles and there is a conflict between their
gatekeeper role for access to benefits and their role in supporting people
towards employment.
The DWP also has a role in both providing services, through Job Centre Plus,
at the same time as regulating standards. Since 1998 these roles have been
entirely separated in Australia. The publicly funded job brokerage service was
replaced by Job Network, a national network of private, voluntary and public
organisations. This separated the government role as purchaser and regulator
of services from the role of public sector organisations as direct providers.
Under the new structure the cost per employment outcome has roughly halved
and job seeker outcomes have significantly improved. To achieve similar
benefits in Britain, the following changes are needed:
 Job Centre Plus to be reformed as a purchasing and regulating body
with regional and local presence and a gateway to income
replacement benefits and employment services
Job Centre Plus staff lack the expertise that can be found in the voluntary
and private sector, having usually had no more than 12 weeks training.
Benefit decisions could be processed more efficiently and the separate
regulatory role would provide a much more effective system for ensuring
standards of service among the network of providers. The government
has recognised the advantage of using private and voluntary sector
providers in the roll-out of Pathways to Work – these proposals would
allow all providers of welfare-to-work support to be treated equally.
 Employment and job search support to be procured from a range of
public, voluntary and private providers and partnerships based on
clearly defined objectives with stable contracts and funding
Many of the most successful employment programmes are already run
outside of Job Centre Plus. They are able to provide greater expertise
and specialised support. As the staff do not have the power to stop
benefit payments if a claimant ‘says the wrong thing’, programme
participants can develop much more open, honest and productive
relationships with advisers. An end to short term contracting and funding
26
will be vital if the organisation providing the services are to undertake the
long term investment and planning necessary for success.
Support programmes to meet all requirements
The support provided to claimants of incapacity benefits needs to meet the
complex and diverse requirements of claimants. Key requirements to meeting
the needs of claimants are:
 Reform of the Personal Capacity Assessment (PCA) focussed on
providing individual action plans and improved understanding of
disability, and in particular mental health problems
The PCA is currently under review by two working groups, one of which is
focussing on the needs of people with mental health problems. The
assessment should be focussed on determining the types of work each
individual has the capacity for and the package of support they need to
prepare them for work and improve their chances of gaining employment.
This assessment must take much better account of mental health
problems, multiple problems and fluctuating conditions than the current
PCA.
 Investment to ensure access to health management, work
experience, training and employability programmes
The government has recognised the benefit of this range of activities in its
welfare reform plans. However, there is a lack of commitment to ensuring
the capacity that will guarantee access to all who need them. For
example, the Condition Management Programme is one of the most
successful and popular components of the Pathways to work choices
package. However there are not enough specialist health therapists to
deliver the programme nationwide to all who would benefit. The shortage
is particularly severe for mental health problems. The mental health
charity, Mind, has estimated that up to 6,700 new Cognitive Behaviour
Therapists and clinical psychologists may be needed to provide access to
CMP to all claimants with mental health problems. The training time for
these professionals is around 5 years.
 Reform of Access to Work so that decisions are made for individuals
when seeking work, rather than for a specific job once it has been
offered
The Access to Work scheme, which provides grants for workplace
adjustments for disabled employees, is one of the government’s best kept
secrets. For every person currently helped through Access to Work there
is, on the government’s own figures, a £1,400 net benefit to the
Exchequer and a £3,000 net benefit to the economy. Yet it fails to
adequately publicise the scheme, so around 80% of SME employers are
still not aware of it. Making decisions for individuals would improve their
employability and increase take-up of the scheme.
27
Support for employers
The government approach to welfare reform has paid almost no regard to
employers. Preparing disabled people for work is not enough, if employers do
not have the confidence to offer them jobs. The following steps are needed to
ensure employers are willing to treat disabled people equally:
 Promote use of Access to Work with employers
As mentioned above, about 80% of SMEs have not heard of Access to
Work. Even if it is made more effective through entitlement being attached
to individuals seeking work, lack of awareness amongst employers should
still be addressed by properly publicising the scheme to tackle the
negative assumptions employers make about the costs they might face if
they employ disabled people.
 Partnership with employment support providers
The most successful employment support programmes are those that
work in partnership with employers. It helps improve the attitudes of
employers towards disabled people and gives disabled people the
opportunity to show what they are capable of.
 Promote disability confident businesses
There are many benefits that disabled people can bring to businesses.
Over a third of UK businesses have hard to fill vacancies, yet 3.4 million
disabled people are out of work. At least 1.5 million part time disabled
workers work below their skills potential. 82% of disabled customers say
they have taken their business to a more disability confident competitor.
The government should work in partnership with businesses on a high
profile campaign to promote disability equality to employers and make
them aware of the benefits to their business of becoming disability
confident.
 Government must lead by example
Government departments and the public sector should be employing
more disabled people. Even the Department of Work and Pensions own
staff base consists of just 5.25% disabled people, compared to 13% of the
workforce. Both government departments and its agencies should have
strategies for increasing the number of disabled people they employ.
Ring-fenced funding for making workplace adjustments is necessary to
ensure disabled candidates are not prejudiced against. The government’s
moves to require government departments to use their own funds instead
of Access to Work, for making adjustments are therefore a dangerously
regressive move.
28
Home and family life
In moving away from a paternalistic care based approach to disabled people, it
is important to ensure that disabled people have the same opportunities as nondisabled people to have fulfilling leisure lives, emotional and sexual
relationships, and to start their own families.
Housing
Disabled people want to have greater choice about where they live and who
they live with. The lack of accessible housing is a key reason behind this lack of
choice, which is also a lack of equality with non-disabled people. The removal
of means testing for qualification the Disabled Facilities Grant for families with
disabled children s a welcome step. We would welcome a future review of
means testing for other DFG recipients. The following changes will also help
address this inequality:
 Incorporation of the Lifetime Homes Standard (LHS) into building
regulations
A survey of physically disabled people found 40% of them found that their
housing situation made them unnecessarily dependent on others. LHS
features 16 design standards which help ensure that the house is
accessible and easily adaptable to meet future needs, helping more
disabled people to gain independence. This would require changes to part
M of the buildings regulations, so should be consulted on and subject to a
regulatory impact assessment.
 A requirement for local authorities to maintain an accessible
housing register
Without the records such registers hold, adaptations fail to be reused with
subsequent occupants, particularly in private sector housing. Where they
are already being used (e.g. Liverpool, Glasgow, Reading) it has
achieved more efficient use of accessible properties. Whist there is a cost
to local authorities in maintaining such registers, savings in care costs
follow from more disabled people living in suitable adapted
accommodation.
 An enhanced duty on councils to ensure sufficient provision of
accessible housing
Even LHS homes are not ‘liveable’ for wheelchair users without further
adaptations. Local authorities need a duty to ensure sufficient quality and
quantity of different types of accessible housing to meet the range of
disability requirements. Given the current shortage this will take time, but
targets should be set so that opportunities to expand the accessible
housing stock are maximised.
29
 New powers to ensure disabled people can be housed in localities
with best access to transport and services for disabled people
While access to transport and services is vital for disable people, it is
housing with the most convenient access to transport and services that
tends to be most highly valued in the market place and most attractive to
commercial developers. There is a shortage of housing that is both
accessible for occupation and located in an area with accessible services.
Powers for councils to designate areas where developers are required to
provide a minimum proportion of accessible housing, with priority access
for disabled people, should be considered.
Transport
Rail
The Disability Discrimination Act has introduced welcome duties in regard to
wheelchair users, ensuring that new rolling stock is accessible and there are
deadlines for improving the accessibility of the full fleet. However, there are still
areas of rail travel that should be addressed, including:
 Extending DDA duties to cover scooters
Most rail operators refuse to allow access to scooters and the DDA has
no requirements in regard to this type of mobility vehicle user. There is a
significant range in the size and weight of scooters used that present
challenges that may not be easy to surmount for some models. However,
DDA requirements for rail operators should be reviewed in consultation
with scooter manufacturers and the rail industry with a view to extending
duties to users of as many types of scooters as possible, with point of
sale information on those scooters which can access trains.
 Disability equality training for station staff
Although accessibility for rail travel is improving, many disabled users still
find it difficult to receive support from station staff when booking journeys
or when arriving at stations and boarding or exiting trains.
Air and Sea Travel
The agreement in the European Parliament on new laws to outlaw refusal of
booking and boarding for disabled people on flights is welcome. The new rules
must ensure:
 Disabled people cannot be refused booking or boarding on flights
due to an impairment
 Disabled people are not charged extra for the flight or for any
necessary assistance in the airport
 There is a statutory duty to provide, where necessary, assistance to
disabled people from arrival at an airport to boarding their plane, or
continuing their journey after their flights arrival
30
 Provision of flight information in accessible forms at airports and
from travel operators
Any attempt to dilute these rules, either in the Council of Ministers or when
being transposed into EU law, should be opposed. Agreement should also
be sought by the UK and EU on similar standards beyond the EU.
 Extend Disability Discrimination Act requirements to passenger sea
craft
International agreements must also be sought on how similar accessibility
requirements to those in the Disability Discrimination Act for other forms of
transport can be extended to water craft.
Driving
Driving is a vital way of getting round for many disabled people, giving them
freedom they would otherwise not have. However, with more drives on the
streets and increasing congestion, getting around and getting access to
services in cars becomes increasing challenging. Improvement could be made
by:
 Addressing the abuse of disabled parking facilities
Whilst abuse of disabled spaces on highways and in local authority run
parking can be tackled by parking attendants, in many private car parks,
such as those at supermarkets, there is often no attempt to tackle such
abuse. An RAC survey found that 14% of non-disabled drivers admit to
using disabled parking bays. With the growth in out-of town shopping,
disabled people say this has become a serious problem. Investigation is
needed into the extent and impact of this abuse, followed by consultation
on ways in which it might be addressed, ranging from voluntary schemes,
such as those run by some supermarkets who impose fines, to statutory
duties on service providers to manage and maintain off-street parking to a
minimum standard.
 Protect disabled drivers from the impact of congestion charges and
road-user charges
The move towards greater use of congestion charging and road user
charging is an essential part of tacking congestion and climate change.
Improving congestion will help many disabled people who rely on driving.
However, despite improvements to public transport through the Disability
Discrimination Act, many disabled people do not have the same
opportunities as non-disabled drivers to leave their car at home. The
needs of Blue Badge holders should be taken into account in the design
of future congestion charging and road-user charging schemes.
 Extend parking fines to drivers who block accessible features of the
built environment
While progress continues to be made in ensuring that the built
environment is more accessible, the increasing number of drivers means
31
that more and more cars are parked blocking accessible features such as
slopes, ramps and tactile pavements. The immediate redress of parking
fines would be the best way to stamp out this problem, making blocking
an accessibility feature a ticketable offence.
Buses
Access to buses is also improving thanks to the Disability Discrimination Act.
Supply of accessible buses is still very variable. For example, most of London’s
bus fleet is now accessible, but in many rural areas there are still very few
accessible vehicles in operation. The DDA should ensure this will improve over
time. But the experiences of disabled people where accessible fleets are in
operation suggest there remain two key problems that need addressing:
 Action to ensure provision of accessible buses on designated
accessible routes
Many disabled people report that bus companies are flouting requirement
to provide accessible buses on designated accessible routes. There are
anecdotal reports of drivers leaving disabled passengers stranded on the
pavement instead of taking the time to lower the ramp and provide
support for them boarding a bus. The requirements to run accessible
routes must be more effectively monitored and enforced.
 Preventing non-disabled people blocking access to designated
seating for disabled people
Disabled people frequently report that they are left without a seat because
designated disabled seating is taken up by other passengers. This is not
an area where legislation could help, but there are initiatives that bus
companies should take forward to help prevent this happening by
increasing the disability awareness of their non-disabled passengers.
Accessible seating could also be much more clearly marked.
Carers
There are six million carers in the UK. These are the family and friends of
disabled people and the care that they provide is estimated to be worth £57
billion per year. Recent legislation has brought welcome improvements to
carers rights, such as the right to request flexible working and new rights in
relation to carers’ assessments and the consideration that must be given to a
carers’ own work, education and leisure wishes. However many carers still face
significant poverty, particularly if they are caring full time and dependent on
Carers’ Allowance. The following options could help address carers’ poverty
and welfare:
 A right to access employment support programmes
Under the government’s welfare reform plans a person receiving carers’
allowance may be entitled to less employment support than the person
who they care for who receives IB. Given that carers have a new right
under the Carers (Equal Opportunities Act) for their employment wishes
32




to be taken into account when they receive a Carers Assessment, those
in receipt of Carers’ Allowance should be able to access employment
support. This may be particularly important for those who have been
carers since childhood and have never worked.
Ending the 21 hour study rule on carers
People who study for more than 21 hours a week are excluded from
entitlement to carers allowance. Although full-time students have access
to other funds, it involves getting into debt, which is more off-putting for
carers than others who want to study as their caring role may limit their
earning potential and ability to pay off their debts after studying. Students
who are carers also face greater costs than other students from their
caring role. The effect of this rule is to discriminate against carers and
deny them the same educational opportunities as others.
Working tax credit for carers available at 16 hours per week
Working tax credit is already for working parents and disabled workers
who work for 16 hours a week or more – the general rule is 30 hours per
week. Extending the entitlement to carers working 16 hours a week or
more would recognise that carers too have restrictions on the length of
time they are able to spend in paid employment relative to other workers.
A citizens pension
Improvements to the party’s citizen’s pension policy have already been
proposed so that there would be a universal, non-contributory, Citizen’s
Pension set at a level to keep people out of poverty. This would be of
particular benefit to many carers who have been unable to make
significant contributions towards the state pension of an occupational of
private pension as the time spent caring has kept them out of work.
Better provision of respite breaks
4 out of 5 carers have to cut out on holidays and 3 out of 4 cut back on
leisure activities. Those carers who do not get breaks are twice as likely
to suffer from mental health problems. Carers assessments should take
into account the need for respite breaks and this should result in the
provision of whatever support is necessary to ensure that breaks can be
taken.
Relationships
Prejudice and other barriers that prevent independent living also stand in the
way of the opportunity for disabled people to find a partner, form intimate
relationships and start families. While moves towards achieving greater
independent living generally will greatly assist disabled people in having more
opportunities to develop friendships and intimate relationships, other moves
that would help are:
33
 Disability equality training for family planning professionals
Disabled people seeking help through the usual routes (GPs, NHS clinics)
find almost no consideration is given to their particular needs. There should
be a level of core skills for family planning professionals working in the NHS
in understanding the particular requirements of disabled people, with access
to professionals with specialist knowledge of disability for those who need it.
Leisure and social lives
Leisure activity is important to everyone’s health, well-being and enjoyment of
life. The duties for service providers in the Disability Discrimination Act are
improving access to leisure for many disabled people. Disabled people want
more than organised leisure activities; they want more inclusive leisure with
greater freedom to choose who they spend leisure time with and which interests
they pursue. Inclusive leisure is therefore mainly be supported by other parts of
the independent living agenda that increase the opportunities to spend time in
the same environments where non-disabled people form friendships and make
plans for social activities, including:
 Increased access to mainstream schools
 Greater participation in work
 More choice in where to live and who to live with
The importance of our proposals above on these points is given greater weight
by their role in allowing inclusive leisure and social lives.
There are also some changes that would benefit particular groups of disabled
people:
 Disability equality training for customer facing staff in the leisure
sector
The main type of complaint from disabled people accessing leisure
services concerns failures of staff to appreciate and support their needs.
The low pay, temporary nature and high turn over of staff in many leisure
venues can be a challenge to ensuring staff are trained in disability
equality. Even a small amount of training to ensure that staff are aware
that they should be alert to the needs of disabled people could go a long
way as disabled people can frequently give a lead to a member of staff if
they are is prepared to listen and willing to assist.
 Increase in the amount of audio description television programmes
Currently there is a subtitling target of 80% for televisions programmes,
but the target for audio description for the blind and partially sighted is just
10%. This should be increased to 20% as soon as possible and the target
should be kept under review with a view to further future increases.
34