Who we work with

The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) takes a strong lead in moving forward the disability agenda and acts as a champion of disabled people within government.

The ODI works with:

• government departments
• advisory groups and panels
• disabled people and people affected by disability
• organisations of and for disabled people
• equality organisations
• the wider voluntary sector throughout the United Kingdom

Working across government

Six government departments are responsible for ensuring the recommendations in the Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People report (links to the Cabinet Office website).

The six departments are:

• Department for Children, Schools and Families 
• Department of Health
• Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
• Department for Transport
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Department for Communities and Local Government

Read more about the ODI and our work across government.

Advisory Groups and panels

The ODI works with advisory groups to inform its work. Many of these groups include disabled people and other key stakeholders.

Independent Living Expert Panel

Members include a range of independent living experts, including user-led groups and service delivery organisations. Key government departments on the ODI Board of Management are also on the Panel.

Find out more on the Independent Living Expert Panel.

Equality 2025 Advisory Group

There are currently 23 disabled members. Members are not representing any particular impairment or organisation and look at all issues from an equalities perspective.

Read about the Equality 2025 Advisory Group.

Working with disabled people

The ODI thinks it is vital to involve disabled people and their organisations in our work.

Consultations and projects

Disabled people and their organisations can feed in their views to government consultations and input to ODI projects.

Working with equality organisations

We work with equality-related organisations across the UK including the newly-created Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). You can find out more about their work on the EHRC website (links to EHRC)

We also attend meetings of the Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) (links to EDF website). Within government, we work closely with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) (links to GEO website) to ensure that work across different equality strands (race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, and religion or belief) is coordinated.

Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008