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The Office for Disability Issues (ODI):
The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) has a specific remit to help government departments work together more effectively.
Disabled people lead joined-up lives and issues such as health, work, education and transport are often interdependent. However, public services and government policies which have an impact on disabled people's lives have often failed to recognise this.
A key part of the ODI's work is to join up policy development and service delivery at a national and local level. The ODI also aims to make sure that disability issues are reflected in activity which cuts across departmental responsibilities, like this year's Comprehensive Spending Review.
The ODI's biggest project in this area has undoubtedly been the cross-government review of independent living. Set up in July 2006, the review aims to identify practical ways of improving opportunities and support for disabled people. It has found evidence that traditional approaches to support for disabled people have failed to reduce the significant inequalities experienced by them and their families.
The conclusions of the review are due to be published shortly. They will set out a five-year strategy to give disabled people the necessary choice and control over the support they need to go about their daily lives.
"Independent living means that disabled people have access to the same life opportunities and the same choices in every day life that their non-disabled brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends take for granted."
That includes growing up in their families, being educated in the local neighbourhood school, using the same public transport, getting employment that is in line with their education and skills, having equal access to the same public goods and services.
"Most importantly, just like everyone else, disabled people need to be in charge of their own lives. They need to think and speak for themselves without interference from others."
The ODI is championing projects which bring together key partners to work on issues which have an impact on the lives of disabled people.
A key project arising from the `Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People' report involved testing the Individual Budget approach to delivering support services for disabled adults.
Individual Budgets aim to give people with social care needs more control over the assessment and delivery of the resources which support them. This project is a cross government initiative jointly funded by the Department of Health, the ODI, and Communities and Local Government. It is led by Department of Health who have worked closely with the ODI and Communities and Local Government to develop a starting model for Individual Budgets.
The pilots cover six funding streams, joining up social care with grants for equipment to help with housing and workplace adaptations and housing related support for living independently. There are now over one thousand people receiving an Individual Budget and feedback from disabled people and their organisations has been very positive.
"My name is Julia and I am married with an 11-year-old son. I have been disabled for 13 years and I have been using Social Services for ten years.
"For the first two years I had direct services. This meant that I had carers who came when they could, did what was written on my care plan and then left.
"I moved to Direct Payments in 1998 and enjoyed the new freedom of being able to choose who came through my door and what they did. I must admit when Individual Budgets came along I was quite sceptical. How could things get better than this? But I decided to investigate more.
"The first major difference was that I was in control of my `assessment' and I decided what the priorities for me were. The assessment process was a bit like having a life coach. The type of questions they asked were: `What is important to you?', `What is working?', `What isn't?' and `What needs to change?'. They were very different to the usual Social Services assessments.
"These questions threw up some interesting answers for me and as a result I have changed my care radically.
"I was given a budgetary figure for the whole year and together with a support planner (this can be someone outside of Social Services, or you can do it on your own) we wrote a plan of how I would spend the money to meet my eligible assessed needs. My support planner also suggested I apply for Independent Living Fund money.
"The plan we came up with included buying lightweight modular ramps to finally make my house wheelchair accessible; air conditioning to help my breathing and reduce my admissions to hospital; and an accessible patio to enable me to access my garden.
"All these were achieved with the same amount of money I had as a Direct Payment. And I was able to do it because the process let me make more use of my informal networks of support, like my husband and friends. They were happy to help me more as they benefited from less lugging of wheelchairs and less hospital visits. I also vowed to spend less time working and more time with my family!
"I would say that direct services allow you to survive at home, Direct Payments give you more choice and control over your life but Individual Budgets allow you to live!"
Significantly narrowing the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people is a key aim for government. Employers have a crucial role to play in delivering this aim. The innovative Realising Potential project aims to improve government's engagement with employers and promote `disability confident' approaches to recruitment.
The project, which is funded by the ODI, brings together Jobcentre Plus, the National Employment Panel and Employers' Forum on Disability. It is being delivered in eleven areas where there are both vacancies and significant numbers of disabled people who are out of work. Training for Jobcentre Plus staff who work directly with employers is also being provided.
"The idea that disabled people should be fully involved in driving the discussion about their employment opportunities is a relatively modern phenomenon.
"The Realising Potential project not only places disabled people at the heart of the programme but significantly builds on growing partnerships between them, the ODI, Jobcentre Plus, the Employer's Forum on Disability and mainstream employers.
"Although success is never guaranteed we are much more likely to deliver positive results by using this innovative and collaborative approach."
People who acquire an impairment when in work can find adjusting to their current job or changing to a new, perhaps more appropriate job, daunting or difficult. Along with private and voluntary sector sponsors, the ODI has part-funded the RADAR produced 'Doing Work Differently' booklet. This provides advice to people who find themselves in this situation.
In partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce and Leonard Cheshire, the ODI also co-ordinated a series of successful events in spring 2007. Held in Coventry, Ashford and Durham, they provided an opportunity to hear directly from small and medium-sized employers about their information needs with regard to employing disabled people. The findings from these events will inform future government communications with employers.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 introduced a new statutory duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. This is known as the Disability Equality Duty.
The Duty requires public bodies to actively consider how they can deliver services and carry out functions in a way that promotes greater equality for disabled people.
Around 45 thousand public bodies across Great Britain are covered by the Duty. Around half of these are required to publish a Disability Equality Scheme.
The Disability Equality Duty, which came into force in December 2006, is changing the way that government and the public sector operate.
The Duty means that disability equality is no longer a reactive or specialist issue. Everyone working in the public sector must consider the impact of their work on disabled people and look for ways to actively promote disability equality.
The ODI hosts a working group which brings together professionals from across central government who are responsible for their department's Disability Equality Schemes. The group provides a forum for sharing ideas, questions and good practice as well as identifying opportunities for joined-up working.
The `Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People' report highlighted the need for government's performance frameworks to take account of equality for disabled people.
A key issue this year has been the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007. This aims to identify what investments and reforms are needed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the next ten years. The performance management framework agreed as a result demonstrates the government's commitment to equality.
An ODI staff member was seconded to the Treasury to assist with the policy review of disabled children undertaken to inform this year's Comprehensive Spending Review. In addition, the ODI worked closely with the Treasury to provide guidance to departments on fulfilling their equality duties by monitoring progress and outcomes according to gender, ethnicity and disability. It also worked with the Government Equalities Office and Communities and Local Government to agree the new Public Service Agreement on equalities.
Public Service Agreements (PSAs) set out the Government's highest level priorities over the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 period.
There are separate PSAs on:
The new Equalities PSA, which covers the period from 2008 to 2011, is particularly focused on reducing poorer outcomes for individuals on the basis of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief.
Progress in achieving equality will be measured by narrowing gaps in outcomes between the general population and outcomes for people in these groups. In particular, this PSA will be measured on the extent to which government closes gaps in:
Other Public Service Agreements also focus on outcomes for disabled people, for example on employment.
Departments will also publicly report on progress towards their Departmental Strategic Objectives, including reporting outcomes for disabled people. This will enable a better assessment of the impact of government policies on disabled people.
Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008