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The `Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People' report identified the need to transform the way disabled people are involved in the development of policies and services which have an impact on their lives.
Involvement and consultation are not the same. Involvement of disabled people requires the active engagement of disabled stakeholders rather than just asking them to comment on work done by others.
Involving disabled people both formally and informally at an early stage means that potential barriers can be identified and removed before they arise. It also means that policy and services are more effective, more inclusive and better targeted and that public money is not wasted.
The Disability Equality Duty imposes a legal requirement to involve disabled people. Public authorities required to produce a Disability Equality Scheme must involve disabled people in its development. However, involvement should not be limited to the Duty.
Disabled people have a great deal to say that government needs to hear. They are the experts on the barriers they experience, and know best how to tackle them. However, for many years, disabled people have felt that their voices have not been heard by government.
The ODI has responded to the `Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People' report recommendation for a national forum of disabled people by establishing Equality 2025: The United Kingdom Advisory Network on Disability Equality. Equality 2025 is a new organisation which was established in December 2006. It aims to act as a voice for disabled people across the UK and to influence policy and service delivery design at an early stage.
Equality 2025 has 23 members, all of whom are disabled people. Members do not represent any particular impairment or disability organisation. They have been appointed for their commitment to equality and understanding of the impact of government policies and service delivery design on disabled people's lives.
The body was set up following intensive work with an advisory group of 13 disabled people. They were recruited through open competition to advise government on the role, remit and membership of Equality 2025.
Disabled people have key roles in leading all of the ODI's main areas of work. For example, the Independent Living Review set up an Expert Panel to shape and steer the review. The panel, which includes disabled people, is chaired by Baroness Jane Campbell.
The ODI has also delivered several events to ensure disabled people are involved in our work. Public events were held around the country to inform both the work of the Independent Living Review and the consultation on measuring progress towards equality.
The ODI's consultation, `Equality for Disabled People: how will we know we are making progress?', set out to involve disabled people in a debate about what equality for disabled people means and how progress towards the goal of equality should be measured.
A variety of approaches were used to gather the views of as full a range of disabled people and other stakeholders as possible. We particularly wanted to reach out to groups and individuals who do not normally participate in government consultations.
A consultation paper was produced in a range of formats alongside a toolkit to support disabled people's organisations. Regional events were also organised and articles placed in a range of publications. The ODI also attended events run by smaller groups whose discussions were fed directly into the consultation.
The outcome of this consultation, set out in the final chapter of this report, is helping ensure the government's long-term strategy is focused on the most important issues to disabled people.
The Independent Living Review held a series of events in 2007 which provided an opportunity for disabled people to influence and shape the review.
The review team held a series of workshops from January to April. The workshops were designed to engage with other stakeholders around particular themes such as disabled parents, transition to adulthood, older people, advocacy and brokerage.
Further events were then held in May and June to share initial ideas with disabled and older people. Views were also gathered on what should be in the five-year strategy arising from the review.
The views of disabled children and young people have often been overlooked by government. Together with the Child Poverty Action Group, Contact a Family and key government departments, the ODI organised an event to hear directly from disabled children and their families about the issues that affect them.
Participants raised a number of issues that impact on their lives and gave an insight into the factors that can lead to poverty and have a negative impact on families with disabled children.
A further event was held on 25 October 2007 by the ODI, Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health. This enabled ministers to hear the views of as many disabled people, particularly disabled young people, as possible on the recommendations from the joint Treasury and the then Department for Education and Skills, 'Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families' report.
The ODI's cross-government group on the Disability Equality Duty has met regularly to look at specific topics relating to the Duty, particularly the ongoing involvement of disabled people.
Involving disabled people in developing a Disability Equality Scheme - a case study
Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government took a range of measures to ensure disabled people with expertise in the policies, programmes and functions of the department were involved in the production of their Disability Equality Scheme.
RADAR provided assistance with contacting disability groups and organising two events. A range of organisations were invited to attend, ensuring different impairment groups and equalities groups were represented.
At these events, disabled people were invited to identify the barriers they faced and suggest ways they might be tackled. They were also asked to identify priority areas for the department's scheme.
The Disability Rights Commission also helped develop the scheme by identifying disabled people with particular expertise in housing policy who discussed their priorities with senior policy officials in the department. A similar meeting was held with the Inclusive Environment Group, which has many members who are disabled and have xpertise in inclusive design.
The department's internal priorities were set following extensive consultation with disabled staff, using a research process which was led by disabled people.
Considerable consensus emerged from this activity about both the barriers experienced by disabled people and their priorities for change. This gave the department confidence that development of significant actions to meet these priorities would deliver on the issues which matter most to disabled people.
As a result, the department's Disability Equality Scheme includes actions which will, for example:
In December 2006, the ODI hosted a national conference, 'Making Equality a Reality: Your Voice Counts'. This event gave disabled people and representatives from disability organisations an opportunity to hear about the progress being made and to feed into the ODI's work. A workshop at the event looked specifically at good practice in involving disabled people.
The ODI's research involves disabled people meaningfully at each key stage to ensure issues that are important to the lives of disabled people are prioritised. The ODI has also recently published good practice guidance on carrying out research with disabled people for government departments, academics and others.
Over the next year, the ODI will seek to support both government and disabled people themselves in promoting greater involvement across all services and areas of policy.
Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008