,
Thank you for that kind introduction, I am delighted to be here today to be able to celebrate with you your first year’s work.
Since the birth of the advocacy movement in the late seventies it has evolved and grown at an astonishing rate. Moving from the fringes of the disability movement to being an integral part of the equalities landscape.
The Advocacy movement’s work as a whole has been crucial in protecting people who are at greatest risk of being ignored. Your role is particularly crucial in ensuring that a group unique in their vulnerability have their interests recognised and respected. I’m struggling to think of a job that presents as many dilemmas as yours.
I’m very conscious that you have a very full agenda today, so I want to keep my contribution brief this morning and leave as much time as possible for questions.
I appreciate that the “Minister for Disabled People” isn’t a title that some of you will be familiar with.
It was a Labour Government under Harold Wilson that created the role of Minister for Disabled People in 1974 – to act as a champion within Government on rights for disabled people– and I'm very proud to have that title now.
As well as being directly responsible as a DWP Minister for a portfolio of policies and services that support disabled people, it's my job to ensure that Government works together on issues that impact on the lives of disabled people.
But, as some of you may know, I wasn’t always a politician.
I worked in the voluntary sector for many years – with both disadvantaged young people and adults with learning difficulties.
I learnt very early on that whilst inequality has many causes in order to overcome it you need a strong voice to represent and defend people. A voice that you and your organisations have given, in the space of twelve short months, to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
Before I talk about IMCA’s work I would like to spend a little time placing the work that you do in the context of the Government’s work on tackling the inequality faced by disabled people.
I firmly believe the equality agenda in this country has changed beyond all recognition over the last ten years.
Disability is no longer – I hate to say it – a Cinderella issue. It has moved into the mainstream and is an issue that is gaining ever more political weight.
In fact over the past ten years we have significantly improved and extended rights for disabled people under the Disability Discrimination Act. These improvements have ensured that a further one million employers, and seven million more jobs are now covered by the Act.
We introduced the requirement for service providers to make reasonable adjustments to overcome the barriers that disabled people face in accessing services.
And through Disability Discrimination Act 2005 we have fulfilled our commitment to introducing a comprehensive and enforceable set of civil rights for disabled people.
This included the introduction of the Disability Equality Duty in 2006, which places a positive duty on all public bodies to consider how their services affect disabled people.
That legislation is already proving to be an effective tool. In fact two recent court cases demonstrate this very clearly.
In August last year the duty was considered as part of a court case against the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. The Judge ruled that NICE’s “rigid guidance” discriminated against certain groups and as a result breached its responsibilities under the disability equality duty.
They were ordered to make changes to their guidance.
And in December the High Court found that Harrow Council, who had planned to change the eligibility criteria for social care support, had failed to fully inform decision makers about the “seriousness and extent” of their duties under the legislation. The Council is reconsidering its plans.
Whilst the Disability Equality Duty is in its early days, I believe these examples demonstrate that if public services don’t give the needs of disabled people the due regard they deserve there will be consequences.
As well as introducing a comprehensive set of rights for disabled people in this country I am also proud of the country’s leading role in encouraging the UN to adopt the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” in 2007 and to have signed the convention on the first day it was open for signature.
But rights are only part of the picture. Especially if we are going to ensure people are able to determine how they live their lives. Changing how society and government sees disability issues will be the real challenge.
I believe that we are already making real progress in how services are delivered to disabled people. The Department of Health’s individual budget pilots have the potential to take this change even further. They will transform care services from a one‑size‑fits‑all approach to one that enables disabled people to live autonomous lives by giving control of the design support and funding to the individual.
But I think we would all agree that we as a country need to go a lot further before disabled people would describe themselves as equal members of society.
We, as a Government, committed ourselves in 2005 to achieving equality for disabled people in the ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’ report.
That report set out an ambitious aim that “by 2025 disabled people should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and be respected as equal members of society.” Essentially it’s a roadmap to equality.
To help make this ambition a reality we established the Office for Disability Issues to help coordinate work across government in making a reality of the report’s findings.
We have ensured that the voices of disabled people will be at the heart of policy development in the future through the creation of Equality 2025 - an independent group of disabled people set up to advise government about policy and how services are delivered in reality.
In early March we published the Independent Living Strategy. This five year strategy, which was co-produced with disabled people, is jointly owned by six government departments.
It sets out over 50 government commitments that seek to deliver real choice and control for disabled people such as greater access to housing, health, education and training, employment, transport and participation in community and family life.
The strategy was described in the Guardian as “, one of the most visionary ideas of modern social policy’. That flattery might be overstating it slightly but nonetheless it represents a ‘first’ for cross departmental working. And I believe that Government has finally achieved a shared vision and language with disabled people.
I accept that we have still got some way to go before we banish inequality fully. But I believe we have made significant strides towards achieving equality by 2025.
It is important that whilst we make strides in wider society we continue to be vigilant about safeguarding the rights of groups of vulnerable people such as the groups you serve.
For whatever reason, people who lack capacity have often been left behind in the past when Governments have looked at reforms, with their rights either forgotten or ignored.
That is something that we should never have tolerated. The Mental Capacity Act was an important step in ensuring those wrongs will never be repeated. But it’s your work which is making the vision in that Act a reality.
But we now need to ask ourselves how we can ensure that people who lack capacity benefit from the work on independence, choice and control that I’ve just outlined to you.
Ensuring that their preferences are respected and decisions, such as decisions around housing and care, are in their best interests?
We need a strong and capable advocacy service that makes sure sufficient time – not unlimited time – but sufficient time is spent considering an individual circumstances. Getting that time in our large and complex health and social care system will never be easy, but IMCA is doing exactly that and making a difference.
Your work has ensured that people who lack capacity are seen as citizens with rights and entitlements and that they have a voice. Both Ivan Lewis the Minister for care services at the Department of Health, and I are grateful for your work and achievements over the last 12 months.
I believe we stand at a critical juncture on the road to equality.
As I’ve touched on today, it is inevitable that there will be some huge challenges and difficult decisions ahead if we’re going to reach our goal of an equal society.
Whilst you have started extremely well I know you have some challenges ahead in order to ensure that statutory advocacy has an impact for the individual and an impact on services.
In order to achieve our ambitions we must make sure that every one has the voice they deserve. You are helping to articulate that voice.
I wish you well, and I want to let you know that my colleague Ivan Lewis, and I will be taking a great interest in IMCA’s progress over the next twelve months.
Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008