National disability strategy

 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-disability-strategy

Survey of lived experience.

Findings from the UK Disability Survey and our lived experience research are being published alongside this strategy. We hope these are useful additions to the qualitative and quantitative evidence base on disability, as well as useful context for the development of this strategy.

The UK Disability Survey and lived experience research complements a wider programme of engagement which has been running since February 2020, including:

• meetings with our existing disability stakeholder forums:

• 42 regional meetings of the nine Regional Stakeholder Networks (RSNs) involving disabled people, their organisations, parents and carers, totalling 225 members

• 10meetingswiththeDisabilityCharitiesConsortium,agroupof10ofthe UK’s largest disability charities

• 4 meetings of the Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) Forum

• 11 roundtable discussions with a total of 98 disabled people about their experiences in daily life

• 6 cross-cutting thematic groups with a total of 130 attendees including disabled people and representatives from DPOs, charities, academia and think tanks

Action across the UK

The UK, Welsh and Scottish governments, and the Northern Ireland Executive, share a strong commitment to supporting disabled people to enjoy the choice and control so vital to independent living.

The Equality Act 2010 applies in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies in Northern Ireland.

Each administration sets and pursues its ambitions, consistent with its devolution arrangements. For example, both the Welsh and Scottish governments have strategies and frameworks in place to increase equality for disabled people. The Northern Ireland Executive is in the process of developing a strategy specific to the needs of people in Northern Ireland.

Underlying the approaches of devolved administrations is the Social Model of Disability. The social model helps us recognise barriers that make life harder for disabled people. Removing these barriers creates equality and offers disabled people more independence, choice and control.

Many of the policy areas relevant to this strategy are devolved. Devolution recognises the value of such policies being tailored to the particular needs and wishes of the people in each part of the UK. As a result, different approaches have been taken on some issues, and that is to be expected.

But not all issues of importance to disabled people are devolved and decisions made by the UK government may affect the lives of disabled people across administrations.

This strategy reflects the experiences of disabled people across the UK. It recognises and celebrates the diversity of approaches being pursued and highlights good practice and initiatives of note in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is a huge opportunity to learn from each other. The UK government and the devolved administrations will continue to work across the UK to improve the lives of all disabled UK citizens.

Information is provided below about the key strategies in place in devolved administrations.

Executive summary

The vision: transforming disabled people’s everyday lives

Over 1 in 5 people in the UK are disabled. That is over 14 million of us. It is a number that has continued to rise as people are living longer and treatments and technology in healthcare improve.3 Disability matters to all of us.

This national strategy recognises and builds on the progress that has been made since the Disability Discrimination Act was introduced more than 25 years ago. There have been many improvements in services, access and opportunities for disabled people. The employment gap has narrowed. Levels of understanding and visibility have increased. And there have been profound changes in public attitudes towards disability, captured and catalysed by national moments such as the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Disabled people have told us that these positive changes in recent years, while welcome, are not enough. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economy and society makes the case for concerted action all the more important. Disabled people have felt the impact more than most.4 Now is the time – as we build back fairer – to raise the level of our ambition.

Our vision is to transform the everyday lives of disabled people. This will not happen overnight. We know meaningful change to transform the physical and social environments across all sectors of society will require a sustained collaboration across government.

We want to level up opportunity at every stage of disabled people’s lives, as well as in all areas of disabled people’s lives. Disabled children should have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential as non-disabled children, and so should disabled young people. In this strategy, we outline targeted action to support disabled children in education, as well as broader action such as changing perceptions which will benefit disabled children as well as disabled adults.

We want to transform the lives of all disabled people. We include disabled people with visible and invisible disabilities. We include disabled people who do not identify as disabled. We include non-disabled people who might have been disabled in the past, or become disabled in the future.

This strategy sets out immediate actions we will take on the path towards our vision to transform disabled people’s everyday lives.

The call to action: disability is everyone’s business

This strategy sets out how the government will play its part, but disabled people have told us that there is a need for action from wider society. Disabled people’s everyday experience is shaped by a wide range of actors. Individual citizens, charities, wider public services and businesses must all play their part in driving the transformative change we want to see.

This strategy is also a call to action across society. We set out the immediate steps we will take to encourage wider society to take action – for example, awareness raising campaigns to encourage individual behaviour change. We also outline how we will work with wider society in the future to drive longer term transformative change – for example, with business through appointing new Disability and Access Ambassadors.

We want to go beyond these initial steps. We want to work with disabled people, businesses, charities, local authorities and wider society to build a national conversation about disability and a movement for change. Disabled people will be at the centre of these efforts.

You can sign up for regular updates on the work outlined in this strategy and how you can take part through the Disability Unit’s GOV.UK page or email us directly at disabilityunit@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

The accountability: ensuring cross-departmental action

There is clearly huge breadth to the challenges that disabled people experience every day. Responsibility for tackling these challenges spans many different government departments.

Rights and perceptions: removing barriers to participating fully in public and civic life and wider society

Disabled people have told us that the negative attitudes of others have a significant impact across all areas of their everyday lives.

“ Very often second class, you’re not seen as equal. And we have every right. We still only have one go at life like everyone else. And just because we can’t walk as well, see as well, hear as well, whatever, that doesn’t make us any less of a person.”

– Wales roundtable participant

Just 8% of disabled people, 8% of carers, and 12% of the general public ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the views held by members of the public about disability are generally helpful for disabled people.15 Awkwardness,16 misguided empathy,17 uncertainty about language18 and prejudice are daily occurrences for many disabled people and their families and friends.

Digital mentioned:

#Many businesses on UK high streets are inaccessible for disabled consumers. The buildings disabled respondents to the UK Disability Survey had most frequently been unable to access or had extreme difficulty accessing were shops and shopping centres (78%) and pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes (66%).

Shopping online can be a similarly frustrating experience. 98% of the million most visited web pages did not meet accessibility standards60 and 69% of disabled internet users click away from sites with barriers.61

Access to essentials was an issue for many disabled people during the COVID-19.

#It is difficult to say whether progress has been made in recent years. International design standards for accessibility have improved the design of some products (for example, mobile phones), but disabled consumers have not been surveyed often enough about their retail experiences to evaluate the impact of this on disabled people’s day to day retail experiences.

To champion disabled consumers and help make the UK the most accessible place in the world to live and work with technology, we will:

• make high streets more accessible

• accelerate the delivery of Changing Places toilets in England

• explore a new assistive technology challenge

• explore how to improve the accessibility of private sector websites

• appoint more business leaders to promote accessibility in their sectors

We want to do more in the longer term. The Disability Unit recognises the huge potential of action in this area and will prioritise further cross-government work in 2021 to 2022.

As a first step, we will improve our understanding of disabled people’s experiences accessing products and services in the UK. This will include commissioning research and exploring the extra costs some disabled people may face.

Responding to the UK Disability Survey, nearly a third (31%) of disabled people found using public spaces difficult ‘all the time’ or ‘often’.

It is not only a social injustice but a potentially huge loss to high street businesses. One estimate puts the spending power of disabled people and their families at £274 billion.

INTERESTING 

Improving the accessibility of online public services

The 2012 Digital by Default strategy has removed many of the barriers experienced by disabled people when accessing government services.

However, the shift to digital has presented its own challenges. The accessibility of new services is variable.

Making a website or mobile app accessible requires making the content and design clear and simple enough that most people can use it without needing to adapt it. It also means supporting people who do need to adapt it, including people who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

The Central Digital and Data Office promotes accessibility across government.

This year the Central Digital and Data Office will continue to run a programme to make online public services accessible. The campaign will:

• help the public sector make mobile applications accessible

• raise awareness of how people can raise complaints about inaccessible sites

 A longer-term challenge is the development of capability to create services that are accessible to everyone. There is a high level of demand for people with these skills from both the public and private sectors, creating a shortage. This has been dubbed the Accessible Technology Skills Gap.

(P.91) As part of a cross-government effort with the Central Digital and Data Office and the Crown Commercial Service, the Home Office will tackle this issue by:

• defining a cross-government accessibility profession – this will formalise the role of accessibility specialists and encourage more public sector organisations to properly resource to deliver accessible services

• building a pipeline of talent for the accessibility profession by using existing successful and emerging career development programmes to tackle the skills shortage – working across government to

share learning

• improving how we buy digital products and services in government and across the public sector as a whole, for example, through more formal controls, support and training for commercial teams

We will also explore how we can drive improvements in public services through a Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology.

The Disability Unit will consider new ways to make assistive and accessible technology part of the everyday design of public services.