Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work (): In my written statement of 12
July, I informed the House of the judgment handed down by the
Court of Appeal on 11 July 2023 regarding the National Disability
Strategy Judicial Review. In that ministerial statement I was
pleased to inform the House that the Court of Appeal found in
favour of the Government. This meant that both the UK Disability
Survey and the National Disability Strategy have now been found
to be lawful by the Court of Appeal, and we are able to continue
with the important work of implementing this long-term strategy
to transform disabled people’s everyday lives for the better.
I further committed to providing the House with an update in
September on how this Government will take forward work on the
strategy now that it has been found to be lawful.
The Government’s intention has always been to create more
opportunities for disabled people to participate and thrive; to
protect and promote the rights of disabled people; and to tackle
the barriers that prevent disabled people from fully benefiting
from, and contributing fully to, every aspect of our society.
The vast majority of departmental commitments outlined in the
National Disability Strategy 2021 were not impacted by the High
Court’s initial judgment. The Government has progressed well on
delivering these and other commitments, as can be seen by all the
Government's achievements as set out in my letter(opens in a new tab)
placed in the House Library in July.
I will place a note in the House Library which provides an
update:
- on how the Government now proposes to take this the 14
commitments that were paused to comply with the High Court’s
declaration; and .
- on all departmental commitments in the National Disability
Strategy. This includes details as to whether the individual
commitments have been delivered or are in progress. There are 47
commitments which have been ‘completed’, 54 commitments ‘in
progress’, 1 which is currently ‘paused’ and 2 which are no
longer being taken forward.
In parallel with taking forward the commitments in the National
Disability Strategy, the Government is also pressing ahead with
our Disability Action Plan, focused on concrete actions to
improve disabled people’s lives in 2023 and 2024.
I am pleased to confirm that on 18 July 2023 we published the
Disability Action Plan Consultation. The Disability Action Plan
consultation is open for 12 weeks and responses can be submitted
until 6 October. The consultation document sets out a number of
proposals and consultation questions - informed by the
experiences of disabled people, research and the current policy
landscape - as an initial step to make sure policy development
direction is correct. The findings of this consultation will
inform the final published Disability Action Plan.
Taken together, the National Disability Strategy and the
Disability Action Plan set out a complementary, ambitious
programme of work across government to improve disabled people’s
lives in the short, medium and long term. I will continue to work
with my Ministerial Disability Champion colleagues across
government to drive progress against these commitments and to
make the greatest possible positive impact for disabled people.
