The Government “has not learnt lessons” from the concerns raised
over the development of the National Disability Strategy (NDS)
and its efforts to engage with disabled people are “perceived to
be superficial”, the Women and Equalities Committee has warned.
The cross-party committee of MPs described the Government’s NDS
as a “list of un-coordinated and largely pre-existing short-term
policies” and called on ministers to “work with disabled people
to develop the strategy into a ten-year plan with clear targets”.
The Committee’s first of three reports based on its findings
during an inquiry into the NDS concluded that instead of
establishing a long-term vision to ‘transform the everyday lives
of disabled people’ the Government produced a “disability
strategy in name only”, with disabled people and their
representative organisations having “little to no influence”.
Disabled people “feel excluded from having meaningful input into
policies directly affecting them” WEC cautioned, as it
recommended the Government appoint a national advisory group
consisting of the DPO (Disabled people's organisations) Forum
England and the chairs of Regional Stakeholder Networks to
“review disability policy proposals, advise ministers on key
issues, and develop, implement and monitor the NDS”.
The NDS, published on 28 July 2021 was “a list consisting mainly
of pre-existing departmental actions with minimal strategic
thinking behind how those actions interact”, the Committee said.
The Committee noted that only a strategy which “integrates
different policy areas—such as education, health, social care,
employment and transport—will have a truly transformational
effect on the lives of disabled people”.
Furthermore, the Government's engagement process when developing
the NDS was “not as good as Ministers claimed”, with disabled
people's organisations (DPOs) reporting “they had no meaningful
input”. It is vital the Government improves its evidence base on
disability if it is to respond appropriately to disabled people's
lived experiences.
Several stakeholders, including the Equality and Human Rights
Commission, disability charities, and DPOs, repeatedly asked the
Government to increase engagement before launching the strategy,
“but the Government did not, leaving disabled people feeling
further disempowered”, the report found.
WEC said: “To ensure Departments develop actions to meet the
strategy's long-term objectives, the Disability Unit should have
oversight of all disability policies with the power to challenge
ministers when necessary”.
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon
said:
“It is clear disabled people want more influence over
the strategies, action plans, and policies affecting
them.
“Ministers need to work much more proactively with disabled
groups and develop the National Disability Strategy beyond
short-term actions that were already in progress.
“To support this approach, it should collaborate with
disabled people to develop a ten-year strategy with an action
plan for the first five years outlining clear targets and
timescales for delivery.
“The Disability Unit should have the final say on all
disability policy sitting in or originating from other Government
Departments to ensure that the whole of Government works towards
the same long-term strategic objectives. It should also have the
power to challenge relevant Ministers.
“The Government needs to listen to the concerns that disabled
people and their representative organisations had with the
strategy and work closely with them to deliver meaningful,
long-lasting improvements to the lives of disabled people.”
The High Court ruled the strategy unlawful in January 2022 due to
failures in the consultation process. Progress on delivering key
parts of the strategy then stalled for 18 months. The Government
paused 14 policies it said were directly connected to the
strategy while it appealed the High Court's ruling. The Court of
Appeal overturned the High Court's judgment on 11 July 2023.
Failures in monitoring and communication in relation to the
strategy during the period of litigation, WEC concluded “created
unnecessary uncertainty and frustration for disabled people and
their representative organisations”.
WEC recommended that the Minister for Disabled People, Health and
Work should update Parliament and disability stakeholders
immediately with specific timescales for delivery on all
outstanding actions in the NDS.
The Committee said the Government does not include reference to
its obligations under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in the NDS.
It found that “despite having seven years to do so, the
Government has made little to no progress against the UN
Committee's recommendations following its 2016 investigation of
the UK which found ‘grave or systemic violations’ of disabled
people's rights”.
WEC concluded it was “disrespectful to both the UN Committee and
disabled people” that the Government “refused to attend” to give
evidence to the UN in August 2023. It added: “The Government
should set out why it refused to attend the meeting, how and by
when it will implement the UN Committee's recommendations, and
what specifically it is doing to ensure that the whole of
Government follows the principles of the treaty.”
