Ministers “recognise that more needs to be done” to improve the
lives of disabled people, the Government has said and
acknowledged “significant gaps in the data and evidence on
disabled people” in its response to the Women and Equalities
Committee’s (WEC) report on the National Disability Strategy
(NDS).
Published in December 2023, the report by the cross-party
committee of MPs warned the Government “has not learnt lessons”
from the concerns raised over the development of the NDS and its
efforts to engage with disabled people are “perceived to be
superficial”.
WEC 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”.
Responding to WEC, the Government said: “We recognise that more
needs to be done so we have consulted on and published the
Disability Action Plan, setting out the immediate action the
Government will take in 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives,
laying the foundations for longer term change, and complementing
the long-term vision set out in the Strategy.”
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”.
In its response to WEC, the Government said it “is working hard
to improve the evidence base on disability” adding: “DU's
(Disability Unit’s) own research has shown significant gaps in
the data and evidence on disabled people in the UK”.
“Our assessment is that these issues with data quality and
coverage are more pronounced and widespread in relation to
disability than other protected characteristic areas. DU has a
small team of specialist disability researchers and analysts
focusing on improving the data and evidence on disabled people.”
It added: “We will publish further updates on progress to deliver
the Strategy’s commitments alongside our planned report on
progress made on the Disability Action Plan, to provide a clear
update across the Government’s disability agenda.”
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon
said:
“In its response to the Committee’s first National Disability
Strategy (NDS) report, the Government has said it is
‘fully committed to delivering the long-term vision in
the Strategy’. It is vital that this statement is borne out in
the months ahead through measurable progress and change for
disabled people and the updates promised by ministers are
provided to Parliament.
“The scale of the challenge when it comes to co-ordination
and accountability across Government over the short and long term
should not be underestimated. The Committee stands ready to
scrutinise this process and ensure the commitment made in the NDS
to ‘transform the everyday lives of disabled people’ is fully
realised.”
