Statement by Minister of State for Social Security and
Disability, The Rt Hon Sir MP, at the UN Conference of
States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities General Debate.
As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of its adoption, the UK
Government remains strongly committed to the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and we continue to make
progress towards implementation.
At international level, as co-chair, the UK hosted the Annual
General Meeting recently of the Global Action on Disability
(GLAD) Network in Edinburgh, alongside the International
Disability Alliance.
With over 100 attendees, member states, multilaterals,
foundations, Disabled People's Organisations, the event enabled
partners to coordinate their strategies to advance disability
rights and inclusion globally.
At home, we continue to work closely with disabled people and
their representative organisations, putting their views and
voices at the heart of all that we do.
Our new Independent Disability Advisory Panel is connecting the
expertise of deaf and disabled people, and those with long-term
health conditions, into the design and delivery of health and
disability policy.
I am co-producing the Timms Review of Personal Independence
Payment with disabled people, the organisations that represent
them, and others.
We are continuing to work closely with the British Sign Language
Advisory Board in implementing the British Sign Language (BSL)
Act 2022, which includes departmental reporting to improve
accessibility.
Our forthcoming cross-government Plan for Disability will be a
key step.
It will set out a vision for what our government aims to achieve
for disabled people in the longer term, and a summary of initial
steps that will be taken towards achieving it.
It will also set out priority next steps for the government to
remove the barriers which confront disabled people and need to be
removed.
This work is being supported by our Lead Ministers for
Disability, one Minister representing the interests of disabled
people and championing disability inclusion and accessibility in
each government department.
We want to ensure positive progress on policy affecting disabled
people right across government.
To make sure that this support is grounded in the principles of
the Convention, we have produced an online training package for
government officials which supports consideration of the treaty
and the convention in their work.
