[From Bindmans Solicitors]
National Strategy for Disabled People: permission granted to challenge Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Permission has been granted by the Court to four disabled individuals to bring their judicial review challenge to the consultation on the proposed National Strategy for Disabled People.
In granting permission to bring the claim, the High Court found the Claimants’ case that the Secretary of State had breached her public law duties arguable and that the case is ‘important in the public interest’.
The National Strategy for Disabled People was first announced in April 2020 and has been described by the government as a strategy to ‘remove barriers and increase participation’ and ‘transform’ the lives of disabled people.
In January 2021, the government launched the UK Disability Survey to ‘gather views’ on the development and delivery of the strategy. However, virtually all the questions in the survey were multiple-choice. Only four questions allowed free text responses, three of them being limited to 100 words and the other to 250 words. At no point did any of the questions outline any proposed content for the strategy or seek views on such content. Questions instead focused on data gathering, such as ‘Does your health condition stop you from doing everyday things?’ to which the possible responses were ‘Yes’; ‘No’; ‘Don’t know’; ‘Prefer not to say’. Access to the survey was solely online, with easy read copies required to be printed and posted by participants.
The Claimants are challenging the consultation on the basis that limited information was provided about the strategy in the consultation and the survey was designed in such a way as to preclude proper and effective response. The Claimants are also arguing that there was a failure to consult with Disabled People’s Organisations in relation to the Strategy.
Whilst the Strategy was due to be published in spring 2021, it has not yet been published.
Doug Paulley, one of the Claimants in this challenge, said:
I am pleased that we have permission from the Court as it shows that the Court recognises this is a serious issue. The consultation was deeply flawed and raises concerns as to the government’s wider approach to the National Strategy. It would be counterproductive for the government to publish the Strategy now, having been aware of our concerns on consultation since February. I hope the Secretary of State reconsiders her position and carries out a proper, well designed consultation with disabled people and their organisations, to ensure the National Strategy includes the views of those directly affected by it.
Shirin Marker, solicitor at Bindmans LLP who is acting for the Claimants, said:
In granting permission, the Court has understood the importance of this issue, which is of potentially huge significance to disabled people. We hope that the Secretary of State will now recognise the sense in delaying publication of the Strategy until after the Court has ruled on whether an unlawful consultation has taken place, as any strategy predicated on unlawful consultation may itself be subject to challenge.
The Claimants are represented by Jamie Potter, Shirin Marker and Amy O’Shea of Bindmans, and Steve Broach and Katherine Barnes of 39 Essex Street chambers.
Further details on the case are available here.
The past few moths I have been paying close attention to what is happening regarding disabled peoples rights in the uk. A green paper was slipped through parliament on the day it closed for the summer. It contained information about radical and cruel cuts to pip and esa. This “EVIl, Cowardly, Murdering uk government” is proposing massive changes to the criteria for pip and esa in the next session of parliament. These cuts along with the cuts to Universal Credit and the changes to pip and esa will affect disabled and able bodied people in the uk negativly.
Taken into account the proposed cuts to public services which will be around £17bn will be another blow to the disabled and vulnerable in the uk.
It is no wonder the so called consultation has not gone any further. It simply can’t. The decision is already been made by the pure vil Tory government to impliment the most severe cuts and the toughest criteria that the disabled have to face claiming for pip or esa.
Add in the decision to institute Assisted suicide being discussed by a committee in the house of Lords. It doesn’t take much to add 1 and 1 and conclude the result. I am against the majority of assistive suicide but only in very rare cases could it be allowed. I mean very rare circumstances. Look at the countries that do allow it. The criteria has been altered time and time again to make it easier for people to be given assisted suicide. This shouldn’t be. Open the gate and it is wide open to missuse and abuse.
Every sense in my body is screaming for disabled people to stand up and be counted and not to allow this vile government to reduce our human rights and to murder us legally, cut our benefits to the bone and put us in a position of such enormous psychological stress and anxiety we don’t have a choice but to take the blue pill rather than be subject to the cruelty of this utterly vile government.
It seems obvious that the evil government have and will continue to reduce our human rights until we have no rights not even to protest against their illegal decisions. As a last blow they are removing the right to remove the right to disagree with decisions they do make making it impossible for us to take legal action against them. Another nail in our coffin. I have seen this coming since these con men and women came to power and everything I saw then is coming true. As I think about the future we really need to get rid of this uk government that is Corrupt, evil and lacks a social conscience for anyone other than themselves.