DWP staff repeatedly failed to follow suicide threat guidance, secret death reviews reveal
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff have had to be repeatedly reminded what to do when claimants threaten to take their own lives, following secret reviews into as many as six suicides linked to the benefit system.
The reviews suggest that a series of suicides between 2014 and 2019 were linked to the failure of DWP staff to follow basic rules that had been introduced in 2009.
Heavily-redacted documents released by DWP in response to a freedom of information request by Disability News Service now show that as many as six internal reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants have recommended that staff should be reminded of the department’s long-standing “six-point plan”.
The six-point plan instructs staff how to deal with statements by customers that they intend to self-harm or take their own lives, and, according to DWP, “offers a clear process outlining what staff should do in these circumstances”.
But the new documents show that DWP staff have repeatedly ignored the six-point plan, although the documents are so heavily redacted that it is not clear how significant a role this played in the deaths of individual claimants.
Much of the evidence comes from documents newly-released by DWP under the Freedom of Information Act.
These internal process reviews (IPRs, previously known as peer reviews) contain recommendations made by panels of senior DWP staff between January 2016 and March 2019 as a way of trying to learn lessons following suicides and other deaths of claimants, as well as other serious incidents linked to DWP policies and procedures.
The newly-released documents, together with reviews previously released, appear to show that DWP staff had to be reminded about the six-point plan on six separate occasions between 2014 and 2019*.
In one of the reviews, believed to have been published in early 2016, the panel includes a recommendation to remind staff in the local office “about the Six Point Plan”, which will be referred for “consideration of further action as it is a recurring theme”.
Despite this plea, there were apparently three further such recommendations in the next three years, with staff being reminded in one review that the “six point plan should be invoked without exception if a claimant expresses suicidal ideation”; another panel reminding “customer compliance officers that they should be aware of the local 6 point plan in offices they visit and put it into action as required”; and a fourth panel advising: “Further local awareness needed on the 6 point plan which was not fully followed.”
A previous freedom of information response from DWP showed that similar requests were made twice between August 2014 and January 2016.
On both those occasions, the author of the reviews called for DWP to “remind staff about the Six Point Plan” and pointed out the need to “embed” the plan in DWP procedures because the failure to follow the guidance was “a recurring theme”.
One of those reviews was likely to have been written in 2015, following the suicide of 31-year-old Faiza Ahmed, who died in November 2014, shortly after telling a jobcentre work coach that she had been “busy trying to kill myself”.
The work coach and his manager decided not to contact the emergency services, despite the six-point plan stating that staff should summon emergency help if a claimant declares an attempt to kill themselves and is “distressed, at serious risk or in immediate danger”.
DNS has previously reported on a small number of the reports published between April 2016 and June 2018, which revealed particular concerns about universal credit (UC) and the work capability assessment (WCA) process.
But the new batch of reports also reveals concerns about deaths or serious incidents linked to personal independence payment (PIP), as well as continuing concerns about UC and the WCA.
A key recurring theme with PIP is the failure of DWP decision-makers “to take all evidence into account” when deciding a claim, which is mentioned four times over the three years.
One panel concluded: “These issues have already been addressed locally and highlighted more widely as senior leaders continue to re-enforce the messages, that Decision Makers have the ability to return cases to the Health Care Provider if there is any doubt raised by their report and that they must consider all available evidence.”
A second panel produced almost exactly the same warning, pointing out that “senior leaders continue to re-enforce the messages, that Decision Makers have the ability to return cases to the Health Care Provider if there is any doubt raised by their report and that they must consider all available evidence”.
A third panel, which again followed either the death of a PIP claimant or a serious incident, repeated the message.
A fourth review, also believed to involve a PIP claimant, concluded: “The panel raised concerns about the quality of the decision making, but work is ongoing to remind decision makers of the need to take all evidence into account.”
Asked why its reviews keep making the same recommendations, year after year, following the deaths of benefit claimants, a DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to continually driving forward improvements and learning lessons from cases.
“Internal process reviews are intended to scrutinise departmental process, and identify learning and improvements.”
*It is impossible to be certain whether there were five or six reminders in total, as DWP refuses to release the dates of each review
**The following organisations are among those that could be able to offer support if you have been affected by the issues raised in this article: Samaritans, Papyrus, Mind and Rethink
10 December 2020
House of Commons failed to act after disabled staff and MPs spoke out on COVID safety
The House of Commons refused to take any action after disabled members of staff, MPs and peers raised concerns about their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed.
Members of the ParliAble network lodged the complaint in early October after it emerged that a Scottish MP had travelled to Westminster while experiencing COVID-19 symptoms*.
The complaint has only emerged through a freedom of information request by Disability News Service (DNS), which was submitted after three MPs accused colleagues of risking the lives of disabled parliamentarians and House of Commons staff by flouting COVID-19 safety measures.
DNS had asked the House of Commons authorities how many complaints had been lodged about the failure of MPs to obey COVID rules during the pandemic, for example by breaching rules on social distancing.
In its response, the House of Commons information rights and information security service said there had been 33 complaints between 2 April and 2 November.
Of those, 14 complaints were made by MPs, with another 13 from members of the public, and four from House of Commons staff.
The complaint from ParliAble was lodged on 2 October, and related to an MP “attending Estate with Covid-19 and the safety of disabled staff on the Parliamentary Estate”.
ParliAble – a network set up to support disabled MPs and peers, their disabled staff, and disabled staff of both the House of Commons and House of Lords – called in its complaint for the so-called “hybrid” parliament to be extended.
This is believed to refer to the need to allow more MPs to work from home during the pandemic, and to vote and take part in debates virtually.
But in response to the complaint, the Commons authorities merely explained the existing “safety protocols” to ParliAble, and told it to raise the issue with the leader of the Commons, the Conservative minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Rees-Mogg has been repeatedly criticised for failing to allow shielding or self-isolating MPs to carry out more of their parliamentary duties virtually.
It is not clear whether ParliAble passed on its concerns to Rees-Mogg.
The freedom of information response also details how members of parliament have made a string of complaints about fellow MPs, including their failure to wear face masks, the lack of social distancing in the Commons “tea room” and elsewhere in parliament, and the COVID-related risks caused by having to vote in person.
Several complaints made by members of the public related to the lack of social distancing by MPs in the Commons chamber, which appear to have been witnessed during television coverage.
Another complaint came from a member of House of Commons staff, who said an MP had breached social distancing rules while voting, while another staff member complained about an MP who appears to have held a “gathering” on a riverside terrace, and a third complained about an MP’s lack of social distancing when approaching Commons staff.
This week, Rees-Mogg’s office said it did not believe it had heard from ParliAble.
Asked if Rees-Mogg was concerned about the other complaints made about the actions of some MPs during the pandemic, a spokesperson declined to comment.
Asked if it shared the concerns of ParliAble, and those in the other complaints, and whether the authorities believed enough had been done to protect the safety of disabled staff and MPs on the parliamentary estate, a House of Commons spokesperson declined to answer.
But she said in a statement: “The priority is always to ensure that Parliament remains a COVID-secure environment for all who work here and, importantly, that Members of both Houses can continue to carry out their parliamentary duties.
“Both Houses intend to ensure that the latest rules, where relevant, are reflected within the Parliamentary Estate.”
ParliAble had not responded to a request to comment by noon today (Thursday).
*The SNP’s Margaret Ferrier had travelled from Glasgow to Westminster by train while awaiting a coronavirus test result, after developing symptoms, and then made the trip back to Scotland by train after she received notification of a positive result
10 December 2020
Coroner’s silence over DWP’s failure to give evidence to WCA suicide inquest
A coroner has refused to explain why the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to give evidence at an inquest which heard how an autistic man took his own life after being told to attend a work capability assessment (WCA).
Last week’s inquest heard evidence from a series of witnesses who described how DWP’s actions appeared to contribute to causing the death of 27-year-old Roy Curtis, who died in November 2018.
Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal that Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Milton Keynes who presided over last week’s inquest, also heard the inquest into the death of Stephen Carré nearly 11 years ago.
Following that inquest in 2010, Osborne became the first coroner to draw a link between the flawed WCA and the death of disabled benefit claimants, concluding that the decision to find Carré wrongly fit for work had been the “trigger” that led him to take his own life.
After that inquest, Osborne wrote a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report which called on DWP to make changes to the WCA system to prevent further such deaths.
That report did not emerge publicly until it was found by DNS in autumn 2015, and it has since helped to prove how the failure by DWP ministers to act on Osborne’s warning has led to many other such deaths.
Last week, nearly 11 years after Stephen Carré died, Osborne was in charge of another inquest which would again hear evidence of links between the WCA and the suicide of a claimant.
But he failed to ensure that any DWP civil servants gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Roy Curtis, despite a string of senior figures from social services, mental health and housing agencies giving oral evidence.
Those witnesses gave evidence which demonstrated how DWP’s failings had contributed to the decision of Roy Curtis to take his own life.
Curtis had cut himself off from his family in 2013 and changed his name from Ayman Habayeb. His family spent years trying unsuccessfully to track him down.
This week, his mother, Anabela Sousa, told DNS that the family were “surprised and disappointed” at the lack of DWP evidence at the inquest, although she stressed that they were also “very grateful for the coroner’s sympathy, fairness and being thorough throughout the hearing”.
She said that DWP had repeatedly failed her son, although she has been told that they had since changed their procedures.
Roy Curtis took his own life six days after being told to attend a “fitness for work” assessment, despite DWP being repeatedly warned its actions had made him suicidal.
The inquest heard last week how, in March 2017, he had handed over a letter from his partner at a WCA, which stated that the assessment process and the thought of having to prepare for work caused him to have “suicidal thoughts”.
The inquest also heard how he had drawn up a lengthy suicide note in autumn 2018, explaining that he had decided to end his own life because DWP had terminated his benefits, which meant he was “no longer able to pay rent or afford to eat”.
He was admitted as a voluntary inpatient to a mental health unit, where a mental health support worker wrote to DWP asking for the decision on his employment and support allowance (ESA) to be reviewed, including a letter from a consultant psychiatrist explaining that the thought of work made Curtis feel suicidal.
His benefits were reinstated and backdated, but just a month later he was sent a letter by DWP telling him he needed to attend another WCA.
This letter was generated by the DWP computer system “without a person checking on the circumstances of the individual”.
Curtis took his own life just six days later, Osborne concluded.
His ESA was stopped two months later after DWP officers made two unsuccessful visits to his home to ask why he had not attended the face-to-face WCA; on both occasions, the DWP officer noticed that letters alerting him to the visits were still in the mailbox along with other post.
DWP apparently made no further effort from January 2019 to check on his welfare or to contact other agencies, despite his history of mental distress and suicidal ideation.
His body was only discovered when a bailiff arrived to evict him from his flat, more than nine months after he had died.
But despite these facts, no DWP representative gave oral evidence to the inquest, and no statement from the department was read out by the coroner.
Osborne has so far refused to explain these omissions.
Asked if it was requested to submit any written evidence to the inquest, or if any of its civil servants were asked to give oral evidence, DWP refused to comment, other than referring DNS to last week’s statement in which a spokesperson said the department’s “thoughts remain with Mr Curtis’ family and friends at this difficult time”.
*The following organisations are among those that could be able to offer support if you have been affected by the issues raised in this article: Samaritans, Papyrus, Mind and Rethink
10 December 2020
Human Rights Act review ‘must not lead to weakening of disabled people’s rights’
A review of the Human Rights Act, announced this week by the government, must not be used as an opportunity to water down its protections, disabled human rights experts have warned.
Although the government said this week that the review was looking at the “structural framework” of the act, rather than the rights themselves, there are still concerns that it could lead to those rights being weakened.
There are also concerns over whether disabled people and their user-led organisations will be properly consulted on the review, after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) – which will run the review’s secretariat – told Disability News Service (DNS) that it was not yet able to provide any information about any public consultation that might be carried out.
The Independent Human Rights Act Review is expected to report as soon as next summer.
Among its tasks, it will consider whether the act “strikes the correct balance” between the roles of the courts, the government and parliament.
It will also examine whether the current approach “risks domestic courts being unduly drawn into questions of [government] policy”.
The Human Rights Act (HRA) incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic British law, and it came into force in October 2000.
Among the many rights included within the act that have been used to protect disabled people are the right to life; the freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment; and the protection from discrimination in relation to the other rights contained within the act.
Four years ago, an earlier government assault on the act caused outrage, after it announced plans to replace it with a new British bill of rights.
An MoJ spokesperson at the time said: “Make no mistake, the Human Rights Act will be repealed and replaced by a bill which will protect our fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore common sense to the system.”
These plans were later dropped.
The government’s new approach appears less confrontational and less of a threat to the act itself, but it is still causing alarm among human rights experts and campaigners.
Mike Smith, the former disability commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and now chief executive of the east London disabled people’s organisation Real, told DNS: “It’s fine to review the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act, but it’s important not to use this as an opportunity to water it down just because the government hasn’t liked some of the decisions of the courts.
“All they have done is apply the law protecting individuals’ human rights against poor decisions by others. Rights are hard-won, and easily lost.”
He added: “When I was at the EHRC we often used the Human Rights Act to ensure disabled people got a just outcome, especially when they had not been ‘discriminated against’ under the Equality Act 2010.”
He said he hoped the review would also examine how the act could be strengthened.
This could include incorporating the rights laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into a reformed Human Rights Act, he said, particularly as an inquiry by the UN’s committee on the rights of persons with disabilities found “grave and systemic violations” of the convention by the UK government.
Smith called for the review to “appropriately consult with and be informed by the views of disabled people, and reflect their ability to achieve the rights non-disabled people have on a day-to-day basis”.
Svetlana Kotova, director of campaigns and justice at Inclusion London, said the review “risks the possibility of weakening disabled people’s already limited legal protections”.
She said: “The HRA helped disabled people challenge blanket policies in social care, discriminatory welfare benefits rules, some injustices in mental health and mental capacity laws.”
She said the act also allows for some scrutiny of government decisions.
She said: “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the mistakes that can be made when the government is not appropriately challenged.
“We urge that any, and all, reviews and potential subsequent reforms fully protect the HRA and make its enforcement easier.
“The dignity and the safety of disabled people during and after this global health crisis must be ensured.”
Like Smith, Inclusion London called for the government to widen the rights that are protected by incorporating the UNCRPD into UK law, and called on the review panel to consult with disabled people and DPOs.
But the MoJ told DNS there was currently no information about any potential public consultation by the panel.
Asked about the review’s plans to consult with disabled people and their user-led organisations, an MoJ spokesperson said it would be for the panel to decide “how and when and who they consult with”.
She said: “They will consider how best to conduct this review. How they consult with people will be part of that. It’s for them to decide how to conduct it.”
The concerns came as more than 100 groups from across the UK – including Inclusion London, Disability Wales and the National Survivor User Network – signed an open letter to the prime minister and other UK political leaders, coordinated by the British Institute of Human Rights, which defends the Human Rights Act.
The letter, published today (Thursday) on Human Rights Day, highlights the COVID-19 emergency, and warns: “Human rights must not be an afterthought in times of crisis; human rights were born of disaster and must guide the Covid-19 response and recovery.”
And it adds: “Today, we stand together, proud of our human rights standards in the UK but worried that political rhetoric is again turning towards questioning our laws, with increasing concerns that people’s ability to seek accountability will be reduced.”
The HRA review panel of eight legal figures and academics includes the chair, Sir Peter Gross, a retired Lord Justice, and Baroness [Nuala] O’Loan, who carried out an investigation into human rights for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in 2009.
An EHRC spokesperson said in a statement: “The Human Rights Act protects the fundamental rights and freedoms of every person in the UK.
“Any review should ensure protections are effective, are strengthened where possible, are not undermined and are broadly understood and respected.”
Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, said: “Human rights are deeply rooted in our constitution and the UK has a proud tradition of upholding and promoting them at home and abroad.
“After 20 years of operation, the time is right to consider whether the Human Rights Act is still working effectively.”
10 December 2020
Evenbreak will help fill ‘massive gaps’ in job support after winning £125,000
A disabled-run social enterprise will be able to set up a national support service to help disabled people find jobs in the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, after fighting off competition to secure £125,000 in funding.
Evenbreak is one of 14 organisations that each received £125,000 from the Nesta Rapid Recovery Challenge, and it could still receive £350,000 more if it is one of the two eventual winners.
The new funding will allow Evenbreak – which only employs people with lived experience of disabling barriers – to set up a free support service, catering for both disabled people seeking employment and those already in jobs.
Among the support offered will be help with CVs, finding inclusive employers, seeking workplace adjustments, and securing funding from the Access to Work scheme.
Evenbreak, which was founded in 2011 by Jane Hatton and bases its services on the social model of disability, currently focuses on its accessible online job board, where inclusive employers can advertise their vacancies.
About 50,000 disabled candidates have registered on the job board, and about 30,000 of them are “actively engaged” with Evenbreak.
But Hatton said she had gradually realised that there were also massive gaps in the provision of “appropriate and relevant” support for disabled job-seekers.
She said: “We are constantly being approached by disabled candidates asking for support – whether help with CVs, with finding inclusive employers, with asking for workplace adjustments and so on.
“Up to now we have offered some generic online support, or signposted them to other organisations who offer such support.
“We were increasingly becoming aware that there are massive gaps in the provision of support, in terms of location, quality, eligibility criteria or relevance.”
Now she hopes the funding from the Nesta Rapid Recovery Challenge will help Evenbreak fill that gap, by providing free support which is “non-judgmental, not related to benefits, responsive to individual needs and realistic” and is delivered by careers professionals with lived experience of disabling barriers.
Hatton said the pandemic and Brexit had created fresh challenges.
She said: “There are likely to be far fewer jobs available following both COVID and Brexit, which is why it is more important than ever to ensure that disabled people – already disproportionately affected by any downturn in the economy – don’t get left behind this time.
“The new ways of working – more flexible working, remote working becoming more commonplace, the need to do things differently – mean that disabled people are generally premium candidates.
“Employers and disabled candidates themselves both need to realise that, and we will continue to help employers remove disabling barriers from their recruitment processes.”
In addition to the £125,000, Evenbreak will receive training and capacity-building support from the innovation charity Nesta, which is running the challenge.
Among the other 13 successful semi-finalists, announced this week, are a digital platform that shows low income, insecure and young workers the sources of income available to them through unclaimed benefits, grants and other financial support; and an organisation that supports young people in insecure or low-paid jobs to find roles in technology start-ups.
Six of the 14 semi-finalists will receive an additional £150,000 next May, with two final winners securing a further £200,000 in September 2021.
There were 148 entries to the competition, which aims to improve access to jobs and financial support for those impacted by COVID-19, by helping organisations reach more people in need.
Among those supporting Nesta’s challenge by contributing funding are the Money and Pensions Service, the Department for Work and Pensions and JPMorgan Chase.
10 December 2020
Hate crime and abuse ‘seriously under-estimated’, say mental health service-users
People with mental distress are not believed when reporting hate crime and abuse, despite experiencing serious assaults, victimisation and neglect, according to a new report.
Disabled academics who helped with the research that led to the report say that the extent of hate crime and abuse in mental health is seriously under-estimated.
The new report from the National Survivor User Network (NSUN) offers guidance to support those who have experienced abuse, victimisation and hate crime because of their mental distress or psychiatric diagnosis.
The guidance describes some of the sources of support that people with mental distress have found useful, and provides advice for those experiencing abuse, victimisation and hate crime.
It is based on the user-led Keeping Control study, which aimed to address a gap in knowledge about targeted violence, abuse and hostility against people with mental health problems.
Alongside the guidance, written by mental health service-user-researcher Dr Alison Faulkner, and also available in Urdu, Gujarati, Arabic, Bengali and easy-read, NSUN has released five short interviews.
In her interview, Dr Faulkner said: “I think that abuse and hate crime in mental health is something that is really under-estimated.
“It’s very hidden. People are often afraid to come forward and talk about it, and also they may feel that they are in some way to blame.”
She said there were many different experiences of hate crime and abuse, including physical assault, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, abuse based on discrimination, institutional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
Some of those interviewed for the Keeping Control study spoke of the abuse they experienced while being treated in psychiatric institutions, including sexual abuse and abusive treatment, such as being forcibly treated under the Mental Health Act.
Dr Faulkner said: “Still there are people in the world who think that when you go into a psychiatric hospital you go in to be looked after, you go in to receive care, and that is something that this study has really blown apart.”
Dr Sarah Carr, a service-user-survivor-researcher who also worked on the Keeping Control project, said in her interview: “We found that people with mental health problems were at pretty high risk of experiencing disability hate crime.
“They are targeted because of their mental health problems or diagnosis or label.”
She said that many people did not report such incidents because they felt it was an “inevitable part of their life” or they did not feel they would be believed because of their mental health status, while they were also seen as unreliable witnesses.
They also felt that services would not help them if they reported what had happened.
Dr Carr said victims were often targeted in situations where they were vulnerable or powerless, such as on mental health wards.
She said: “We wanted to see change in services, change in practice, change in the way systems work, and we wanted to see social change in the way people with mental health problems are perceived and treated.”
Tina Coldham, a member of the expert advisory group on the study, said: “I’m in my 50s, I’ve grown up and I’ve got used to abusive comments, children would use some very unfortunate language, which now I would hope you don’t use so much in the playground, but you get used to it and accept it and don’t perhaps recognise it as hate crime.
“There is a tendency to sometimes internalise it, and not do anything with it, so another obstacle is that people will just hang onto it, and of course that is really corrosive to your sense of wellbeing.
“Another obstacle is how and where to report it, what sort of reception will I have if I do report it.”
She said she lives in Southampton, which has third-party hate crime reporting centres, which can help with that process.
She added: “Sometimes things happen to people in psychiatric hospitals, on wards, or in care settings, where the word care goes out of the window.”
Christine Khisa, a peer researcher and service-user, who was also involved in Keeping Control, said the project had given a voice to service-users.
She said: “I have been in a relationship where I have been physically abused. I was targeted as a consequence of my mental illness.
“I wasn’t even living with the individual but because of my vulnerabilities I was not listened to, I had no voice.
“I have even been on a ward where my partner has come to the ward… and he takes my money, he takes anything of value, and I’m just left there with nothing.
“And then he’s allowed in again, and I can’t even report it to staff because I’m the one that’s ill, I’m the one that’s vulnerable, I’m the one that needs help, I’m the one that needs care, I’m in that position.
“But if I do voice my concerns, when it does come to discharge, I’ve still got to go home to more of the same.”
She said it was vital to give people “the skills and the tools” to safeguard themselves, and to show them that “this is how you report it, this is who you go to, this is what you have to do, and this is what will take place, and this is how we will help you get through this”.
This information is “vitally important”, she said, and is sometimes “a matter of life or death”.
10 December 2020
Round-up: Unheard voices, a new manifesto for Wales… and Unlimited goes digital
More must be done to meet the needs of disabled members of the Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) community and to hear their voices, according to ground-breaking, user-led research.
The report concludes that disabled people from the GRT community are put off from trying to access the health and social care services they need by past experiences of discrimination.
This lack of services puts pressure on relatives and other community members to fill the gap in support themselves.
The research, which included surveys, interviews and focus groups across the UK, also found that service-providers were frequently reluctant to visit GRT sites, and that disabled people’s organisations often failed to “reach out pro-actively” to GRT communities.
And it highlighted the stigma felt about disability, particularly relating to men with physical impairments or experiencing mental distress.
Jason Smith, who is deaf, said: “There is a stigma around speaking out about disability.
“We’re a marginalised group within an already marginalised group. This can make it hard to get information or access to the support and things that can help.”
Among the report’s recommendations is for increased outreach by disabled people’s organisations to ensure people from GRT communities are involved in service and policy development.
The report concludes: “The present research project was innovative in that new ground was broken in opening up the discussion about disability within GRT communities, a discussion that now needs to be furthered within those communities and with outside health, housing and social care agencies.”
The project was led by the University of Worcester and the disabled people’s organisation Shaping Our Lives.
Becki Meakin, general manager of Shaping Our Lives and a co-author of the report, said: “This research provides a breakthrough in terms of directly hearing from disabled people and their living in GRT communities.
“It’s important we build on this work so they continue to have a voice on the issues that affect them.”
The report is the latest piece of research to come out of the five-year, £5 million Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) research programme, which is led by disabled people and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Disability Wales marked the international day of disabled people by releasing a new disabled people’s manifesto, ahead of next spring’s elections to the Welsh Senedd.
Among its calls are for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to be incorporated into Welsh law, and for disabled people’s history and discussion of the social model of disability to be included in the school curriculum.
Disability Wales also wants there to be mandatory disability equality training at all levels of government and other public bodies, and a disabled people’s organisation in every local authority area in Wales.
Other demands include action on disabled people’s participation in political life, on independent living, and on the disability employment gap, and to improve access to advice for those experiencing disability discrimination in the workplace.
The manifesto also calls for new accessibility standards for social housing in Wales to be developed in co-production with disabled people and their organisations.
Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales, said: “Disability Wales has been calling for the incorporation of the UNCRPD for a long time now and these findings show why.
“Many disabled people in Wales don’t feel that they are being listened to by those in power and are concerned that their rights are not on the agenda, let alone being protected.”
She said the process of drawing up the manifesto had “brought together disabled people from across Wales to give their views and talk about their priorities.
“It provides a vital tool for the next Welsh government to help influence and inform their programme and ensure that the rights of 22 per cent of the population are upheld.”
The government marked last Thursday’s international day of disabled people by confirming that it will increase spending on the disabled facilities grant (DFG) by £68 million next year.
The announcement of £573 million spending on DFG in 2021-22 – an increase of more than 13 per cent on 2020-21 and a huge increase from the £220 million provided in 2015-16 – was included in last month’s spending review.
DFGs are used to help disabled people fund adaptations to their homes, such as installing stair-lifts, wet rooms and ramps.
Kelly Tolhurst, the minister for rough sleeping and housing, said: “This grant can be literally life changing and lengthening, helping more people to live independently in their own homes.”
Helen Whately, the social care minister, said: “This grant will help hundreds of thousands of disabled people across England to live more independently in their own homes and improve their quality of life.
“I know this year has been incredibly difficult for disabled people in particular and I’m pleased that, on the International Day of People with Disabilities, we’re able to provide this additional funding.
“The disabled facilities grant is a really important part of our ambition to reduce health inequalities and support more people to live healthy, independent lives for as long as possible.”
The Unlimited disability arts programme has announced its first digital festival, which will take place next month.
The five-day festival, between 13 and 17 January, will feature dance, performance, comedy, film, talks, workshops and visual art, most of which has been commissioned by Unlimited.
Of 33 online events, 32 will be free, with another 16 events available on demand.
Alongside the digital programme, Unseen, logic-defying images on the subject of mental distress by artist Suzie Larke, will be exhibited outdoors at London’s Southbank Centre between 13 January and 28 February.
Among the highlights of the digital programme will be a broadcast of Artificial Things, which was filmed in a derelict suburban shopping centre, features disabled and non-disabled dancers, and explores the themes of human interdependence, strength, and vulnerability.
Among those who appear in the film is disabled dancer and actor David Toole, who died in October.
Another highlight is likely to be Here/Not Here, a film by the award-winning Deaf film-maker Bim Ajadi, which explores British Sign Language, Krump street dance, football and Visual Vernacular, a choreographed, poetic form of sign language.
Justin Edgar’s online exhibition, Reasonable Adjustment – The Disabled Armed Resistance Movement, a re-imagining of the disabled people’s direct action protests of the late 1980s, is one of the events most likely to provoke debate.
It features “artefacts” from the fictional Reasonable Adjustment movement, whose members are said to have bombed inaccessible train stations and laid siege to a benefits office.
The biennial festival was last held at the Southbank Centre in 2018, and was delayed this year because of the pandemic.
Unlimited was originally built on a successful disability arts programme which saw 29 pieces by disabled artists showcased during the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
A disabled people’s organisation has launched a new regional register of personal assistants (PAs) that it hopes will make it easier for disabled people to find PAs quickly during the COVID-19 crisis.
The register, run by Disability North, will be free to employers and PAs during the pandemic, and should help PAs who are currently not able to work because their existing employer is shielding work temporarily for other disabled people.
Disability North is based in Newcastle and covers the area from York to the Scottish Borders and across to Cumbria.
The disabled-led charity Wheels for Wellbeing has launched an updated edition of its Guide to Inclusive Cycling.
The policy document includes key recommendations for inclusive cycling, many of which have been included in new Department for Transport cycle infrastructure guidance.
It is the fourth edition of the guide, which was first published in 2017 and was the first policy document of its kind.
It includes case studies, technical recommendations, policy suggestions and links to relevant parts of the government guidance.
Isabelle Clement, director of Wheels for Wellbeing, said: “Just over three years since releasing the first ever Guide to Inclusive Cycling, it’s amazing to me that we’re already onto our fourth edition.
“The reason for this is that the world of cycling has been changing as people take note of and act on our recommendations.”
Cycling minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “We will continue to support the delivery of cycle infrastructure which is safe and inclusive for disabled cyclists and pedestrians, and our work with accessibility groups such as Wheels for Wellbeing ensures we’re making use of expert knowledge to inform accurate and inclusive cycle design guidance for all.”
The disabled-led theatre company Vital Xposure has announced that actor, writer, director and activist Simon Startin will take over as its new artistic director in March.
He will replace the company’s founder, award-winning writer, director and activist Julie McNamara, who will be leaving to join the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, in Australia.
Startin, who has campaigned to increase the representation of disabled people on stage and screen, will join Vital Xposure as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, and said he hoped to build on McNamara’s “outstanding” work.
He said: “There has never been a more important time for society to hear the voice of disabled artists, who have been living at the sharp end of human fragility and resilience long before the rest of the world woke up to it.
“There is an urgent need for disabled theatre-makers to proudly communicate not just the disabled experience but to take that perspective to universally question the times we live in.
“Under my leadership, the Vital Xposure commitment to hidden voices and social justice will continue to drive our work, but we will also begin to interrogate what participatory political theatre, led by disabled people, for the benefit of all, can achieve in the 21st century.”
Jonathan Meth, chair of the company’s trustees, said McNamara “uses her voice to speak for all those whose voices are unheard and whose stories are too often untold.
“That she can talk to anyone, as well as enable others to find their voices, belies the complexity and richness of her creative working processes – as theatre-maker, as a disabled artist and as advocate, activist and leader.”
10 December 2020
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
