Your chance to get involved in the discussion

On 1 December 2011, the Government announced a discussion with disabled people to gather suggestions for a new cross-government disability strategy. Action for Blind People, on behalf of the RNIB Group, is compiling a response to the consultation and would value your input.

The Government’s ambition is to enable disabled people to fulfil their potential and have opportunities to play a full role in society. The text below captures an overview of the fulfilling potential document with the consultation questions afterwards.

Realising Aspirations

Disabled people make a huge contribution in our society – through work, volunteering, caring and as active members of communities. Yet, too often there are still significant physical and attitudinal barriers to be overcome.

The Government asks “How can we support and help disabled people overcome continuing barriers to reaching their full potential?” They ask “what more can be done in tackling discrimination.”

They want to realise the aim of independent living, where “all disabled people have the same choice, control and freedom as any other citizen”.

The Government want services to be tailored and personalised, shaped around the individual with a clear goal for independent living, in a way most appropriate to that individual

They are committed to ensuring appropriate support and intervention for disabled people at key life transitions, to realise disabled people’s potential and aspirations for education, work and independent living.

Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People states “we have still not even reached the point where the majority of working age disabled people are in employment.”

“Societal barriers – whether physical or attitudinal – are limiting the realisation of disabled people’s aspirations. In turn, society and the economy are missing out on benefiting from the experiences, abilities and skills of disabled people.”

The Government wants to ensure that the right support and the right environments are in place so that disabled people are able to fulfil their potential at every life stage. This includes getting support right from the earliest stage, ensuring equal access to education.

This also means focusing on transition points in people’s lives, when the system and support networks are even more important, but are more likely to break down and the transitions that can take place in later life, such as moving from employment into retirement or being bereaved.

The capacity of communities to deliver appropriate support needs to be strengthened – particularly by involving disabled people in their communities.

Individual control

The Government says: “We want to ensure that disabled people have personal control over the services they receive, and that support is delivered in the way they want it across every area of their day-to-day lives, for example accommodation, travel or employment”.

“We want to personalise public services, which means delivering support that is shaped around the needs of the individual. We want to ensure people receive appropriate information, advice and support to make informed choices. We also want to give disabled people more control of budgets for the services they receive”.

“We also aim to transfer control from central government to communities and local government, and ensure more flexibility for how local services are provided”.

Changing attitudes and behaviours

Nearly 8 in 10 people feel there is still prejudice against disabled people and many disabled people have told ministers they continue to experience discrimination on a daily basis. The preconceptions and unfounded prejudices people have about disabled people can, if left unchecked, lead to antisocial behaviour, harassment, hate crime, and in extreme cases, murder.

Disabled people have told ministers how important it is to tackle discrimination and prejudice. However, changing attitudes is a difficult and complex area and the relationships between attitudes and behaviours are not clear cut. The Government want to facilitate the participation of disabled people in community and public life by, for example, supporting disabled people to become MPs or councillors.