RADAR - the disability network

Rally and Lobby of Parliament, demanding rights to Independent Living
 

RADAR, as a member of the Our Lives Our Choices (OLOC) coalition, held a rally and lobby in Westminster Hall on June 11^th to demand action from the Government on Independent Living.
 

The day was a great success with over 150 disabled people meeting their MPs to tell them how rights to Independent Living would make a difference to their lives, giving them choice and control.
 

The Independent Living Bill would transform the social care system, introducing a national framework for minimum independent living entitlements. It would give disabled people the right to choose where to live and enable full participation in society.
 

The rally, held outside Downing Street, was timed to coincide with Gordon Brown leaving to go to Prime Minister's Questions. The turnout was good, with the rally both loud and energetic, ensuring our message was heard by all who passed by.
Following the rally we crossed over to Westminster Hall to lobby our MPs directly.  David Blunkett MP, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Home Secretary, and Lord Ashley of Stoke, who introduced the Independent Living Bill, formally welcomed the lobbyists.  They spoke in support of the Bill, and of the need for a radical overhaul of our social care system. Many MPs who saw their constituents heard for the first time of need for potable care packages, and were able to hear from disabled people directly about why the social care system is failing us.
 

Why did we need to rally and lobby?

Everyone recognises that the current system to support disabled people (including older people) to live our every day lives is broken. The current system simply cannot deliver and is resulting in poverty, dependency and exclusion. Even Government agrees which is why they have just launched a public debate about the future shape of social care. As the Government forms policy around social care they need to hear directly from disabled people about what we need, and what a future system must look like.

What are we calling for?

RADAR supports the Independent Living Bill but we know that the Government, while welcoming it ‘in principle’, do not accept it.  Lord Ashley is determined to keep introducing the bill and RADAR will continue to lobby Parliamentarians to support it.  Meanwhile we are working to influence the Government’s own bills so that they maximise independence for disabled people.  In this Parliamentary session (2007-08) RADAR has worked particularly on the following bills:
 

Health and Social Care Bill
 

Baroness Campbell, Chair of the Disability Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) tabled a RADAR amendment that would make moving house easier for those receiving social care. The “Continuity of Social Care Support” amendment would mean that, when disabled people move from one local authority to another, the new local authority would have to provide an equivalent level of social care support for a transitional period. Disabled people would be free to move to any area of the country without fear of losing necessary support. Although the amendment didn’t pass it received support from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, putting huge pressure on the Government to offer concessions.  In debate the Minister said that “the Government [is] determined to resolve this issue”; she committed to directly addressing the issue of portability within the forthcoming social care green paper.  The Minister also announced that Ivan Lewis, Care Minister, has written to the Law Commission to ask them to include, within the scope of their review of adult social care law, consideration of whether the current legal framework contributes to the difficulties that people face when they move from one local authority to another.  RADAR will pursue this issue: freedom to move is a fundamental human right that not all disabled people are able to take for granted.
 

Housing and Regeneration Bill 
 

RADAR tabled a number of amendments to this bill, in both the House of Commons and Lords.  Our amendments were seeking to ensure that the new Homes and Communities Agency ensured that new houses were built with accessibility and inclusivity as a priority.  We were also seeking to amend the Building Regulations to make Lifetime Homes Standards mandatory, and make it a duty for every Local Authority to run an Accessible Housing Register.
 

Although the Government rejected our amendments (tabled by Sir George Young MP in the Commons, and by Lord Dixon Smith, Lord Best and Baroness Wilkins in the Lords) it submitted its own amendment to Clause 2 of the bill, to clarify that "'Good design' includes design which has due regard to the needs of elderly persons and disabled persons". RADAR warmly welcomes this amendment to the bill, and the recognition from the Government that design must take into account the needs of older and disabled people. This is a further step in the right direction for older and disabled people. The amendment will allow a greater choice of housing to disabled people, allowing more opportunity to live independently, and more choice as to where to live.
 

Express your views on the Care and Support system in England

Office for Disability Issues' Independent Living Strategy

On Monday 3rd March, Government published its Independent Living Strategy, the product of an eighteen month review led by the Office for Disability Issues.  The strategy sets out a five-year cross-government plan for closing the gap between Government policy and the real experiences of disabled people on the ground.  The aims are that by 2013 disabled people have more choice and control over how their needs for support and equipment are met and to make significant progress in tackling barriers to access to health, housing, transport, and employment opportunities.    
The detail is largely a summary of existing initiatives.  RADAR welcomed pledges such as

• review charging policies against the Disability Equality Duty 
  
• moves to self-directed support
  
• ensure all publicly funded housing meets the Lifetime Homes criteria by 2011
  
• remove disincentives in the benefits system to disabled people taking up public appointments
  
• ‘initiatives’ to promote better understanding of independent living, boost disabled people’s leadership and involvement and develop user-led advocacy and brokerage.
  

However RADAR was disappointed that the radical reform programme wanted by disabled people was notably absent.  The strategy does not tackle reform of eligibility criteria, protection against involuntary institutionalisation or the lack of portable support packages.  Nor does the strategy accept that a new legislative framework is required to root independent living principles. 
 

For RADAR's fuller response, an essential guide to key points of the strategy, analysis of its likely impact on our lives and suggestions of how everyone can be part of influencing what happens next, view our policy briefing.  Awareness of the Disability Equality Duty, the Human Rights Act and UN Disability Convention can be used in practical ways to challenge policies and practices which restrict independent living today. 
 

RADAR's Independent Living Strategy Policy Briefing (PDF)

RADAR's Independent Living Strategy Policy Briefing (Word Version)