Southampton Centre for Independent Living

As we say goodbye to 2006, and beckon in the new year, I thought it was an apt time to reveal the most viewed articles on the SCIL blog for 2006. 

1. Anti Discrimination Laws in the Workplace
2. We don’t do that sort of thing…do we?
3. We Know Inclusion Works
4. I’m with Stupid (but I’m not Laughing)
5. Active Euthanasia for Disabled Babies Being Considered
6. Welcome to the SCIL Blog
7. Is Disability the new Reality TV Gimmick?
8. Shock as Hampshire Split Direct Payments Contract

Hopefully, there will be lots more interesting articles on the SCIL blog in the coming year so stayed tuned. Happy New Year from all at SCIL. 

Just for the Christmas period, we have adopted a seasonal look to the blog. We hope you like it, however don’t worry if you’re not keen, as the standard blog look will be back in early January.

SCIL will be closed from Midday on Friday 22 December and will reopen on Tuesday 2 January at 9am.

We hope you have enjoyed reading the blog and hopefully found it useful and informative. We really value your feedback and comments so keep sending in those emails or post your comments directly on the blog.  

The Radio 4 “Today” programme is running a ‘Christmas Repeal’ where they are asking listeners to write in or email suggestions of any laws that listeners feel should be repealed. A panel of politicians and legislation experts will shortlist six suggestions which will then be put to the public vote.

Jim Elder Woodward, Director of Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living, suggests that there should be an end to community care charging and suggests that if enough people draw the panel’s attention to the unfair policy, it may be put on the short list and then it will be featured on the ‘Today’ programme.  

The legislation that needs to be repealed is section 17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 which states authorities may make reasonable charges for domiciliary services. 

It is important to note that this legislation in no way insists that local authorities charge for these services, however all local authorities do now charge for at least some domiciliary services. The effect of this is that thousands of disabled people and older people are being charged simply because they may need support with basic living tasks, such as dressing and washing. 

Following many complaints regarding the variety and complexity of charging policies being adopted by local authorities, the Department of Health issued statutory guidance in 2003 called ‘Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care and other non-residential Social Services: Guidance for Councils with Social Services Responsibilities’ 

This guidance was meant to ensure that if local authorities chose to charge, that it was done in a fair and equitable way, however this guidance has only encouraged more local authorities to introduce or extend charging, using the ‘equity’ argument.

Local authorities tend to argue that the amount of funding they receive from central government is calculated on the assumption that they will receive revenue from charging, so they have to continue charging. Central government argue that it is up to local authorities whether they charge, so there is nothing they can do. Whilst central and local government blame each other, it is Disabled People who pay the highest price for this immoral legislation.

So, this Christmas, instead of sticking some change in a charity tin, lend your support to our campaign to get community care charging repealed by adding your voice to the ‘Christmas Repeal’.

Yesterday, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark disability convention, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century and one that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said represents the “dawn of a new era” for around 650 million Disabled People worldwide.

‘Today promises to be the dawn of a new era – an era in which Disabled People will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for all too long. This Convention is a remarkable and forward-looking document,” Mr. Annan said in a speech read out by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown.

The convention sets out in detail the rights of disabled people. It covers civil and political rights, accessibility, participation and inclusion, education, health, employment and social protection.
The convention also recognises that attitudes need to change if disabled people are to achieve equality.  It will be open for signature and ratification on 30 March 2007, and will enter into force after it has been ratified by 20 countries. 

The convention recognises the social model’s definition of disability. It states that ‘disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’. Despite this, the convention continually uses ‘people with disabilities’ rather than the term ‘Disabled People’  

The convention runs to fifty articles although article 19 may be of particular interest to blog readers as it is entitled ‘Living independently and being included in the community’. It says:

‘States Parties to this Convention recognize the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community, including by ensuring that:

(a) Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement;

(b) Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential and other community support services, including personal assistance necessary to support living and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community;

(c) Community services and facilities for the general population are available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are responsive to their needs.’

Article 24 covers Education and emphasises that Disabled People should be able to ‘access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live.’, and that they ‘receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education;’

The convention as a whole makes interesting reading and of further interest will be how quickly countries ratify the convention and what effect it will have, around the world, to protect Disabled People’s human rights. 

Following my recent article asking whether Disability was the new reality TV gimmick, I was still slightly surprised by the news that Stephen Hawking had been apparently approached to appear on the next series of Celebrity Big Brother.

It seems highly unlikely that Stephen will accept the offer but it would make fascinating TV just to see how the other celebrities react. Could offers be winging their way to other Disabled celebrities such as Julie Fernandez or Warwick Davis? Watch this space……

Sometimes you set out to write an article based on something you read, and half way through you realise that you are not contributing any more to the debate than the source material you read. Therefore, I am simply recommending that people read Peter Beresford’s article in the Guardian last week.

In the article, Peter describes some of the current issues faced by the Disability Movement in the UK. He describes how despite many advances in government policy that can be traced back to the efforts of the Disability Movement, there is no time for complacency.

He writes ‘Ensuring the equal involvement of all people demands changes in understanding and culture. It also requires resources to reach out and support such inclusion - a hard job for disability organisations unremittingly strapped for cash…..Tackling the issue of diversity doesn’t detract from solidarity, as is sometimes suggested. Instead, it reinforces it as policy makers find it more difficult to divide different groups and set them against each other.’.

He also sees one of the solutions being an inclusive education system as it ‘…enables all children to learn alongside each other, with whatever support they need, so that the kind of divisions between disabled and non-disabled people that Shakespeare condemns are no longer routine.’.

Read the complete article and let us know your views on whether the Disability Movement has lost its way and is focussing on all the wrong issues.

A possible turning point occurred this week in terms of the fight for Disability Equality in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t a new piece of legislation, it wasn’t the launch of a new Commission, it was the fact that we became aware that two of the most powerful figures in the UK political arena have Disabled Children.

David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, has a Disabled son who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and this week it was revealed that Gordon Brown’s four month old son has cystic fibrosis. We are therefore in a possibly unique position where who ever is the next Prime Minister will have hopefully a greater understanding of Disabled People and the discrimination and barriers that are faced by Disabled people every day.

Now, I am not suggesting that David and Gordon will naturally support all the aims and objectives of the Disability Movement and our fight is far from won. For example David Cameron feels special schools should stay open as a way to preserve “parental choice”. However, hopefully now Disability issues will be seen as important and not seen just as a good opportunity for a nice photo shoot with a bunch of crips.

This is not about nepotism either. It is just human nature that if you have personal experience of something, that you are more likely to have an opinion, and less likely to let ill-informed advisers tell you that there’s no problem.

Whoever becomes the next Prime Minister, it will be interesting to see whether in five years, Gordon and David’s personal experiences with their children will have influenced their policy making regarding disability issues.