SCIL joins Campaigners from across Europe on Freedom Drive

Between the 14th and the 17th September, Robert Droy and Michael Grimmett from SCIL joined 440 people from 21 European countries in Strasbourg for the Freedom Drive 2009 to campaign for the rights of Disabled People. 

The Freedom Drive concentrates on Independent Living subjects such as deinstitutionalisation, the right to personal assistance and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.

 

The Freedom Drivers came up with 8 key demands that they felt the European Parliament should be working on and these demands were handed over to EU Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and to Richard Howitt MEP following a march through the streets of Strasbourg to the Parliament building.  

 

Jerzy Buzek and Richard Howitt said they were committed to fight for the rights of Disabled People and encouraged Freedom Drivers to keep lobbying their national MEPs to promote Independent Living in their countries.

Michael Grimmett from SCIL commented ‘ I found the 2009 Freedom Drive to be an inspiring experience.  To be around other Disabled People, who are fighting for a common goal was uplifting and gave me further impetus to carry on the campaign for independent living and equal rights. ’.

Following a meeting with some of the UK MEPs, Robert Droy pledged that SCIL would invite the MEPs in the South East area to a seminar in early 2010 to continue the dialogue further. More details to follow…..   

How do we ensure choice, control and quality is at the heart of a new social care system?

On July 7th, Robert Droy from SCIL was asked to address the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Care. Niall Dixon from the Kings Fund was also speaking.

An audience of around 100 people, including around 30 members of Parliament and Peers from House of Lords fired questions at both Robert and Niall for over an hour.

As well as much speculation about what might or might not be in the green paper some of the key points that were discussed (in no particular order) included:

• Social Care should have an equal footing with Health Care. Lack of investment in social care will cost more in the future. Preventative work is often talked about however ever tighter eligibility criteria leaves increasing numbers of people, particularly older people at risk of developing more serious impairments and higher support needs in the future.

• Everybody, regardless of their age or impairment, should be able to have choice and control over the support they receive.  These are basic human rights, not just about getting up in the morning and going to bed at night but living a full and active life. Human rights cannot be at the whim of the local authorities. Disabled people should have guaranteed minimum entitlements wherever they live in the country. Support must also be portable.

• Over the last 25 years, CILs have been at the forefront of developing the Personalisation agenda, starting with Direct Payments and now moving towards self directed support.

• Many CILs are struggling to compete against some of the bigger non-user led organisations, particularly as many local authorities feel compelled to competitively tender for many support services that are best delivered by CILs.

• Access to Peer Advocacy leading to Self Advocacy are essential to ensure that  ALL users can take full advantage of the personalised agenda. However funding for Advocacy services are thin on the ground.

• Training for Disabled People and Personal Assistants should be available but should not be a barrier to encouraging ‘new’ people to enter the social care workforce.

• Integrating funding streams should not mean people lose their basic entitlement to certain benefits e.g. DLA / AA

• Many Disabled People also experience multiple discrimination because they are lesbian or gay or come from a black / minority ethnic community. The Government needs to listen to their views.

Leonard Cheshire Should Be Ashamed

In October, I attended a debate at the National Children And Adult Services Conference run by Leonard Cheshire Disability. The title of the debate was ‘Care Homes for Disabled People – Yesterday’s Solution?’.

I was obviously arguing that residential care was an outdated model for Disabled People in 2009, however Leonard Cheshire Disability were arguing that Disabled People should have options and choices, and residential care should be one of the options.

Some readers may be sympathetic to Leonard Cheshire Disability’s position however you might change your mind after reading Peter Beresford’s recent blog article in the Guardian.

As Peter points out, despite lots of positive media campaigns and progressive language this leopard still has not managed to change its spots.  

SCIL Announce Landmark Conference

SCIL are pleased to announce an important conference for Disabled People regarding their human and legal rights.

Date:         Tuesday 28 October 2008

Time:        10.30am – 4.00pm

Venue:      Unity 12, 9-19 Rose Road, Southampton, SO14 6TE

The keynote speaker will be Luke Clements who is a Professor at Cardiff Law School and is renowned for his academic research and litigation work around the rights of people who experience social exclusion such as Disabled People, Carers and Travellers.

Luke Clements

The aims of the conference are to:

• Understand Disabled People’s rights to Independent Living

• Understand the impact of UK & European legislation

• Understand where the new United Nations Convention on the rights of Disabled People might help

 In afternoon workshops you will have an opportunity to:

• Discuss individual issues with Luke Clements

• Discuss how involvement with Skills for Care may assist in the improvement of services (with other service users)

• Discuss how working with SCIL and other organisations run by Disabled People could make our collective voice stronger

The conference for Disabled People ONLY will be held in our new fully accessible conference suite at Unity 12. More information and a booking form are downloadable below but demand for places are expected to be high so please return the booking form as soon as possible.

conference-booking-form1

1 Million Signatures: A Symbol for Change

In 2003, during the European Year of Disability, the Disability Movement tried to get the European Parliament to adopt a Disability Rights Directive, but failed. Now in 2007 (the European Year of Equality), the European Disability Forum has launched a new campaign for a Disability Directive.

What has changed? In 2003 the European Commission argued that they had their work cut out in implementing the European Equal Employment Directive. A Directive that would force the UK Government to strengthen Equal Employment legislation and force all employers not to discriminate in recruitment, promotion or training on grounds of disability, age, sexuality or religion.  

In December 2006 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which contains comprehensive measures to develop full equality for disabled people in all areas of life. This is already adopted in certain aspects by the European Commission and 22 of the 27 EU members, but with no common Convention how can the EU claim to have a unified market with social measures?

The European Union has between 50 and 100 million disabled citizens depending on how they are counted. At present there is no unified definition or method of enumerating and a unified directive would ensure such agreements. Already the EU has demonstrated the benefit of a European-wide legislation for disabled people in the UK, through such things as The Equal Employment Directive – extending the coverage of the DDA, and The Air Passenger Directive – ensuring equal treatment of disabled people by airlines across Europe. Trans-European train, bus, coach and ferries directives are also in the pipeline. None of these things are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.   

The UN Convention covers all aspects of life, including the development of an inclusive education system, the need to get more disabled people into work, women and children’s rights and the right to supported decision making for all rather than guardianship. However, disabled people and their allies will have to struggle to get these things into British Law, but a really effective way is to get them into a legally binding European Directive.  

Support the campaign, sign the petition and make a change. 

The UK is lagging far behind other countries in collecting signatures. So far over 250,000 have been collected across Europe, but only 5,000 in the UK so please do all you can to get signatures online at  www.1Million4disability.eu

Thanks to Richard Rieser, UK Council for Disability Rights in Europe representative on the European Disability Forum, for this information.

Disabled People Show Support for Independent Living Bill

On June 18, more than a hundred Disabled People gathered outside Downing Street to show support for the Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill which was being debated in the House of Lords.

The rally was organised by Our Lives, Our Choices which is a consortium of disability organisations including NCIL.  The rally was addressed by Lord Ashley of Stoke and Roger Berry MP who are sponsoring the bill.

A small delegation which included Sue Bott from NCIL and Robert Droy from SCIL were then allowed to deliver a banner with testimony from many Disabled People to the door of 10 Downing Street.

Roger Berry then hosted a reception at Portcullis House for many of the rally participants where there were further speeches of support from the Equal Opportunities Commission, Carers UK, and the National Pensioners Forum. Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton also gave a rousing speech to her fellow ‘freedom fighters’ to carry on the campaign.  

A successful day was tinged with sadness following the news that Roy Webb from NCIL who had been instrumental in organising the Our Lives, Our Choices campaign had died on June 15.

Business Awards Are No More, They Are Bereft Of Life

As someone involved with SCIL for many years, one thing characterises what we are, and that is that we don’t like to see grass growing under our feet. This particularly true of how we work with businesses, to help encourage them to see the value of Disabled People, both as customers and employees. Now we want to move the goalposts again…

But first: A brief history of our work with businesses: First came ‘partnership’ meetings:These meetings involved ’support’ organisations and one or two big businesses. We all agreed what a jolly good idea it would be for all sizes of businesses to see the value of Disabled People. The trouble was we were preaching to the converted. The businesses that we wanted to get to, didn’t really want to get to us! After all, they were too busy trying to make money.

Then came ‘Barriers to Business’, SCIL organised a £20k conference in 2002 aimed at promoting ‘the business case’ to business. We got several businesses to say how great Disabled People were at improving their profits, we also got the Minister for Disabled People in. The conference was memorable for 2 things (1) a huge polystyrene graffiti wall, and (2) SCIL proves it can pull off these events. However, we still attracted more of ‘the converted’ than those that we wanted to convert.

Most recently… The Business Awards - This was built on the ‘if you can’t beat them’ principle. Businesses like being slapped on the back and receiving trophies. We reasoned that other businesses will look at the winners and say ‘we want to win that award next year’. Well, after three years the awards have been a very successful method of publicity for SCIL and sponsors loved them. But, we still really struggled to persuade businesses to get nominated.

Whilst all these events have been good for SCIl in some respects, it does feel like we have flogged a few dead horses along the way. So, where next – SCIL is not known for quitting…

We now have developed a plan to ‘mystery shop’ businesses and statutory services that Disabled People should have the same rights to access as everyone else. We want to develop an annual survey of how local businesses are treating Disabled People. We want to get Disabled People to visit these organisations incognito, and develop a way of assessing how well or bad these organisations are doing to include Disabled People. By publishing our findings we feel we might instil a mixture or fear and competition in them which will result in better outcomes for us as Disabled People. 

Tell us what you think? We’d love to know.  PS: It is ideas like this that show just how very different we are from the enemas of this world that are only interested in doing things that make them money – SCIL like taking risks and we will not be going away real soon… Take note.

This article was written by Ian Loynes – Chief Executive of SCIL.   

UN Convention Adopted To Protect Equality Of Disabled People

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. 

Will Disability Issues Become A Family Affair For Next PM?

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.

Are You Ready For DED?

The Disability Equality Duty (DED) is an important new duty aimed at promoting disability equality across the public sector. The DED, also referred to as the general duty, sets out what public bodies must have due regard to in order to promote equality of opportunity.Most public bodies are also covered by specific duties, which set out a framework to assist public bodies in meeting their general duty. All public bodies covered by the specific duties must:

Publish a Disability Equality Scheme (including within it an Action Plan)

Involve disabled people in producing the Scheme and Action Plan

Demonstrate they have taken actions in the Scheme and achieved appropriate outcomes

Report on progress and review and revise the Scheme regularly. 

In direct response to this new Disability Equality Duty which comes into force in December 2006, organisations of Disabled People from across the South East are joining forces to launch South East Disability Equality Council (SEDEC), a regional one-stop-shop for public bodies to be able to get informed, consistent advice and guidance around Disability Equality.

The new Duty gives rise to new challenges for public bodies, in particular the continuing involvement of Disabled People and for the first time ever, public bodies will have to take responsibility for tackling the institutional discrimination that Disabled People face.

SEDEC can offer public bodies information, advice and support in order for them to fully understand their responsibilities regarding the new Duty. SEDEC can also assist organisations to draw up their Disability Equality Scheme and monitor their progress. 

Through SEDEC, subscribing public bodies will have access to relevant, up to date information gathered through consultation and audit processes as well as professional advice and guidance to enable them to meet the standards through publications, events and an ongoing dialogue.  

SEDEC will be made up of Disabled People from across the South East who are well informed about the issues and the Social Model and will be setting the standard for Disability Equality in the South East. SEDEC also offers an opportunity for Disabled People to become involved by offering Disability Equality Training and a chance to be part of the council. Ian Loynes, Chief Executive of Southampton Centre for Independent Living said ‘ SEDEC will be an opportunity for Disabled People to lead the way in achieving true Disability Equality’.

There is still time to register to attend SEDEC’s launch event ‘Ten Years On’ at The HG Wells Conference Centre in Woking, on December 4th, giving public bodies and Disabled People a chance to reflect upon what has been gained since the implementation of the DDA and what we hope to achieve in the future with the new duty.

The keynote speaker will be Caroline Gooding who is Director of Legislative Change at the Disability Rights Commission. Caroline is responsible for advising on key long term cross cutting disability issues, as well as the overall impact of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Conference participants will also hear froim Disabled People across the region about the impact that the DDA has had on their lives and what they hope to see happen in the next 10 years.It will also be an opportunity for public bodies to share best practice.

Whether you are a Disabled Person interested in getting involved with SEDEC or you work for a public body and want to find out how SEDEC can help you, it will well worth attending.  You can register on the SEDEC website or for more information, you can call Amanda on 023 8020 2650.