Disabled people who want to become councillors or MPs will have access to a fund to help them overcome the barriers they face, under proposals published by the Government today.
The fund is just one part of a planned £1 million package aimed at improving access to elected office for disabled people. Proposals also include the creation of new training and development opportunities and the introduction of a mentoring programme that will allow aspiring disabled politicians to learn from people who have already made it to the top.
Home Secretary and Minister for Equalities Theresa May said:
"It's not fair that someone who has the right to take an active role in our democracy is prevented from doing so simply because they are disabled. If political representatives at all levels - from Downing Street to district councils - are to truly represent the views and needs of the communities they serve, they need to better reflect those communities. Disabled people are under-represented in politics, and this package of support will help remedy that."
Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller said:
"Far too often disabled people still encounter outdated attitudes that prevent them from doing the things everyone else takes for granted. A recent survey showed that nearly four in ten people thought disabled people could not be as productive as non-disabled people and three quarters of those surveyed thought disabled people needed care for all or some of the time.
"Attitudes like this show that there is still a long way to go to break down barriers and challenge prejudices. By supporting more disabled people who want to take leadership positions in politics we can help change those perceptions and make people see that when it comes to disability it's not what someone can't do but what they can."
Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform Mark Harper said:
"Diversity of talent and experience is vital in politics, where important decisions are made that affect everyone. This is why we're committed to identifying and tackling barriers that prevent under-represented groups from participating in political life. No-one should be denied the opportunity to participate in our democracy just because they are disabled, and addressing this is an important part of our commitment to reforming and restoring trust in our politics as a whole."
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of disability charity Scope said:
"We are delighted the Government is proposing to introduce more financial support to help disabled people who want to take part in public life. Disabled people want to enrich our political debate but continue to be under-represented in public life due to a range of barriers they face, including negative attitudes and increased costs if they require specific equipment or support. With the localism agenda progressing, and the Government considering ways to devolve more powers to local communities, it is even more imperative that we readdress this under-representation."
Liz Sayce, CEO of disability charity RADAR, said:
"We strongly welcome this strategy to increase the numbers of disabled people who work in public office. RADAR has supported several disabled people to stand for election and to successfully become local councillors or mayor through our Leadership Programme. We know the talent and experience disabled people can bring as well as the barriers they still face. We need more initiatives to give disabled people the confidence, the practical support and the flexibility to become a local councillor or MP. Having more disabled people included in decision making means local and national policies are created which reflect what everyone wants and needs in their communities."
Full details of the plans are contained in a consultation that was published today. The Government is seeking views from across the community, including disabled people and those involved in the political process at all levels.
The consultation, which follows a coalition agreement commitment to introduce extra support for disabled people who want to become MPs, councillors or other types of elected position, will run for three months, with the scheme expected to launch in late 2011. It is a joint project being run by the Government Equalities Office, the Office for Disability Issues (part of the Department for Work and Pensions) and the Cabinet Office.
GEO2/2011
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The proposals will apply to candidates who are applying to the following list of elections; UK Westminster elections, English local elections, Greater London Authority (GLA) elections, English Mayoral elections and Police and Crime Commissioners.
2. The access to elected office scheme is being funded from the Government Equalities Office's budget.
3. Full details of the consultation can be downloaded from the Government Equalities Office website at http://www.equalities.gov.uk
PDF version Seeking parliamentary selection was ‘absolute nightmare’, says disabled politician
A disabled councillor has described to MPs and peers the “absolute nightmare” she experienced when trying to win selection as a parliamentary candidate.
Marie Pye, a Labour councillor in Waltham Forest, said she had had an “incredibly positive” experience as both a council candidate and an elected councillor.
But she contrasted this with her two attempts to seek selection as a parliamentary candidate, where she was told to “get rid of the stick” and subjected to “intrusive” questioning from individual local party members about her impairment and ability to do the job, which reduced her to tears.
Pye, former head of public sector delivery at the Disability Rights Commission, was speaking at a joint meeting of the all party parliamentary disability group (APPDG) and other related groups on disabled people’s access to elected office.
The meeting followed February’s publication of a government strategy on the issue.
David Buxton, a Liberal Democrat councillor with Epsom and Ewell council in Surrey, and a Deaf British Sign Language (BSL)-user, said he could no longer afford to seek selection as a parliamentary candidate because of the cost of interpreters.
His last attempt cost £5,000 in interpreters’ fees, which would have reached £20,000 if he had not found interpreters willing to volunteer.
Baroness Brinton, the Liberal Democrat peer, told the meeting that her party’s spring conference had just approved a new leadership programme for outstanding candidates from under-represented groups.
The programme will offer mentoring, training, shadowing MPs and money to overcome access barriers by funding adjustments such as taxis and BSL-interpreters. She said 10 per cent of those selected would be disabled people.
“Priority” parliamentary seats will have to shortlist at least two candidates from the programme, which she said would give disabled people “a real chance of winning elections”.
Baroness Warsi, the Conservative party’s co-chairman, said there was a need to “create a level playing-field” but the “fundamental change” needed was to “people’s attitudes”, while candidates should not be compensated “because they are disabled”.
Fiona Mactaggart, the shadow equalities minister, who has a long-term health condition, backed funding for disabled candidates because of the extra costs they face.
She added: “If you have a parliament that doesn’t reflect the diversity of the British public then the confidence in democracy is diminished.”
Anne McGuire, the co-chair of the APPDG and a former Labour minister for disabled people, who also has a long-term health condition, said: “We need to raise our game. It is still not good enough. People are facing too many barriers.”
The government’s £1 million-a-year package of proposals includes a new Access to Elected Office Fund to help disabled people meet the extra disability-related costs of running for office, plans to change attitudes about disabled politicians among the public and political parties, a network of disabled MPs and councillors to act as role models, and new training opportunities for disabled candidates.
A consultation on the proposals ends on 11 May.
New generation calls for opportunities within disability movement
Young disabled leaders and campaigners have appealed to the disability movement to do more to welcome younger people into its organisations.
They were speaking at a conference organised by the Disability LIB alliance, which was set up to build the capacity of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs).
Lucia Bellini, who has worked with the charity VSO as a capacity-builder for DPOs in Guyana, said: “Organisations need to be open and also they should value the skills that young disabled people have to offer.”
She said many established DPOs were “happy to use the same people that they have used for the last 10-15 years and are not open to change that and give new and young people the opportunities to grow”.
Gerry Hart, a member of Darlington Association on Disability’s (DAD) Young Leaders group, told the Building Our Future conference in Birmingham that creating the group had allowed young disabled people to “have a greater amount of influence” within DAD.
He said: “We are not a day centre kind of thing for poor little kids with little impairments. We are a pressure group to help ensure young disabled people and young people as a whole get their voice heard in Darlington without the council ignoring us.”
Anthony Ford, an intern with RADAR, who is involved with planning the 11 May disabled people’s Hardest Hit protest against the cuts, said DPOs needed to be “more welcoming” and more open to the ideas of young disabled people.
He said: “I think what we need to do is very simple: protest, campaign, see your MP, whatever you can do. Stand up for your rights. Don’t let other people tell you what you need.”
Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of the UK Disabled People’s Council, a member of the Disability LIB alliance, said he had been working in the disability sector for many years and had led local DPOs and had always struggled to involve young disabled people.
He said he had been inspired by hearing the young disabled speakers, who showed there was “a future and a passionate future” for the disability movement.
Andrew Lee, director of People First (Self Advocacy), another Disability LIB member, said he wanted to see young disabled activists becoming MPs and councillors.
And he appealed to them to ask themselves “what you can do now on the streets, what you can do for your disability movement today”, and not to think of themselves as individuals but as “part of a very important movement”.
On Monday 14 March, the All-Party Parliamentary Disability Group (APPDG) will host a meeting together with the APPGs for Autism, Equalities, Eye Health and Visual Impairment, and Learning Disabilities. Maria Miller MP, Minister for Disabled People, and Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister for Equalities, will attend to talk about the strategy. Other confirmed speakers are Baroness Warsi, co-chair of the Conservative Party, and Marie Pye, Cabinet Councillor in Waltham Forest.
Baroness Campbell and Anne McGuire MP, co-chairs of the APPDG, are keen to put disabled people's priorities for access to elected office to the speakers and ask them to respond. So they want to know: what are disabled people's top 3 priorities for action.
If you email Marije at Radar campaigns@radar.org.uk (or fax 0870 141 0337, or write to RADAR, 12 City Forum, 250 City Road, London EC1V 8AF) we will put your top priorities into a briefing for that meeting so the ministers can respond. We would be very grateful if you could respond by Thursday 3 March. When responding, please let us know if we can quote from your response and if so, whether you prefer to remain anonymous or we can use your name.
We'll also use your responses to shape Radar’s response to the consultation.
Monday 14 March – 17:15-18:15
Houses of Parliament, Lords Committee Room 4a
RSVP to campaigns@radar.org.uk.
- For directions to the Houses of Parliament, click here. Once you clear security you will be directed into Westminster Hall. Officers will be able to show you the way to the Committee Corridors.
- Please bring a copy of this notice.
- Speech-to-text reporting is available. Please inform us ASAP if you wish to use BSL/English interpreters.