Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People
Fourth Advisory Group meeting
The fourth meeting of the Project Advisory Group took place on Thursday
16th September 2004, and was attended by:
Maria Eagle MP, Chair
(Minister, DWP)
Sheila Fletcher , on behalf of Yvette Cooper MP (PUSS, ODPM)
Jane Campbell (Chair, Social Care Institute for Excellence)
Christine Lenehan (Director, Council for Disabled Children)
Bert Massie (Chair, Disability Rights Commission)
Sally Witcher (Chair, Disability Employment Advisory Committee)
Stephen Aldridge (SU)
Bruce Calderwood (DWP)
Gareth Davies (No.10)
Anne Frye (DfT)
Nicholas Holgate (HMT)
Phil Snell (DfES)
Claire Tyler (SEU)
The Group welcomed the direction of the report and the draft
recommendations.
The main points arising from the discussion of the four main chapters -
independent living, early years, transition to adulthood and employment -
were as follows:
>> The independent living chapter was welcomed and should be
fully integrated with the other chapters. The Group welcomed the focus on
Centres for Independent Living and advocacy.
>> There was a discussion that the proposals should be fully
rolled out and not left to isolated pilots. The housing section should be
strengthened.
>> The early years chapter was welcomed. It will important to
factor in early interventions for children with complex needs. Links to
housing should also be brought out. The challenge will be to get local
authorities and PCTs to accept their responsibilities towards disabled
children.
>> Children's issues should also be integrated into
the institutional mechanisms and other chapters.
>> The transition to adulthood chapter is strong on
health, social care, formal education, employment and person-centred
planning but needs more on leisure, relationships and sexual health. There
should be greater clarity about supporting parents, young people and young
people at transition. In addition, the Connexions service is not meeting
the needs of disabled young people and should be reviewed.
>> The employment chapter should highlight the need to change
the approach of employers as well as increasing the employability of
disabled people. The staged approach to employment was welcomed as was the
focus on case managers. Employment targets for disabled people are
challenging because of the range of sub-groups within the population of
disabled people. Access to Work is a valuable programme, especially at
transitions.
>> There should be a promotion of exemplar employers in the
public sector. And implementation should take advantage of the proposed
Public Sector Duty. The report should tie-in with positive work already
happening in the employment sector e.g. BOND, Pathways.
>> In general the report should also take account of
supporting others, such as social workers, along with supporting disabled
people. There will need to be support at a local level for the
recommendations to be fully implemented.
>> There is a gap because the report's remit does not
include older disabled people.
>> Feedback on the process of the project was positive. The
group said that the project had been good at engaging with a range of
different stakeholders and also a range of ideas.
This was the final meeting of the Project Advisory Group.
