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National Disability Strategy

Status: Closed Opened: 26 May 2022 Closed: 30 May 2024 21 recommendations 13 conclusions 5 reports

A Women and Equalities Committee inquiry to scrutinise the implementation and further development of the Government’s National Disability Strategy , which was published in July 2021. Accessibility of products and services to disabled people Read the full report (HTML) Read the EasyRead report on accessibility (PDF 1374KB) Read the large print report on accessibility(PDF 566KB) … Show more

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Reports

5 reports
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixth Report - Inequalities in healthcare and employment fo… HC 134 21 May 2024 14 —
EasyRead Report - Accessibility of products and services to… — 19 Mar 2024 0 —
Fourth Report - Accessibility of products and services to d… HC 605 19 Mar 2024 9 Responded
First Report - The National Disability Strategy HC 34 6 Dec 2023 11 Responded
EasyRead report - The National Disability Strategy — 6 Dec 2023 0 —

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
10 Recommendation First Report - The National Disability … Acknowledged

Engage disabled people meaningfully to develop the National Disability Strategy into a long-term plan.

The National Disability Strategy is a positive step towards ensuring equality for disabled people. The Government now has an opportunity to put it fully into action. However, it needs to listen to the concerns that disabled people and their The National Disability Strategy 21 representative organisations had with the strategy … Read more

Government response AI summary
The Government acknowledges the Committee's inquiry and highlights its views on disabled people's influence, stakeholder engagement, and commitment to the UNCRPD; it states its commitment to the Strategy and the Disability Action Plan.
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Government Equalities Office
11 Conclusion First Report - The National Disability … Acknowledged

Initial report examines disabled people's influence on the National Disability Strategy.

The findings from our inquiry are split into three parts. This report looked at the extent to which disabled people had the opportunity to influence the National Disability Strategy. It focused on the Government’s engagement with stakeholders on disability policymaking. A further two reports will separately examine the inequalities that … Read more

Government response AI summary
The Government is grateful to the Committee for their inquiry into the National Disability Strategy (the Strategy). They highlight the Committee’s views on: how far disabled people influenced the development of the Strategy, the Government’s engagement with stakeholders on disability policy-making and the Government’s commitment …
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Government Equalities Office
1 Conclusion Fourth Report - Accessibility of produc… Acknowledged

Unacceptable delay in government accessibility research for disabled consumers persists

The Disability Action Plan calls on the Disability Unit to publish research into the accessibility of private sector products and services in spring 2024 and to improve its understanding of the barriers disabled consumers face. It is right that policy options should be evidence-based However, despite the hold ups owing … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's point by stating it is still working on and will share its research on the accessibility of private sector products and services, as part of the Disability Action Plan published in February 2024.
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Government Equalities Office

Oral evidence sessions

5 sessions
Date Witnesses
5 Jul 2023 David Nuttall · Department of Health and Social Care, Jennifer Heigham · Department for Work and Pensions, Marcus Bell · Cabinet Office, Maria Caulfield MP · Government Equalities Office, Tom Pursglove MP · Department for Work and Pensions View ↗
17 May 2023 Angela Matthews · Business Disability Forum, Eric Harris · Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, Tammy Jones · Purple, Vivienne Francis · The Royal Institute of Blind People View ↗
26 Apr 2023 Ciara Lawrence · The Royal Mencap Society, George Appleton · Care England, Jackie O'Sullivan · The Royal Mencap Society, Jim Blair, Maya Stretton · National Autistic Society, Tim Nicholls · National Autistic Society View ↗
29 Mar 2023 Fazilet Hadi · Disability Rights UK, Fran Springfield · Chronic Illness Inclusion, Lord Shinkwin · The Centre for Social Justice Disability Commission, Martin McLean · National Deaf Children’s Society, Nil Guzelgun · MIND, Svetlana Kotova · Inclusion London View ↗
22 Feb 2023 Women and Equalities Committee View ↗

Who gave evidence

21 witnesses
WitnessOrganisationSessions
Angela Matthews · Head of Policy and Research Business Disability Forum 1
Ciara Lawrence · Engagement Lead The Royal Mencap Society 1
David Nuttall · Deputy Director of Neurodiversity, Diversity and … Department of Health and Social Care 1
Eric Harris · Director of Inclusive Research Research Institute for Disabled Consumers 1
Fazilet Hadi · Policy Manager Disability Rights UK 1
Fran Springfield · Co-Chair Chronic Illness Inclusion 1
George Appleton · Head of Policy Care England 1
Jackie O'Sullivan · Executive Director of Communications, Advocacy & … The Royal Mencap Society 1
Jennifer Heigham · Deputy Director for Strategy and Briefing for Wor… Department for Work and Pensions 1
Jim Blair — 1
Lord Shinkwin · Chair (2020-2021) The Centre for Social Justice Disability Commission 1
Marcus Bell · Director of the Equality Hub Cabinet Office 1
Maria Caulfield MP · Minister for Women Government Equalities Office 1
Martin McLean · Senior Policy Advisor National Deaf Children’s Society 1
Maya Stretton · Young Ambassador National Autistic Society 1
Nil Guzelgun · Policy and Campaigns Manager MIND 1
Svetlana Kotova · Director of Campaigns and Justice Inclusion London 1
Tammy Jones · Managing Director Purple 1
Tim Nicholls · Head of Influencing and Research National Autistic Society 1
Tom Pursglove MP · Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work Department for Work and Pensions 1
Vivienne Francis · Chief Social Change Officer The Royal Institute of Blind People 1

Correspondence

5 letters
DateDirectionTitle
24 Jan 2024 — Correspondence from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Educati…
6 Sep 2023 To cttee Letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for He…
18 Jul 2023 To cttee Letter from the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work on the N…
18 Jul 2023 To cttee Letter from the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work on the N…
19 Oct 2022 — Correspondence from the then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions relating …