Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Conclusion 7
First Report - The National Disability Strategy
Published 6 Dec 2023
Paragraph 38
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee National Disability Strategy All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The act of appealing the High Court’s judgment on the lawfulness of the National Disability Strategy created many months of uncertainty and frustration for disabled people and their representative organisations. It was unclear why the Government chose to pause 14 policies in the strategy while allowing a hundred others to continue. Failure to update disabled people on those actions that remained ongoing only served to exacerbate confusion and anxiety. The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work—who is charged with oversight of implementing the strategy— should have had a system in place to monitor the actions still in progress and to update disabled people’s organisations and other relevant stakeholders accordingly.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, First Report - The National Disability Strategy (HC 34), paragraph 38, 6 December 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 March 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it remains committed to the National Disability Strategy and the Disability Action Plan, and does not take up the Committee's recommendations to give the Disability Unit the final say on disability policy or to create a new national advisory group.
- On a longer-term strategy, the government says it is "fully committed to delivering the long-term vision in the Strategy" and points to the Disability Action Plan, which sets out immediate actions for 2024.
- On the Disability Unit's role, it says it "would not be appropriate for the DU to have the final say on all disability policy", describing this as a shared responsibility across departments.
- On a national advisory group, it says the recommendation "would effectively replicate the DU's existing stakeholder engagement framework", and describes the existing framework.
- On updating Parliament, it says it "will publish further updates" on the Strategy's commitments alongside its planned report on the Disability Action Plan. On the UN Committee, it says it agreed to take part in a dialogue in March 2024.