Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 10
First Report - The National Disability Strategy
Published 6 Dec 2023
Paragraph 44
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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 and work closely with them to develop it into a long-term plan for change over which they have ownership.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, First Report - The National Disability Strategy (HC 34), paragraph 44, 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.