gI realise that this statement does not directly talk about the Welsh Independent Living Grant, but the general tone and feel of this statement is extremely Tory-like. It is very disheartening and worrying that a statement about independent living talks about getting disabled people in to work. This is a noble aspiration, but it fails to recognise that not all disabled people are able to work. What happens to disabled people with high care and support needs? Is their right to independent living dependent on their ability to work?
I am too angry at the moment to write coherently, so I will just let you read the statement provided by the Welsh Government so that you can make up your own minds.
‘ARBEIT MACHT FREI’ …
STATEMENT
BY
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT
|
TITLE
|
Action on Disability: the Right to Independent Living
|
|
DATE
|
16 October 2018
|
|
BY
|
Julie James AM, Leader of the House and Chief Whip.
|
The Welsh Government is committed to helping disabled people to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions and dreams. This is no easy task, because it requires us to work hard to remove barriers which get in the way of such ambitions.
This includes physical obstacles, whether in buildings, towns or countryside, but it also includes hurdles and blockages created by organisations and people’s attitudes. Disabled people tell us time and again these are the barriers which most frustrate them and stop them living the lives they want, more than any limitations of their own bodies.
The 2017-18 National Survey for Wales data demonstrates that life satisfaction was generally lower for people with a disability or limiting long-standing illness than for those without. The mean score for those without a disability is 8 out of 10, but only 7.2 for disabled people.
Tackling these challenges requires real partnership working. In particular, we know we will make more progress and achieve better results if we work with disabled people, so we understand the issues properly and find solutions which work.
Next week, we will be publishing our new framework and action plan entitled ‘Action on Disability: The Right to Independent Living’. This document replaces our previous “Framework for Action on Independent Living” which was published by the Welsh Government in 2013.
The new framework has been developed as a result of a great deal of engagement over nearly two years with disabled people and the organisations that represent them. The work has been undertaken in workshops up and down Wales, by small groups of people with expertise and experience of a wide range of disabilities, through hundreds of emails, letters and phone calls and through conversations in homes, workplaces, schools and communities.
Our new Framework sets out how we are fulfilling our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It also highlights the role of key legislation including the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and Welsh Government’s national strategy: Prosperity for All. Underlying the whole Framework is the “Social Model of Disability”, the approach which recognises the need for society to be transformed, removing barriers so that disabled people are able to participate fully.
The new Framework focuses on key issues identified by disabled people and Welsh Government’s own priorities. Often these are one and the same, for example the need to help disabled people who are unemployed and want to work to find jobs.
75,000 disabled people in Wales are either actively seeking work or would like to work. Too often they are being held back by barriers beyond their control, such as organisational systems and other people’s attitudes as well as physical and environmental barriers.
Just 45% of working age disabled people in Wales are currently in employment, compared to 80% of those not disabled. This is a shocking “disability employment gap” of 35 percentage points.
To address this the Welsh Government is working in close partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, disabled people and their representative bodies to better understand existing barriers to employment and crucially, the actions needed to deliver real change.
Many of the commitments set out in our Employability Plan are aimed at tackling this disability employment gap.
We will work with partners to address the issues, including employer attitudes, job design and working practices.
We will publish a target on employment and disability by the end of the year, to underline our commitment to this agenda.
Having focussed for a few minutes on employment, let me also acknowledge this is not the only – or even the main – issue for every disabled person. We know action is needed across a wide front, and the new action plan will reflect this.
Whatever the issues being discussed, disabled people have told us that local action is crucial. So our new Framework is designed to strongly encourage Welsh Public Services, employers and organisations at every level to take note of the commitments set out in the Framework and emulate them as far as possible.
When it is published next week, you will see that the structure of the Framework is new, with the main document setting out the principles, legal context and commitments which underpin all our work with and for disabled people. This is accompanied by an Action Plan which highlights the main actions currently being undertaken or led by Welsh Government. The Framework will be available in a variety of accessible versions.
I want to thank everybody who has helped in this process, and especially the Steering Group who have overseen it, led by Disability Wales.
I would also like to thank, in particular, the children and young people who have contributed to the making of the Framework. They have helped to ensure that our approach is the right one for all ages, and fit for the future.
Supporting people to live their lives in the way that they choose is the right thing to do. I commend this Framework to encourage action with and for disabled people across the whole of Wales.
Check against delivery
Embargoed until after Julie James AM, Leader of the House and Chief Whip
has delivered the statement.
