Disability Action Plan 2023-2024
Disability Action Plan 2023-2024
At the end of July 2023, the Government published its proposed Disability Action Plan.
Their ambitious aim is to make this country ‘The most accessible place in the world for disabled people to live, work and thrive.’ This plan sets out the immediate action the government is taking towards this goal as well as laying out the planned steps towards longer term change in the future.
Wanting to discover if people living with disabilities across the UK agree with their vision, they are now seeking our views and experiences to shape the final plan. The government invites the public to respond to some key questions about the Action Plan in open consultation running for 12 weeks.
SMA UK have collated the views and experiences from the SMA Community which have contributed to our response. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this important piece of work.
You can read our response here
You can read the whole consultation document here.
On the 5th February 2024, after considering all the submissions, the final action plan was published.
Proposals in the consultation
The Disability Action Plan 2023 to 2024: consultation document described:
- work already underway or completed across government over the last 12 months
- planned work in each government department in the next 18 months and beyond
The consultation then asked for views on 12 proposed areas for action led or co-ordinated by the Disability Unit (DU), part of the Cabinet Office. DU was set up to work across government to break down the barriers faced by disabled people in the UK.
Proposals in the consultation document were grouped into 4 broad categories:
- improving disability inclusion in existing government policies
- new actions focused on the specific needs of disabled people
- improving cross-government collaboration
- strengthening the evidence base
Finally, the consultation asked 2 more questions. The first was about people’s views on the plan as a whole. The second asked what else the government could do to make a positive difference to the lives of disabled people.
Main themes in people’s feedback
The following 7 themes ran through many people’s responses to the consultation. We have amended our proposals in line with these themes wherever possible:
- policies should be informed by disabled people’s experiences
- clear, measurable actions are needed, with clear accountability
- consideration of disabled people’s financial circumstances and the cost of living • sufficient funding for specific actions
- ensure the inclusion of all disabled people
- improved and accessible communications about government services and resources
- equality of opportunity for disabled and non-disabled people
Areas of action
This chapter sets out 32 actions, across 14 different areas. The government will take these forward with disabled people, their organisations, and other government departments and public service providers.
The consultation findings have helped us to shape these actions. We have revised or removed some of the proposals in the consultation, and added several new proposals.
As a result, the government is committed to working with disabled people, their organisations and other partners in the coming year to:
- Support disabled people who want to be elected to public office
- Include disabled people’s needs in emergency and resilience planning
- Include disabled people’s needs in climate-related policies
- Improve information and outcomes for families in which someone is disabled
- Make playgrounds more accessible
- Help businesses understand the needs of and deliver improvements for disabled people
- Explore if the UK could host the Special Olympics World Summer Games
- Support people who have guide and assistance dogs
- Help the government measure how effective its policies and services are for disabled people
- Research issues facing disabled people in the future
- Make government publications and communications more accessible
- Improve understanding of the cost of living for disabled people
- Promote better understanding of the UNCRPD across government
- Monitor and report progress of the Disability Action Plan
Disability Action Plan Summary
Within the first section of the Disability Action Plan, each Government department lays out the current work in progress and their future goals. Focusing on the goals, we have summarised the key actions which might impact people living with SMA.
Actions outlined will only be implemented in the countries where devolution agreements state that the UK government retains ownership of the issue:
Government Digital Service (GDS) to further improve accessibility by.
- broadening the range of options that can be used to help users prove their identity.
- expanding the choice of account authentication methods.
- increasing the number of Civil Service organisations signed up to the Disability Confident employer scheme.
- improving IT and accessibility for disabled civil servants, so they know what tools are available and where to find them.
- Promote UK businesses with expertise in the areas of assistive technology and inclusive design on an international level and use this promotion to Grow the UK’s disability-related industries.
- Support the Carer’s Leave Act. This new employment right will provide eligible employees with up to 1 week of unpaid leave during any 12 months, available to take flexibly in individual or half days.
- Continue to work with disability representative organisations on the right to request flexible working, with legislative changes coming into effect in 2024.
- Launch a free, UK-wide arts access scheme by early 2024. This will provide ways of booking that are responsive to people’s individual circumstances and needs across all arts and cultural venues.
- Continue to work with the tourism sector to promote the importance of accessible tourism in the media and to businesses.
- Develop the next steps following the National Accessible Scheme review, which has historically rated tourist accommodation based on its suitability for guests with accessibility requirements.
Provide £14.5 million in funding for the ‘Access for All’ programme in the Environmental Improvement Plan. This aims to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive.
- Increase special school and alternative provision capacity.
- See more children and young people to have their needs met effectively in mainstream settings.
- Improve the Disabled Students’ Allowance process, working with the Student Loans Company to reduce the waiting time for support to be agreed
- Invest £18 million into the Supported Internship programme, aiming to double the number of supported internship places by 2025, from around 2,500 to around 5,000.
- Continue to support the Department for Work and Pensions’ Adjustments Passport pilot to smooth the transition into employment.
- Create a new National SEND and Alternative Provision Implementation Board made up from parents, sector leaders in education, health, care and local and national government.
- Develop the Families First for Children Pathfinders scheme. Central to this will be developing a supportive, non-stigmatising service tailored to meet the needs of children and families, including disabled children.
- Develop and test different disability inclusive approaches, including encouraging more flexible, tailored approaches to assessment for disabled children.
- Extend the Great British Insulation Scheme to help to a broader range of households in the least efficient homes in the lower council tax bands.
- Launch the Inclusive Smart Solutions Innovation Competition, to improve access to, purchase and use of smart energy technologies, products and services among low income and vulnerable consumers.
- Discuss energy support needs with stakeholders, including organisations representing disabled people. These discussions will consider how best to support disabled people and families with disabled children, including those with medical equipment in the home, with their energy costs.
- Launch a new Care Workforce Pathway for adult social care to support the development and provide a career structure.
- Introduce a new Care Certificate qualification that will, over time, become the new baseline standard for all new care workers.
- Continue to invest in and develop the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), allowing more in England to apply to their local authority to help pay for the cost of home adaptations.
- Continue to subsidise a new supply of specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.
- Develop new guidance on community engagement in planning to help local authorities and other users better engage with their communities.
- Reform the process for producing plans so that it is simpler, faster and easier for communities to engage with - this includes digital engagement to remove barriers to engagement and create a more democratic planning system, with planning decisions and local plans informed by a larger and more diverse range of community views.
- Carry out further research into fire safety in specialised housing and care homes, - separate research into means of escape for disabled people is being finalised.
- Encourage accessibility categories to be added to listings for properties being let or sold on the private market.
- Publish research findings on the size, cost and demand of the supported housing sector and use findings to inform future direction.
- Scope how to update building regulations guidance to improve accessibility and inclusive design for buildings other than homes.
- Continue to make transport more accessible, including through the priorities set out in the 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy.
- Update design standards for train stations in collaboration with an expert working group, to bring new ideas and best practices to the standards. This will include setting out how to make stations more accessible and inclusive.
- Complete the Disabled Persons Railcard (DPRC) review, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Consult on regulatory measures to empower bus drivers to give access to on-board priority spaces, including the statutory wheelchair space, when asked by a disabled passenger.
- Undertake bus and coach user research to better understand how disabled people use buses, coaches, bus stations and stops. The findings from this research will inform future work on bus and coach accessibility regulation.
In Aviation, DfT will:
- work alongside the Disability and Access Ambassador for airports to develop training for ground handling staff on the handling of powered wheelchairs, to be included in the ‘Real Passenger – Real Person’ training package, which is designed to help make travel inclusive and accessible for everyone using passenger transport.
- publish the government response to the Aviation Consumer Policy reform consultation, including next steps on accessibility proposals
- review the Aviation Passenger Charter to consider whether it can be made more effective, including for disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility.
- Reform the benefits system for the future so it focuses on what people can do, rather than on what they cannot.
- Support more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.
- Ensure people can access the right support at the right time and have a better overall experience when applying for and receiving health and disability benefits
- Ensure that people who are able to can progress into or towards work without the worry of being reassessed and losing their benefits.
- Provide personalised Employment Support so that up to 11,000 disabled people with complex needs or barriers who want to work will be supported on the programme by December 2023
- Explore future reforms to Access to Work which aim to deliver an efficient, digital service and improve the support offer for disabled people to enter and remain in work – national information and advice service for employers will provide tailored, online guidance to help with conversations about health and disability in the workplace (service currently being tested).
- Test new initiatives to make it easier to apply for and receive health and disability benefits and improve support, including:
- employment and health discussions, which are led by a healthcare professional and focus on how to help people to overcome their barriers to work.
- the Enhanced Support Service, which will identify people who are most in need of additional help to navigate the benefits system and give them tailored support.
- the Severe Disability Group for people with the most severe health conditions, so they do not need to complete a detailed application form or go through an assessment.
Proposals for new actions led or coordinated by the Disability Unit (DU)
This section of the action plan sets out proposals for new actions led or co-ordinated by the Disability Unit (DU), part of the Cabinet Office. DU was established to work across government to break down the barriers faced by disabled people in the UK. The DU are asking specific questions relating to these areas:
DU wants to make it as easy as possible for local authorities to make the playgrounds they build or refurbish, accessible for disabled children.
A lot of guidance is available on accessible playgrounds, but it comes from many different sources and can be difficult to find, as it is not currently available in one place.
DU is proposing to address this by creating an GOV.UK online hub of accessible playground guidance. The hub would bring together existing guidance, making it as easy as possible for local authorities to achieve their ambition for more accessible playgrounds. DU would work with key partners, including disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), to raise awareness among local authorities.
DU will also explore whether the government should make it mandatory for playground refurbishment to meet existing accessible playground guidance standards.
Disabled people are underrepresented in political and public life It is important that people in elected roles are representative of the people and communities that they serve. It is also important that disabled people can see themselves represented at the highest levels of public life.
The extra costs associated with disability are a significant barrier for some candidates and potential candidates to elected office. This has been supplemented with government funds in the past – for example, through the Access to Elected Office Fund. While such funds gave valuable support to some disabled candidates, it is recognised that they could have been more effective and that longer-term solutions are needed.
DU is proposing to review past and present funding to support disabled candidates into elected office. This review would involve working across parties, and could include setting up a cross-party steering group.
While funding can be an important barrier to some disabled people interested in elected office, it is not the only barrier. DU is proposing to set up a GOV.UK webpage providing guidance and signposting support such as training. DU is also interested to know what more government and other key players might do to support disabled people into elected office.
Research shows that disabled people can experience emergency situations differently to non-disabled people. In response to emergencies like the Covid pandemic, disabled people have expressed increasing concerns about local and national government developing emergency and resilience plans that are not disability inclusive enough.
The way that disabled people rely on national infrastructure or are affected by emergencies may be different and have different or more severe consequences than for non-disabled people. For example, a power outage for a disabled person who relies on life-preserving electrical equipment could put them in a life-or-death situation. This is a crucial consideration when planning for the possibility of power outages.
DU proposes to work with relevant policy teams across government and other relevant partners to ensure stronger engagement with disabled people in resilience and emergency planning. This will help to magnify disabled people’s voices and the experiences of disabled people, and support more disability-inclusive policy making.
Climate adaptations are actions taken to adapt to climate change. Climate mitigations are actions taken to change how we do things to prevent or reduce our impact on climate change. It is important that these policies are designed to be disability-inclusive by both local and national governments.
DU is aware from its work in the UK and abroad that this is of increasing interest to many disabled people in the UK, because of the increasing impact on their daily lives. For example, the introduction of Clean Air Zones has led to some disabled people reporting increased exclusion from some city centres.
Research in this area is often focused on climate change and health, rather than disability.
Disabled people’s organisations working in the UK and internationally are increasingly highlighting the need for action. DU is proposing to lead work across government to support climate adaptations and mitigations that are disability inclusive.
This work would include a high-profile conference on climate adaptation and disability. The conference would encourage disabled people, academics and policymakers to share their knowledge
DU is interested in hearing about any other specific climate adaptations and mitigations disabled people think would benefit from more disability inclusive approaches.
New actions focused on the specific needs of disabled people
DU is proposing to develop a Disability Enabled Badge to encourage businesses and services to train their staff in disability awareness. Disabled people deserve to have increased confidence that their needs will be considered and to reduce the experience of being unable to access a business or service due to accessibility issues.
The Disability Confident scheme has had success in supporting employers to become more disability inclusive. The ‘Disability Enabled Badge’ would aim to replicate this for businesses and services, improving the experience of disabled people as they shop and access leisure, cultural, statutory and other services.
It does not seek to compete with specialist, condition or impairment related training provided by disabled people’s organisations. DU would engage with disabled people and interested existing providers offering similar training packages as part of the development of this scheme to ensure the experiences of disabled people are reflected throughout.
This action is at an early stage of development. DU is proposing to run a pilot in 5 sectors in spring 2024 to test the action’s viability. They are still determining how the scheme would work, but it is likely that businesses and services who sign up would undergo training and receive a ‘Disability Enabled Badge’ once a certain proportion of front-facing staff have been trained. This badge could be used publicly by businesses – including in their own branding – to increase confidence among their disabled customers.
If the pilot is successful, training would be provided by an external provider. This scheme would be voluntary, with training paid for by the businesses and services that choose to participate. The increased Purple Pound spend would hopefully cover the cost to businesses of doing so.
The government wants to make the UK the most accessible place in the world to live and work with technology, as part of its wider vision of transforming the lives of disabled people.
Assistive technology covers a wide range of products and adaptations which can help a disabled person navigate and participate in a world that is not always designed with their needs in mind. ‘Low tech’ assistive technology can include items like ramps or modified can openers. ‘High tech’ assistive technology can include voice-activated systems that control areas of the home or cochlear implants. Assistive technology is key to enabling independence, greater inclusion and participation for disabled people.
In recent research, 31% of disabled people reported not having the assistive technology products they needed to thrive – or even participate – in daily life. 45% of respondents stated that they do not have assistive technology because they ‘cannot afford’ it.
DU is proposing to address this by:
- raising the profile of assistive technology within government and appointing a senior assistive technology champion
- enhancing the knowledge and skills of civil servants and other public sector service delivery staff
An assistive and accessible technology champion’s role would be to raise awareness of assistive technology across government. Technology touches every aspect of our lives. No single department can own this agenda, and the role of the assistive technology champion would be to work across government. The assistive technology champion would be a senior role, and could be an external appointee or part of a ministerial role.
These proposed short-term actions to raise understanding and awareness of assistive technology within government would contribute to a longer-term goal of increasing disabled people’s knowledge of the assistive technology available and how to access it. The government can only support and advise disabled people to access assistive technology if it has up-to-date knowledge of the field itself.
Improving the wellbeing and opportunities of disabled children is a very broad area, with work spanning different government departments. DU is proposing to lead work across government to improve disabled children’s wellbeing and opportunities, setting them up to live fulfilling lives and to reach their potential.
To achieve this, DU proposes establishing a cross-government task force focused on maximising disabled children’s wellbeing and opportunities. This group would bring key departments together to ensure that support and services delivered across government work well together, making improvements where possible. The group will actively consider the different challenges faced by children with different impairment types.
DU recently commissioned the Children’s Commissioner to undertake research into the experiences of disabled children. This report, due to be published in summer 2023, identifies a number of areas of importance that DU proposes should be the focus of the task force. These are:
- transitions to adulthood
- accessibility of public spaces and transport
- bullying, personal safety and the impact on wellbeing
- earlier identification of need and support for families
There is very little evidence on the experiences of disabled parents. DU wants to use this listening stage to learn more about these experiences, and then take steps to address them. DU is proposing to explore the challenges faced by disabled parents, and to establish a task force to consider and implement the findings.
DU’s initial research has highlighted 3 areas where more work is needed:
- accessibility issues in parenting support from health and care services provided to disabled parents.
- difficulties experienced within the family courts and child protection.
- domestic abuse, since disabled people are more than twice as likely to have experienced this than non-disabled people.
DU’s work will build on this initial evidence gathering and stakeholder engagement throughout the consultation process to establish the focus of the task force. The task force will consider the findings, and will be expected to act on them within 2023 to 2024.
Support for disabled parents spans the work of multiple departments, and the task force would reflect this in its membership.
The Life Opportunities Survey, looked at the experiences of disabled and non-disabled people in areas including work, education, social participation and use of transportation and public services. Since this survey ended in 2014, there has been no regular and robust government data on a broad range of issues affecting disabled people.
Government evidence and evaluation of disabled people usually focus on outcomes – the final result of a policy area or service, such as employment or a degree. While useful in certain contexts, this information does not give the complete picture of the impacts on disabled people or the barriers they face. It is also not routinely collected in a way that allows broad comparisons to be made. The wider disability evidence landscape is patchy, and does not provide the evidence necessary to develop and assess policies and services effectively.
DU is proposing to:
- develop a cross-government disability evidence and data improvement programme.
- explore ways to measure how effective policies and services across government are and if they really do impact the things that matter to disabled people.
DU will also work with other government departments to:
- review existing data and improve consistency across government.
- establish an experiences of disabled people panel and a cross-government working group.
An essential principle of inclusive design is to build in inclusivity from the start, rather than add it on later in the design process. For disabled people, this means designing policies and services that are accessible and promote inclusion rather than creating barriers and exclusion. Doing this effectively requires knowledge of emerging issues that will affect disabled people.
DU is proposing to commission research to better understand emerging issues and evolving priorities for disabled people in the next 5, 10 and 20 years. Foresight research aims to help policy makers better understand the uncertainties of the future and to explore possible futures, allowing policy makers to predict and plan for different possible future scenarios.