Government Disability Action Plan – Our Reaction

Date posted: 6th February 2024

Today, the UK Government has launched its new Disability Action Plan setting out its plans to improve the lives of people with disabilities. A national consultation on the plan in the summer of 2023 received over 1,300 responses from disabled people and organisations representing disabled people.

Thomas Pocklington Trust welcomes the publication of the plan but we remain concerned about the scale of ambition and scope for the proposed actions. Mike Bell, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns at Thomas Pocklington Trust, said:

“The Government is strong on ambition but less impressive on delivery. We welcome the positive ideas in the Disability Action Plan, but it is long-term change that is required. Many of the proposals in the plan simply commit the Government to further consideration or investigation when what we need is immediate solutions.

“We are particularly disappointed that the Disability Action Plan says little to nothing about critical issues affecting the lives of blind and partially sighted people including the accessibility of transport, the built environment and health services. We will be pushing for more on all these in the coming months.”

The published plan sets out 32 actions, across 14 different areas:

• 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

 

Thomas Pocklington Trust will continue to engage with the Minister for Disabled People, as lead for the Disability Action Plan, to secure further improvements and raise awareness of the policy priorities of blind and partially sighted people.

Read more on our priorities.