This is the British Council of Disabled Peoples' Manifesto. It was written in April 2005. The title is "The voice of disabled people still fighting for full rights" In the build-up to the forthcoming General Election, BCODP wants to highlight the key political issues facing Disabled People in Britain today. BCODP MANIFESTO Section Titles and Numbers Section 1 - Introduction Section 2 - The Social Model of Disability Section 3 - Human Rights Section 4 - Independent Living and Housing Section 5 - Where disabled people live Section 6 - Benefits Section 7 - Education Section 8 - Transport Section 9 - Putting money into communities Section 10 - Hate crime Section 11 - Full access to everything Section 12 - Training and work Section 13 - Right to life and attitudes towards disabled people Section 14 - Healthcare services Section 15 - Single equality commission Section 16 - About BCODP References: Hate Crime - Mencap - Living in Fear by Mencap 1999. DRC Scotland - Hate crime against Disabled People Report 2004. Regeneration and Disability - Women's Design Service - Disability and Regeneration 2004. Contacts for further information: BCODP - Campaigns, Press and Parliamentary Officer - Simone Aspis Tel: 020 8459 2998. Email: simone@disabilityissues.freeserve.co.uk Her mobile telephone number is: 07 77 85 69 053 BCODP Office - Telephone 01332 295551 The BCODP Acting Chair is Anne Pridmore The BCODP Vice Chairs are Janet Seymour Kirk and Roy Webb If you require this document in alternative formats please contact Jayne Foulds our Transcriptions Officer by email: jaynef@bcodp.org.uk or by telephone at the BCODP telephone number, 0133 22 95 551. BCODP MANIFESTO Section One - Introduction There are 11 million disabled people in Britain today. That is a quarter of, or one in four, adults. In the run up to the General Election (May 2005) BCODP wants to bring attention to the main issues that face disabled people in Britain today and which the Government voted in could do something about. BCODP stands for British Council of Disabled People. It is the only organisation covering the whole of the UK that is controlled by organisations of disabled people. We have 120 different member organisations run by disabled people, as well as individual members. Over the past 10 years BCODP has been campaigning for laws that fully cover fair treatment for disabled people and make it against the law for disabled people to be treated unfairly in any way. The Disability Discrimination Act and Disability Discrimination Bill came out to make some ways of treating disabled people unfairly against the law. It is still the case that disabled people risk not getting their rights respected to be able to live like other people who are not disabled. Section 2 - The Social Model of Disability. The main points to make things better for disabled people are: The Social Model of Disability. The Social Model of Disability is a way of looking at disability that was put together by disabled people ourselves. The Social Model sees that it is society that holds us back and stops us from taking part the same as other people; society needs to change to get rid of all the barriers that stop us from being included as equals. BCODP calls for: All new laws and plans that come out to be based on the Social Model way of looking at disability. Section 3 - Human Rights. The Human Rights Act is a law that has been passed to look after people's human rights. Human rights are basic rights to be treated like a person. Public bodies are under the control of the Government and paid for out of taxpayers' money, including for example local authorities (sometimes known as local 'Councils') and health services. Under the Human Rights Act, all public bodies have to respect the human rights of disabled people. The European Convention of Human Rights is a standard for respecting human rights that covers countries in Europe. The European Convention for Human Rights includes a right to life and a right to have a private life. These are rights which disabled people in this country do not get, for example: Hospitals can still choose not to give life saving treatment to a person labelled as being 'severely disabled'. Disabled people are put into residential care where they do not get the chance to have a private life. Laws that we have in this country, the benefits system and systems for giving support to disabled people do not give enough choice and control to disabled people. This means they do not get to have full and active lives. BCODP calls for: the Human Rights Act to be put into force more strongly across all public bodies. Full rights backed up in law for disabled people to live independently, have jobs, go to school, college and university, get benefits that meet their needs, get healthcare the same as anyone else. Section 4 - Independent living and housing. Independent Living means disabled people living with the same choice and control over their lives as other people. It also means getting the support to live their lives just like people who are not disabled do. At the moment this is often not the case for disabled people who are not able to make the same decisions and do the same things as other people. Everything takes a lot longer, is more difficult and needs more planning because there is not enough of the right sort of support. Too often disabled people are living in care institutions, which are places away from the rest of the community where people are sent to 'be cared for'. Too often disabled people get support services that do not fit around them and their needs and stop them from having full lives. BCODP calls for local authorities and health services to work together where needed to: give disabled people the chance to be responsible for working out and saying what their own needs are. Services should fit around the needs of individual disabled people and give them support to make decisions and to lead full and active lives, including the chance to have a family - pay for more personal assistance support for people to take part in social activities. (Personal assistance is where a person is paid to do things for you that other people might take for granted, for example getting dressed. Personal assistance should be given under the direction of the disabled person them selves). Give disabled people support that can go with them if they move from an area that comes under one local authority to one that comes under another. More support services that are free for everyone including: direct payments, which are when money is given directly to the disabled person to buy their own support and personal assistance. Adaptations, which are changes to buildings to make them more accessible. Equipment that disabled people need to be able to do things for themselves at home and communication aids. People who give jobs to personal assistants need to have the back up of laws. Services should be fitted around the needs of the individual disabled person to put them in control of their own life. Disabled People should have a right to advocacy, which is backed up in law. Local authorities should seriously aim to cut the numbers of Disabled People living in residential care homes by half in 5 years. The bigger aim should be to get rid of all residential institutions by the year 2020. Improving the life changes of disabled people. What it says in this report called 'Improving Life Chances for Disabled People' under the heading 'Independent Living' to be put into place. The system for how social care is paid for should be looked at and changes made to make sure that disabled people could get the support they need to live full lives. Each local authority should make sure there is an independent advocacy scheme in the local area run by disabled people. Section 5 - Where disabled people live. Most of the time disabled people do not have the chance to live in the same sort of places as other people. This can be because they do not have much money coming in or they are on housing benefit. This means they cannot buy their own place or rent somewhere not owned by the council or housing association. The laws we have at the moment do not say enough about the rights of disabled people to live comfortably in their own homes. BCODP Calls for: disabled people to have the right to choose their own home and have it changed to meet their needs. Disabled People should have the right not to be forced to live in any kind of residential home. There should be a list in all areas of accessible houses and flats. Local organisations of disabled people should do this. All new homes to be built so they meet the standard called 'Lifetimes Homes'. (This is about houses being built so they meet the needs of people of different ages. One out of every ten houses needs to be fully wheelchair accessible.) Disabled people to be able to get adaptations they need to where they live made and paid for quickly. (It should not matter where they live or how much money they have coming in.) Section 6 - Benefits. Disabled people have to pay out more money than other people to cover costs that come from being disabled. These costs can be big and they are a problem for disabled people if they are in work or not. Some disabled people will never be able to take a job. These people should get benefits to pay for everything they need and to make sure they have a life. Disabled people who do take paid work find they are often not that much better off or sometimes are worse off than if they were on benefits. For many disabled people, doing voluntary work (which is work you do not get paid for) is a first step towards getting a job. The cost of living for a disabled person is not fully covered for anyone whether they are in or out of work. BCoDP calls for the following: -there should be a set lowest amount of money that disabled people can have coming in. This amount should be enough to make sure that a disabled person has a fair life. Benefits need to be used to make sure disabled people do not have less than this amount coming in. -the amount that disabled people get in benefits should go up the same amount as the costs of everyday things go up in price. This is called inflation. -the amount that disabled people get in benefits to pay for services that they really need should be worked out without looking at how much money they have coming in or saved. I can work and still get benefits - benefit rules should be changed so that disabled people on benefits can do paid work or unpaid work or do a learning course and not worry about losing their benefits. -disabled people who get income support (which are benefits to make sure they have enough money coming in) should be allowed to save up to buy their own mobility aids if they want. (Mobility aids are equipment to allow you to get about like a wheelchair or crutches). -there should not be an age limit on when disabled people are said to be too old to get benefits that are to cover the costs of being disabled. Section 7 - Education Disabled children should be able to go to school with children who are not disabled (non-disabled). Young disabled people who are in mainstream schools, which means schools that are for anyone, feel better about themselves than children who are in special schools that are just for disabled people. In mainstream schools disabled children can learn about being members of society and being citizens. (Citizens have responsibilities as members of society for example voting and following laws). For society to fully include disabled people, we need to make sure that disabled and non-disabled people get used to being together from school age. Through learning and playing together, children learn how to be together, and how to meet each other's needs and wants. Laws have come out to give disabled children the right to go to mainstream schools. These have not made a difference by bringing down the numbers of disabled children in special schools. Inclusive education is schooling that is for everyone, learning all together. The school system needs to value what each person can do. It is not right that at the last count in 2004 there were 90,540 disabled children going to special schools. Different children will need different forms of support at different times and the school system needs to meet these support needs in the best ways possible. Too often disabled children are not given chances: -to learn all the different subjects that non-disabled children are -to take part in after school activities -to make friends -to be part of their local community BCoDP calls for: -disabled people to have a right backed up in law to go to a mainstream school with the support they need. -special schools for disabled children to be got rid of by 2020. -disabled people to be able to take exams in a way that meets their needs. Public bodies set exams that give people qualifications. When the Disability Discrimination Bill becomes law, all public bodies will have to make sure they give the same chances to disabled people as to non-disabled people. -work to be done looking into systems of tests and exams that value what each person can do in their own way. - special courses just for disabled people to be got rid of. (At the moment many colleges run courses just for people with learning difficulties). -everyone on courses in college or university to have the support and equipment they need to take part in all the courses and the social life open to everyone else. It should not matter how much the support that is needed will cost. - universities to take into account the different things that disabled students have done when deciding whether to give them a place to study or not. - courses for teachers and tutors to include learning about how to include disabled people and how to treat them fairly. This is instead of only looking at exam results as happens now. Section 8 - Transport Disabled people need public transport that is accessible for them to use. This is so they can go out and take part in society as much as anyone else. Disabled people are much less likely to travel than other people. There are laws that cover making transport accessible but these are not going to make the changes we need fast enough. BCoDP calls for: -all public transport to be accessible by 2017. -anyone responsible for a transport service who gets any taxpayers' money towards it to make everything they do accessible to disabled people. This includes stations. - plans to make things accessible need to be made speaking to disabled people ourselves. -rules to be brought out about making taxis accessible to disabled people. This needs to be the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Transport, who is the person in the Government responsible for transport. -boats and aeroplanes to be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act so that these forms of travel are accessible to disabled people. - local authorities to make pedestrian areas sponsibility.(Pedestrian areas are areas where cars cannot go so that people have more room to walk.) -new houses to be built with transport links in mind so that disabled people can live close enough to use public transport. Section 9 - Putting money into communities The Government has spent millions of pounds trying to make our communities and services better. Disabled people have often been left out of the planning of these projects. Projects that look at redesigning and rebuilding areas so they better meet the needs of the community are called Public Procurement Projects. They are a good chance to look at how to make things more accessible for disabled people so that we can take a bigger part in the community. These projects also give chances for disabled people to be involved in paid and unpaid work that comes up through the work of the project. Organisations of disabled people like Centres for Independent Living will support disabled people to be involved in their local community. BCoDP calls for: all Public Procurement Projects to include disabled people from the start right the way through. Disabled people to be on the management boards overseeing the work of these projects with the support that they need to take part. Rules about companies taking on work paid for by the project. These rules must say that all companies involved in the work of the project must have a good equal opportunities policy and must be prepared to work with and find out the views of disabled people in the local community. Funding support for independent organisations of disabled people to keep going. This needs to include both national and local organisations. Section 10 - Hate crime BCODP MANIFESTO Disabled people are more likely to be a victim of crime than non-disabled people. One out of four disabled people has been treated badly on purpose because they are disabled. Types of bad treatment cover anything from being mugged to being bullied and being called names by children on a bus. There are laws that cover hate-crime (which is crime committed against people because they are disabled). These laws do not go far enough to make sure that the people committing the crimes are charged by the police. BCoDP calls for: Police to keep records on hate-crime against disabled people to see how much it is happening. People committing hate-crimes to be arrested and taken to court. Section 11 - Full access to everything For disabled people to take part in community life, we need to: Know what is out there and what is going on. be able to take part in everything that is going on Be able to communicate with others. Be able to get around easily Every day disabled people find they cannot take part in everyday life because: Information is not accessible. We do not get support to communicate. Buildings and places are not accessible. We do not feel comfortable or made welcome in some places BCoDP is calling for: Information in different ways that different people can understand including Braille, on tape and in easy read. Whatever support to communicate that we need. All buildings, streets and open spaces to be accessible including lifts and ramps instead of stairs, colour contrasts to make things easier to see for people who are visually impaired and hearing loops for people with hearing impairment. The Government to give jobs to teams of people to go round checking that places are accessible as it says in law that they should be. This is so that it is not just up to disabled people to make sure that places are following the law in being accessible. Section 12 - Training and work Paid and unpaid work gives people a feeling that they have a reason in life. Often disabled people are not given the chance to have paid or unpaid work. This means they do not get the chance to share with other people all the things they can do and are good at as well as their outlook on life. Many disabled people spend years on training courses and doing unpaid work and never get into paid work. Many disabled people want to work doing a range of different things. Under half of those disabled people who want to work are in work. There are big barriers getting in the way of disabled people being able to change who they work for or to go on to get better jobs. There is a big need to make sure that support is given to people who suddenly become disabled so that they can stay in paid work. BCoDP calls for: -more importance to be given to getting disabled people into and supporting them in paid work. -disabled people should have the same chances as non-disabled people to change who they work for. They should get support as a person who wants to work and not as a person in one particular job The Government's Access to Work Scheme to be given enough money so it can pay for all the support a disabled person needs to be in work and to make sure support and equipment which people need gets to them quickly. More people to find out about Access to Work including employers and disabled people. Access to Work rules to be looked at so that all disabled people have a right to support without any cost to the employer. Jobs to be fitted around how an individual needs to work including job-sharing, working times and fitting work around hospital appointments. Training courses that are directly to do with paid work to be offered to disabled people and made accessible to them. I wish I could stay in this job. . disability leave to be brought in. This is for people who suddenly become disabled or whose impairment changes so that they cannot carry on in the same way as before. People who are sacked unfairly to be allowed to go back to their jobs if they want. Disability leave would be paid leave giving a person time to recover or get used to what has happened with a right to go back to work. rules around the benefits that disabled people get to be changed so they do not put disabled people off going into paid work. Section 13 - Right to life and attitudes toward disabled people Some scientists do work looking at what makes a person disabled from a medical model point of view. This means looking at what it is about a disabled person's body or brain that makes them different from what the scientists count as 'normal'. One thing they look at is how you can tell if a baby is going to be different from what they count as 'normal' before it is born. There are rules around what sort of things scientists can do to look into this question and what doctors can do with what the scientists find out. Rules about what is right or wrong for scientists and doctors to do shapes the whole way that society views what it means to be human and what value life has. For example, tests into certain impairments build up an idea that people with these impairments are different and not normal. The idea that parents would want to be able to test to make sure they were not going to have a baby with a certain impairment suggests that there is something wrong with people with that impairment. If there is something wrong with a person then they are not as valuable as other people. The idea that parents can stop a baby from being born because it will be born with a certain impairment means that people with that impairment have less right to life than other people. These kind of ideas shape society's attitudes towards disabled people. BCoDP supports the work that scientists do looking at how to give disabled people a better life through different kinds of healthcare. At the same time, BCoDP feels it is very important that strong laws are put in place to stop the lives of disabled people being made less valuable. BCoDP calls for: Laws to be brought out that will stop any tests being done to work out if babies will be born to be disabled. Disabled people not to be allowed to die if they could be saved. Keep this person alive At present this is allowed to happen through notices such as the 'Do Not Resuscitate' notice, which means that if a person's heart stops, doctors and nurses should not do anything to try to restart it. The idea behind this is that a disabled person's life might be so bad it is not worth keeping them alive. 'Do Not Resuscitate' This encourages a negative view of disability. Until disabled people have the chance to live the same as non-disabled people, these notices should not be allowed. The Abortion Act to be reviewed. BCoDP supports a woman's right to choose if she wants to have a baby or not. At the moment the law is different for babies who will be born to be disabled and babies who will not. The law around when and why a woman can end an pregnancy should be changed so that the rules are the same for if a baby will be born to be disabled or not. Before a baby is born,parents should be put in touch with disabled people and their organisations so they can find out about support services for disabled babies and their families. Section 14 - Healthcare services As a result, disabled people end up without an equal right to life. The National Health Service does not have enough money or staff to properly meet the needs of all the people who need healthcare. Disabled people are more likely to die earlier than non-disabled people even when they have the same illness. The Disability Rights Commission is looking into ways that disabled people might be treated unfairly when they try to use health services. BCoDP calls for: Disabled people to have the same chance to get all the same treatments that non-disabled people can get. Nothing to be done to disabled people without their say-so, unless it is life saving treatment. One example is when disabled wom en are made to have operations to stop them from being able to have babies against their will. New treatments not to be tested on disabled people without their say-so, unless it is life saving. Disabled people who are in emotional distress to be able to get counselling, advocacy and other therapies in places that are right for them, instead of just being given drugs. Independent advocacy and information to be available to disabled people when they are thinking about different healthcare treatments. Disabled people to be able to get a larger range of wheelchairs and other equipment to help them get about. Disability equality training for doctors. Healthcare staff to get training in disability equality Section 15 - Single Equalities Commission At the moment there are different organisations called 'Commissions' set up to look after the rights of: Women.People from black and minority ethnic groups. Disabled people. The Government plans for all of these to become part of one big commission that will be responsible for making sure that everyone in society is treated fairly and has rights. This big Commission will be called the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR). BCoDP thinks that this should not happen unless there is a law put in place around the setting up of the Commission. This law would make sure that the interests of disabled people are not overlooked after the Disability Rights Commission is replaced by this one big Commission. BCoDP calls for: The new Commission to have powers to bring cases against people or organisations who have treated disabled individuals or groups of disabled people unfairly. Money to be available for disabled people who want to talk to legal professionals when they have been treated unfairly and are thinking about taking action. There to be more than one disabled Commissioner on the CEHR. (Commissioners are a board of people like a committee set up to oversee the work of a Commission.) Enough money to be available for the new Commission to properly do all the work it is meant to. Enough money to be available to fund organisations run by and for disabled people to be involved in the work of the new Commission. These should be both local and national groups. A sub committee looking at just disability issues to be run for 10 years instead of the 5 as planned. Section 16 - About BCODP BCoDP started up in 1981, which was the International Year of Disabled People. It came about because disabled people were so angry about the terrible unfair treatment they faced day in and day out. BCoDP has made bigger the number of organisations who make up its membership. 120 organisations run by disabled people with different impairments are now members. These include groups of people with learning difficulties, people who got through the mental health system, people living with AID's or Autism. BCoDP can speak as a representative of disabled people because of this wide membership. Good things that BCoDP has done: campaigned for the Disability Discrimination Bill during 2005. Got British Sign Language counted as an official language in 2004. From 2002 gave input into the Government's report on 'Improving Life Chances for Disabled People'. As part of the Government's committee organising for the European Year of Disabled People in 2002. From 1998, campaigned for a Disability Rights Commission with the power to bring legal cases on behalf of disabled people. From 1998 was part of a national project which for the first time looked at how to include black disabled people. From 1996 was on the Government's Disability Task Force which checked how the Disability Discrimination Act was being put into place and gave ideas for new laws. Most of these ideas have been included in the new Disability Discrimination Bill. Set up and funded the National Centre for Independent Living which has become the leading organisation giving information and support to local centres for independent living from 1997. This gave disabled people the right to buy in their own support to live independently. Ran a national campaign which in 1996 resulted in the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act. Campaigned for all new social housing to be built so that it is accessible to disabled people. Social housing is housing that is owned by councils and housing associations, for people to live in, who do not have enough money to buy or privately rent their own place. This resulted in rules around 'Life Time Homes' being set by the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. Was a member of the Government's Disability Task Force which led to the Disabled Person's (Services and Representation) Act in 1997. From 1981 campaigned to bring down the levels of poverty faced by disabled people caused by different disability benefits that had been brought in. (Poverty is when a person does not have enough money coming in to meet their basic needs ). From 1981, campaigned to get local authorities and services to work from the social model of disability point of view. For further copies can be downloaded from our website www.bcodp.org.uk or for other accessible formats please contact: BCODP, Litchurch Plaza, Litchurch Lane, Derby DE24 8AA Telephone: 01332 295551 Fax: 01332 295580 Minicom: 01332 295581 Email: general@bcodp.org.uk