Just over a year ago, to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the government announced that a new Disability Action Plan was to be developed, setting out the immediate actions the government would take in 2023 and 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives.
A consultation, which ran from July to October 2023, asked for views on 12 proposed areas for action led or co-ordinated by the Disability Unit (DU), part of the Cabinet Office. The government received 1300 responses to the consultation, these responses were grouped in themes, with the proposed action plan being amended, where possible, to align with these themes. The main themes were as follows:
- 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
In February 2024, the government published its final Disability Action plan. The Disability Action Plan sits alongside the National Disability Strategy which sets out the government’s long-term vision to transform disabled people’s lives for the better. The final Disability Action Plan comprises 32 actions, across 14 different areas.
The 14 different areas of action are:
01: Support disabled people who want to be elected to public office
02: Include disabled people’s needs in emergency and resilience planning
03: Include disabled people’s needs in climate-related policies
04: Improve information and outcomes for families in which someone is disabled
05: Make playgrounds more accessible
06: Help businesses to understand the needs and deliver improvements for disabled people
07: Explore if the UK could host the Special Olympics World Summer Games
08: Support people with guide and assistance dogs
09: Help the government measure how effective its policies and services are for disabled people
10: Research issues facing disabled people in the future
11: Make government publications and communications more accessible
12: Improve understanding of the cost of living for disabled people
13: Promote better understanding of the UNCRPD across government (UNCRPD = United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
14: Monitor and report progress of the Disability Action Plan
The government will track progress of the Plan, and publish two updates to Parliament and on GOV.UK after 6 months and 12 months. The full Disability Action Plan is located at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-action-plan