Hello everyone, and welcome back to your exciting blog journey through the Ethical Recruitment Solutions movement. We hope you and yours are safe and well Sit back, and enjoy the ride!
This blog will concentrate on the new strategies that charities such as Disability Rights UK, the RNIB and similar have, as well as smaller charities, and new government proposals, though it is important to note that government proposals should be treated with caution. It is one thing proposing strategies, it is another thing entirely seeing them through.
Talking to my friends about the Disability Confidence Scheme, many feel it is just the tip of the iceberg. We need to scratch beneath the surface. At the Ethical Recruitment Solutions (ERS) movement, we have delivered presentations to businesses and education establishments such as Bolton University and Bolton College, Ben from Me to you Support, and Rob Stafford of Rob Stafford and Co.
On reflecting on these and how businesses operate, there does still appear to be reticence about employing a disabled person. Why is this so now in 21st century Britain?
How can we at ERS help employers see the ability that we as disabled people exude in abundance? In answering these questions, we pride ourselves on delivering a way of helping people with unique abilities seek employment in bite-sized chunks.
We deliver our methods of learning on an online portal, via online methods such as zoom, google teams, and similar, and when covid permits, face-to-face an office space. Crucially though, we make sure that support workers become part of what we do, rather than compromising one without the other, it is a positive addition to what we do. For example, we don't go to work and dispense with the support, because we know that support workers and support from friends and family can be so beneficial with helping to do recreational activities and prevent social isolation.
From my own personal experience, support is essential when we have disabilities.
In 2021, the conservative government launched the national disability strategy. This has been briefly mentioned in a previous blog, though on here because it is the start of a new year, it will be given a broader focus. Accessible housing appears to be at the forefront of what this strategy is about.
Accessible housing was brought in. In the new disability strategy, BOJO in the foreword stated that there are approx. 14 million people with disabilities.
BJ highlighted the ground-breaking work Jon Major made when he launched the first disability discrimination act of 1995. The strategy appears to concentrate on having thousands of disabled people’s input as well as charities and campaigners. Housing, the world of work, leisure activities, and social care appear to be at the forefront of this.
In the forward, Boris states, “Ultimately, its name is something of a misnomer. Because this strategy is not about disability at all, but ability.” ERS agrees with this at least. (National disability strategy 2021). The strategy is to be reviewed annually to see that its social, and employment aims for disabled people are being attained.
The Disability Rights UK has doubts as to whether the national disability strategy is fit for purpose, it highlights a very alarming case for a woman who has many health problems, and the department for work and pensions were being far from helpful in spite of the new disability strategy.
The disability rights article from the 13/1/2022 quotes, “Over 118,000 Disabled people ”are facing injustice” by the DWP after being denied the right to compensation following its “blunder over benefit payments”, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has said today.
The PHSO is calling on the Government to urgently rectify the injustice, something which it is so far refusing to do.
The call comes after it investigates a complaint made by Ms U, who is recovering from heart bypass surgery and managing multiple health problems including autoimmune disease, severe mental health problems, and hypertension.
For five years she received only around half the amount the Government says is the minimum requirement for a person with severe disability needs.
She could not afford to heat her property or buy the food she needed to stay healthy. Her mental and physical health declined drastically - her hair fell out, she lost weight and her mental health deteriorated.
The error also prevented Ms U from getting other benefits she was eligible for, including free medical prescriptions to manage her many health issues, funding to buy a washing machine, and urgently needed dental care. She was at risk of hypothermia and her arthritis got worse because she lost out on £700 in Warm Home discounts.
Ms U, along with thousands of other eligible people, had only received payments based on her national insurance contributions when she should also have received payments based on her income.
Following the compulsory migration of incapacity benefit claimants to ESA from January 2011, many were underpaid due to the DWP only assessing entitlement to contributory ESA and not income-related ESA.
In July 2018 - after an investigation by the National Audit Office, an inquiry led by the Public Accounts Committee, and legal action from the Child Poverty Action Group - the DWP finally agreed to pay full arrears of benefit to all those who missed out.
The DWP has since corrected the ESA error and set about paying arrears to those affected. But it still will not allow them to claim compensation for the life-changing impact this error may have had.
Ombudsman Rob Behrens is calling on the DWP to remedy this injustice:
"Ms U's case is deeply distressing and a stark reminder of why accountability and independent Ombudsman schemes matter. It is human to make mistakes but not acting to right wrongs is a matter of policy choice. In this case, that choice has been made by the very organisation that is responsible for supporting those most in need.
“That those affected are unable to claim compensation for this error is poor public policy in practice, and the situation is made worse given that they have already waited years to receive the benefits to which they are entitled.
“We don’t know how many more Ms Us there are out there. That is why I urge the DWP to allow people affected to claim for compensation in recognition of its error and the potentially devastating impact it has had on people’s lives.” (Disability Rights UK 2022).
Scope, a very big disability charity appears to be working with the government to aid in the support that disabled people need when accessing transport. The government and scope’s new disability passenger charter 2022 is a major positive force here. The Government is working with disability charity Scope to deliver a new Disabled Persons Passenger Charter.
The charter sets out disabled passengers’ rights regarding rail, bus, coach, taxi, and private hire use. It can be very challenging. In the new charter, it appears that passengers will get a range of information for traveling across England and most importantly, be given guidance on what to do if things do not go to plan. This may go some way to alleviate stress and anxiety.
The RNIB in their changing society and campaigns strategy has been campaigning for people with AMD, (Age-Related Macular Degeneration.) It appears that AMD is more prevalent than dementia! Helping people with this potentially debilitating condition appears to be ongoing.
Campaigning successes in 2021 and continuing into 2022 include the following. Directly quoting from the RNIB website, “We'll keep campaigning for accessible streets at a time when our streets are changing rapidly, with a rise in almost silent electric vehicles and the potential future roll-out of even more rental e-scooter schemes across the country or the legalisation of privately owned e-scooters.
We’ve already provided top tips for how people can help in very simple ways, such as making sure wheelie bins are not left strewn across the pavement outside our houses, and a handy guide to help people understand what kind of accessibility features blind or partially sighted people rely on every day.
Did you know that a pelican-controlled crossing – that's a crossing with a traffic light – has a moving cone beneath the signal box that lets someone know when it is safe to cross the road?
We will be talking more to local authorities, architects, and town planners about how they can make sure any changes to our streets are accessible and we will need your help to convince them – so keep an eye out for more on this in 2022.
I can certainly identify with the quietness of the new electric cars and bins being all over pavements. I’ve tried taking my 6-year-old daughter to both nursery and school, and I’ve bashed my shoulder loads of times because cars have been parked on the pavements or a bin has been on the pavement. Here is hoping that RNIB can help make this a thing of the past in 2022!
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