Issue - meetings

Amended version published on 27 November 2017.

The Leader, Councillor Stephen Cowan, warmly welcomed members of the Disabled People’s Commission (DPC) to the meeting and commended the report as an excellent piece of work. 

Tara Flood, Chair of the DPC, led the presentation and explained their aims now that the report had been completed. She stressed that a key message of the report was that decision-makers and service commissioners must work with Disabled people to implement change in policy and services that affect them. The Council would need to endorse a co-production approach with Disabled people. This was about changing the culture.

It was hoped that the report would extend beyond the borough boundaries, and extend further to receive national recognition.  The abolition of home care charges demonstrated that this Council was serious about progressing on this matter.

Tara Flood stressed on the need to have a Disabled representative working as a champion at a senior level within the Council to develop an action plan. The priorities areas to focus would be: independent living strategy, transition to adulthood, Disabled people housing, and accessibility incorporated in the Town Hall refurbishment.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Ben Coleman, thanked the DPC for producing a remarkable and well written report and identifying many challenges. It would be crucial to get the action plan right from the beginning.

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Sue Fennimore, stated that this report was ground breaking and she felt quite humble about what the DPC had achieved. She agreed that co-production and working alongside Disabled people was the way forward. She added that she was looking forward to seeing the action plan.

Councillor Andrew Brown congratulated the DPC for producing a report which he felt was one of the best ones to be presented at Cabinet and he fully endorsed it.

The Leader stated that he was very grateful to the Disabled People’s Commission for providing the difficulties disabled people faced and for producing an independent report.

The Leader thanked the commissioners Tara Flood (Chair), Kate Betteridge, Victoria Brignell, Ali Buhdeima, Martin Doyle, Mike Gannon, David Isaac, Patricia Quigley, Ramona Williams and Jane Wilmot for putting a marker and lighting the path for what this Council wishes to achieve.

RESOLVED:

1.1.       The DPC has engaged with council officers from across service areas to help inform and shape its recommendations and its meetings have been attended by the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care.

1.2.       Cabinet is asked to consider and discuss the DPC’s recommendations as below and agree these in advance of the development of an implementation plan.

1.3.       The DPC’s recommendations are as below.

                  (a)        The Council implements a human rights approach to its policy and service development, using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the framework for change.

                  (b)        The Council adopts and implements a policy which commits it to working in co-production with Disabled residents.

                  (c)        The Council develops and implements an accessible communication strategy that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65