Disabled people have been given just one month to influence the government’s National Strategy for Disabled People. On 15 January, the government launched a survey to find out what disabled people want to see in the Strategy. The government has said that for views to be considered to shape the Strategy, they must be received by 13 February. On the gov.uk website, it says:
“If you share your views by 13 February, your views will inform the development of the National Strategy for Disabled People, but thereafter we will continue to listen. The survey will remain open until 23 April, and your views will be used to inform the delivery of the plans we set out.”
Disabled People’s Organisations including Disability Rights UK have expressed dismay that the window of opportunity to respond to the survey and fully influence the Strategy is so small, especially during the pandemic.
Whilst the government has been engaging with regional disability forums and with disability experts and professionals over the past few months, this is the first time it has asked the wider disabled public, 14 million people, for its views.
Fazilet Hadi, DR UK’s Head of Policy said: “The starting point for the Disability Strategy should be the views of people with lived experience of disability, not government departments or professionals.
“It is understandable that engagement has been made more difficult due to the Coronavirus crisis, but giving disabled people one month to respond is not remotely acceptable. For many of us, information on the survey will take time to reach us, some of us will want to discuss our responses with others, and some of us will require assistance to respond. A month just isn’t sufficient to enable disabled people to genuinely influence groundbreaking changes in the way society treats us.”
The survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/citizen-space-survey-national-strategy-for-disabled-people