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Making the lives of disabled people better.

What is this information about? If you read this information you can find out about

• some changes that have made the lives of disabled people in the UK better

• some things that still need to happen to make the lives of disabled people in the UK better

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you only want to know the main things you can just read the first part. It is called What has happened in the last year to make the lives of disabled people better?

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Contents.

• What has happened in the last year to make the lives of disabled people better? …. 3

• A big change in the law called the

Disability Equality Duty ………………….… 7

• A group of disabled people working with

the Government to help them make their laws and rules ………………………………… 9

• Independent living - disabled people

being more in charge of their own lives .…....10

• Groups of disabled people that can help

Independent Living happen …...…..……….12

• People with learning disabilities working

for the Government ………………….……….14

• Individual Budgets - helping disabled people be more in charge of their own lives..15

• Public Transport ………………...……….……17

• Houses ……………………………………...… 20

• People with mental health problems

and work ……………………………….……... 22

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What has happened in the last year to make the lives of disabled people better?

There is a new part of the Government that will work to make the lives of disabled people better. The new part of the Government is called the Office for Disability Issues. It is called ODI for short. ODI will do lots of things like making sure all parts of the Government work together to give disabled people the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else.

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There have been some changes to the law This week a new part of the law will start to happen. This new part of the law is called the Disability Equality Duty. It says that many organisations now have to say what they will do to help disabled people have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else. The Disability Equality Duty is part of a big law called the Disability Discrimination Act. Some changes were made to this law in 2005 to make the lives of disabled people better. The Government also wants to make a law that will help more disabled people to have a job. Anne McGuire works for the Government as the Minister for Disabled People. She said that the Government wants to help disabled people to have a job. The Government has listened to what disabled people say when it has made these laws.

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Some other things have happened to make the lives of disabled people better Direct payments and individual budgets are being used more. These are things that help disabled people to choose and buy their own care and support services. And the Government and mental health charities have worked together to make things better for people with mental health problems. A lot of these changes are to do with a report the Government wrote a year ago called Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. Bert Massie works for an organisation called the Disability Rights Commission. It is called DRC for short. He says that the report has already made the lives of disabled people better and has helped organisations think more about disabled people. The Government also wants to do a big survey. It wants to ask disabled people lots of questions to find out more about their lives. So, there have been lots of things that have happened or will happen to make the lives of disabled people in the UK better. But, there are still some things that people are worried about.

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What are people still worried about? Service cuts. Some services for disabled people have been stopped because there is not enough money for them to carry on. The Law. People are worried that the law will not always help disabled people to have a good life and to get all the help and support that they need. Health. People with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems do not always get the health care that they need. The end of the DRC The DRC is an organisation that works to help disabled people have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else. Next year a new organisation called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights will do this job instead. Many people are worried that this new organisation will not do as much to help

disabled people. The part of the Government called the Office for Disability Issues wants disabled people to have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else by the year 2025. Lots of things have already happened to make the lives of disabled people in the UK better. But there is still a lot more that needs to be done. You can read lots more about these things on the next pages.

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A big change in the law called the Disability Equality Duty

The Disability Equality Duty is a new part of the law. It will start to happen this week. The law says that many organisations now have to make a plan. The plan will talk about all the things that the organisation will do to help disabled people have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else. The plan is called a Disability Equality Scheme. The law also says that the organisations must ask disabled people to help them make the plan. The organisations that have to make this plan are called public authorities. Here are some examples of public authorities

• health trusts (they run things like doctors and hospitals)

• schools

• local councils

• government departments

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This change in the law could make the lives of disabled people much better. But, only if organisations do the right things to make this happen. An organisation called the DRC will look at some of the plans to see how good they are. If a plan is not good then the organisation that made it might be in trouble. It might even have to go to court. But if the plans are good it could make the lives of disabled people much better. It could even make the organizations much better as well.

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A group of disabled people working with the Government to help them make their laws and rules

A new group of disabled people will start to work with the Government. The group is called Equality 2025. The group is not part of the Government but it will work with the Government to help them make good laws and rules that will make the lives of disabled people better. The group was set up because of a report that the Government wrote called Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. The report said that the Government must listen to disabled people when it makes new laws and rules. It said that a new group of disabled people should be set up to make sure this happens. Alun Davies works for an organisation that helped set up the new group. He says that the Government should ask disabled people straight away what they think about an idea for a new law or rule. If the new group works well it will mean that disabled people really can have a say in making the laws and rules that will affect them.

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Independent living - disabled people being more in charge of their own lives Independent living is when disabled people can choose the things that they want and need for themselves, with support if they need it. For example, they can choose where they want to live and what care and support services they want to have. Independent living is very important for disabled people. It will give them more choice and control over their own lives. Many people think that, until now, there has not been enough work done to make independent living happen. But this could start to change soon. The Government will carry out a review of independent living. This means it will look at all the things it needs to do to make independent living work well. It will look at things like how much money it needs to spend and how things like housing, health and transport can be made better.

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The Government is looking at an idea for a law that Lord Ashley wants to happen. Lord Ashley is a disabled person who sits in Parliament. Parliament is where new laws are made. Lots of disabled people and disability organisations want this new law to happen. Money is also an important part of making independent living work well. Patrick Edwards works for an organisation called the DRC. He says that it is very important that the Government makes sure it spends enough money on independent living. But other people say that independent living might save the Government money. For example, the care services that disabled people choose for themselves might cost less money than other services. Gordon Brown works for the Government as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He thinks that independent living can really happen and he wants to sort out the problems with money and other things.

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Groups of disabled people that can help independent living happen

A year ago the Government wrote a report called Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. The report said that by the year 2010 there should be at least 1 group in each local area that is made up of disabled people and run by disabled people. There are some groups like this already. They work to make sure disabled people have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else. They do things like help other disabled people to live in the community and to do the things that they want to do. The Government thinks that these groups are really important. But many of these groups have closed, or might close, because they do not have enough money to carry on. Some people think that these groups have closed because local councils do not work with them enough.

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Simone Aspis works for 1 of these groups called UKDPC. She says that local councils think too much about money and not enough about the good work that these groups do. Now there are big plans to help local councils work more with these groups of disabled people. But many disabled people are worried. A big organisation that works for disabled people called the DRC will not be there anymore after next year. It will become part of another organisation called CEHR. The new organisation says that it will still do a lot to help disabled people. But many disabled people are worried that this will not happen. They are also worried that there will not be enough groups run by disabled people in each local area by the year 2010. But the Government says that it is looking at this now, and will work with disabled people to make sure that this will happen.

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People with learning disabilities working for the Government

People with learning disabilities have often not been listened to enough. Now there is a new person with a learning disability working for the Government. Her name is Nicola Smith. Nicola’s job is to work 2 days a week for the Government. She will help them make their laws and rules about learning disability. Nicola said that she finds some things difficult. For example, she does not like it when people treat people with learning disabilities in a bad way. Andrew Lee works for an organisation called People First.

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He thinks that it is good that Nicola is working for the Government. But he thinks that she should be working for more days a week because she is very good at her job.

Individual Budgets- helping disabled people be more in charge of their own lives Individual budgets is the name of a project. It is being tested by 13 local councils in England at the moment. Individual budgets is where disabled people can be in charge of choosing and paying for their own care and support services, with support if they need it. First they are told how much money they can spend on the care and support that they need. Then they can plan and choose the care and support that they want. A project called In Control used individual budgets first. It found that disabled people were happier because they were more in control of their own lives.

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But some people are worried about individual budgets. Here are some of the things that people are worried about

• That direct payments will not work as well anymore.

Direct payments are where a local council gives someone the money for their care and support services straight to them. The person can then choose and pay for their own care and support services.

• That disabled people will not be in charge enough. For example, that they will not be in charge enough of deciding what care and support they need and how much money they should have

• That there will not be enough money to make individual budgets work really well

But many people think that individual budgets are very important for disabled people and will help them be much more in charge of their own lives.

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CClive’s story Clive did not like the home he lived in with 6 other people. So Clive got some help to move in to his own home, and to choose his own care and support services. Clive chose his own care and support staff. He likes them and says that living in his own home is really good.

Public Transport Some things have happened to make public transport much easier for disabled people to use. A new part of the Government called ODI wrote a report that talked about some of these things. The report said that all new buses, coaches and trains are easier for disabled people to use. And many older ones are as well. It also said that there will be lots of money (£370 million) to spend on making train stations easier for disabled people to use.

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A law called the Disability Discrimination Act has also made things better for disabled people when they use transport. The law says that disabled people must be treated in the right way when they travel on transport like taxis, buses and coaches. But some people are worried that transport is not easy enough for disabled people to use and that it is taking too long for changes to be made. Guy Parckar works for an organisation called Leonard Cheshire. He says that all transport must be easy for disabled people to use if we want disabled people to have the same choices and chances to do things as everyone else.

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B Barry’s story. Barry has a disability called Cerebral Palsy. He also uses a wheelchair. Barry uses buses a lot to go to college. He says that buses are now easier for him to use. But he says that there are still things that need to get better. For example, he sometimes finds buses difficult to use with his wheelchair. And people sometimes treat him in a bad way. But he still thinks that going by bus is getting easier.

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Houses Disabled people have often found it difficult to live in a rented home. A rented home is a home that someone else owns but that you pay money to live in. From December 4

th a law called the Disability

Discrimination Act 2005 will make it easier for disabled people to live in a rented home. The person that owns the home (they are called the landlord) will have to do some things to make it easier for disabled people to live in their home. For example, if the landlord needs to write a letter to a person that finds it difficult to see, they should write the letter in large writing. Landlords should also let disabled people make changes to their home to make it easier for them to live in. But this is only if the disabled person pays for it themselves. There are some other things that could help disabled people find somewhere good to live. Local councils have a list of homes in their area that are easier for disabled people to live in.

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They can use the list to help disabled people find the right place to live. There are also some standards that talk about making homes better for people, including disabled people. The Government wants all social housing to meet these standards by the year 2010. Social housing means houses run by councils and community organisations. But, some people think that these things are not enough to help disabled people to live in a home that is right for them. Richard Hamer works for an organisation called Ownership Options in Scotland. He says that the real problem is that there are not enough good homes for disabled people to live in. And there are not enough plans to change this.

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People with mental health problems and work Mental health is to do with your mind and the way you feel. For example, someone with a mental health problem might be upset or sad a lot of the time. Many people with mental health problems can still do things that other people can do, like have a job. Lots of people with mental health problems want to have a job. But many do not have a job. And many companies will not give them a job. But things might be changing at last. A law called the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 now does more to help people with a mental health problem that affects their everyday life. Some organisations, like the Government and the DRC, have done some work to help other people

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think better things about people with mental health problems. The Government has looked at how to make things better for people with mental health problems when they work. Some companies called BT, Marks and Spencer and Gap have done lots of things to help people with mental health problems to have a job with them. Pathways to Work is a service run by the Government. It has helped some people with mental health problems to have a job again. So, some good things have happened to help people with mental health problems to have a job. But some people are still worried. Sue Christoforou works for an organisation called Mind. She says that companies often think bad things about people with mental health problems. And this can make it very hard for people with mental health problems to have a job.

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Judy’s story. Judy has been ill a lot with mental health problems. She had a job for a long time but she never took any time off because of her mental health problems. Now she does not have a job. She thinks that this is because she has started telling people about her mental health problems. She thinks that people think bad things about her because she has mental health problems. But she thinks it is important to tell people so that they start to think better things about people with mental health problems.