Appendix 2 Cabinet report May 2006

Hampshire County Council

Disability Equality Scheme 2006 -2009

Draft

Foreword

This is the first disability equality scheme to be produced by Hampshire County Council. The scheme is part of an overarching equality and diversity plan which sets out the vision which the council has to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equal opportunities for all people. There are particular people who may experience exclusion for reasons relating to their race, ethnicity, disability, age, gender, sexual orientation or religion. The equality and diversity plan and associated schemes explain what we intend to do to improve fair and equal access to employment and Council services.

This is what it means to you

Disabled People as employees and service users can expect to be treated with respect and to have their communication needs met. The service they receive from the Council will not be diminished because they are disabled. We will take steps to raise awareness of this commitment with our staff and customers.

We want the actions that are proposed in this scheme to make a real difference to the lives of disabled people who work and live in Hampshire. By taking this action we will also improve services for everyone.

Introduction to the scheme

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) was introduced in order to improve opportunities for disabled people. It is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they experience disability. Organisations must also make `reasonable adjustments' to ensure that the person can access services and employment.

Although the law has been in place for 10 years there are still many barriers which prevent disabled people from fair and equal access. The Government has set out a vision for disability equality:

"By 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and will be respected and included as equal members of society"

Public bodies have a significant impact on the lives of all citizens and the law has been amended to place greater responsibilities on them to achieve this vision. Therefore as from 5 December 2005 all public bodies, when carrying out their functions, must have due regard to the need to:

· Eliminate unlawful disability discrimination

· Eliminate disability related harassment

· Promote equality of opportunities

· Promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons

· Encourage participation by disabled persons in public life

There is also a specific requirement to publish a Disability Equality Scheme which sets out the action that will be taken to meet these requirements.

An overview of Hampshire

The County of Hampshire is large, dynamic and successful, but this overall appearance of affluence masks real problems of relative deprivation and vulnerable communities.

Hampshire is the third largest shire county with a population of 1.25m residents, over 502,000 households and covering 3680km². It is a diverse county with a mix of significant urban and extensive rural areas. Although less than 10% of the county is urban, 87% of the population live in urban areas with major settlements at, Aldershot, Andover, Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Fareham, Farnborough, Gosport, Havant and Winchester.

Approximately 90% of the county is classified as rural with significant areas which are the subject of national and international environmental designations, including the new national park for the New Forest and the proposed one for the South Downs. Although not within the administrative area of the County Council, the relationship between the port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth and the rest of the county has a significant effect on transport connections, employment and travel to work issues, housing and economic needs.

The County Council provides a range of services to people in the County. We also provide services in partnership with District/Borough Councils, the Health Service and other community based organisations. Other public bodies in the County will also be preparing a disability equality scheme and we will do our best to work together and deliver `joined up' services.

Example of services provided by the County Council:

Libraries

Museums

Country Parks

Education for children and adults

Social Care services

Waste disposal - Districts & Borough collect the waste

Transport planning

Highways maintenance

Arts Centres

Sports Development - Leisure Centres are delivered by District/Borough or private organisations.

Elected Members/Councillors have overall responsibility for the services which are provided by the Council. The role of the Local Councillor is to help local people have an influence over the way decisions are made.

Activity already in place

The County Council has taken a positive approach to improving life chances for disabled people for a number of years. Our approach is based on the `Social Model' of disability which was adopted by the Council in 1999. A major objective through this scheme is to raise awareness of this approach throughout the Council and with partners.

It was one of the first Councils to introduce Direct Payments to enable people to manage their personal support needs. The Council has always sought to work in partnership with organisations and individuals who have direct experience of the barriers that prevent disabled people from fair and equal access. This scheme builds on the work already undertaken:

· To improve the physical access to our buildings through the Access Audit and Improvement strategy

· To improve employment opportunities for disabled people through the Welfare to Work group (see below)

· The Corporate Equality Plan

Involving disabled people

The approach to improve the physical access was developed in partnership with local Access groups across the County. This work continues to develop. Also, the Welfare to Work steering group involved Hampshire Coalition of Disabled People, Southampton Centre for Independent Living, Shaw Trust, Mental Health employment partnership, and Jobcentre Plus. Members of the steering group for the Disability Equality Scheme have been drawn from these projects. In addition disabled people and other groups representing different impairment areas have been involved with the preparation of the scheme through direct contact.

The draft scheme will be published at the end of May 2006 and a consultation plan for further local based involvement of disabled people will then be implemented between 1^st June and 30^th September. As a result the scheme will be amended for final publication by the end of November.

The `Social Model' explains that it is the barriers in every day life that serve to `disable' people and therefore a key element of this scheme is for the Council to identify these. The following barriers have been identified through existing research and consultation:

· Employment: Attitudes and knowledge of line managers , stereotypical perceptions

· Knowledge and attitudes of partners, employment agencies

· Physical barriers

· Financial barriers

· Inaccessible information

· Inaccessible transport, housing

· Flexible personal care , availability of personal assistants

· Lack of role models, stereotypical perceptions - by disabled people

e.g. I could never do that, they won't employ me.

· Stereotypical perceptions - by service providers e.g. disabled don't use our services, they obviously don't want to

The Council will need to continue to challenge what it currently does to find out if this disadvantages disabled people. To do this we will need to encourage constructive feedback and then take action make reasonable adjustments.

Implementing the scheme

There is an established structure in place within the Council that will make sure that this scheme is interpreted by each department into specific actions for their services. The Corporate Equality and Diversity Action Group is led by a Cabinet Member, Councillor Roy Perry and John Clarke the Deputy Director for Children's services. This group has been working to implement the Race Equality duties for the past 3 years and this approach will ensure annual reporting to the Corporate Management Team and the Cabinet.

This scheme will be reviewed from May 2009 and a revised scheme agreed by December 2009

Impact assessment

Discrimination is usually not intended, it happens because a policy or service has not considered a wide range of different needs. Race and Disability Equality Impact Assessment is a legal requirement for all public bodies. It is a systematic way of finding out whether a policy service or strategy will have an adverse impact for any particular group or sector of Hampshire's diverse community.

The process is designed to tackle the long term challenge of removing "institutional discrimination" from the public sector, and ensure that polices, services and strategies do not unfairly discriminate against disabled people.

Action has already begun and many assessments have been carried out for impact on people of different racial groups. By December 2006 each department will look again at their list of functions, decide which ones are most likely to have an impact on the lives of disabled people and then make a plan to fully assess the impact.

An important part of this process is to gather information about the barriers which disable people and prevent fair access to employment and services. This information is then used to inform the impact assessment. To support this approach it will be essential to listen to the views of disabled people.

Publishing the scheme

The scheme will be a separate section of the Corporate Equality Plan and will be published through the web site and in a range of other formats. Copies will be sent to known community groups and will also be available through libraries and information centres. It will also be important to find other ways to communicate this to the people who will benefit from the actions described in the scheme.

Monitoring the Scheme

Annual progress reports will be published and presented to Elected Members and Chief Officers. During the first year an external monitoring group will be established to ensure that disabled people have a role in managing performance. The scheme will be reviewed in 2009

Disability Equality Scheme - Action Plan

The main barriers to access have been identified through existing research and consultation with disabled people and the action plan is in response to those barriers.