London Assembly gives unanimous backing to DPO’s call for a disability equality champion for the capital

Members of the London Assembly have unanimously backed a call for the mayor to take a “strategic” approach to improving the lives of disabled Londoners and appoint a new champion for disability equality across the capital.

They voted for a motion that was drawn up by the disabled people’s organisation (DPO) Inclusion London and Liberal Democrat assembly member Hina Bokhari and which received cross-party support.

The motion (PDF) called for the mayor, Sadiq Khan, to ensure that disabled people are involved in co-producing disability-related policy, and to appoint a disability equality champion who would lead the development of a new London Disability Action Plan and on making “London a better place to live for Disabled Londoners”.

Such a plan could cover energy policy, climate change, technology, health, housing, transport, the environment, police and emergency planning.

The motion also confirmed the London Assembly’s support for the social model of disability, which recognises that disability is created by the way society is organised.

Inclusion London welcomed the unanimous support for the motion from London Assembly members, and said disabled Londoners were “tired of empty commitments” and urgently need “real meaningful action”.

It said the mayor needed to appoint a disabled person to coordinate and develop policies that address the barriers faced by the 1.2 million disabled Londoners.

Bokhari had told Thursday’s assembly session: “At a transport committee meeting recently, we heard from charities, advisers and academics that disabled people are often only consulted by decision-makers once policies have already been developed, resulting in policies that discriminate and perpetuate structural inequalities.

“Our proposal would eliminate that problem, develop a model of co-creation of policy with disabled Londoners and their organisations, and the GLA* can and should be trailblazers with policy-making in this way.”

Assembly members also agreed an amendment to the motion, which called on the mayor to order an independent review of the use of floating bus stops in the capital.

Disabled campaigners have warned that floating bus stops (otherwise known as bus stop bypasses) – where a cycle lane is placed between the bus stop and the pavement – put blind and partially-sighted people, and others, at risk of colliding with cyclists when they exit a bus.

Adam Gabsi, Inclusion London’s chair, said disabled people were “tired of empty commitments” and “urgently need a real meaningful action”.

He said disabled people had been one of the groups that were hardest hit by austerity, the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, and were disproportionately living in poverty, while public transport, technology, housing, street space, cultural and sports venues and activities “remain inaccessible for many of us”.

He said: “As a disabled Londoner I live those barriers every day, and so do 1.2 million other disabled Londoners.”

Gabsi said: “Meaningful co-production is an essential part of improving the lives of disabled people in London.

“Having a disability equality champion who would be responsible for overseeing the development of the Disability Action Plan would be extremely beneficial in achieving the much-needed necessary improvements.

“We welcome this motion and are grateful to Hina Bokhari for working with us and championing it and to all assembly members for supporting it.

“Now the ball is in the mayor’s corner and we urge him to engage with us, listen to us and to take more strategic and proactive steps to improving our lives.”

A spokesperson for the mayor said in a statement: “The mayor is committed to creating a more equal, accessible and inclusive city, and works closely with Deaf and disabled people’s organisations to ensure that City Hall is considering their needs across all aspects of its work.

“This includes launching the Equity in Motion plan to ensure London’s transport network is welcoming, inclusive and accessible to all Londoners, as well as internal guidance and support for GLA teams to ensure inclusivity.”

He said the mayor had signed the British Sign Language Charter, while his deputy mayor for communities and social justice chaired both a Deaf and disabled people’s organisations forum, and an equality, diversity and inclusion advisory group.

He added: “The mayor will continue to do all he can to support disabled Londoners, and will respond to the assembly’s motion in due course.”

On floating bus stops, another spokesperson for the mayor said they were “in line with government guidance and are a nationally recognised approach for avoiding the dangers of cyclists going around buses into oncoming traffic”.

She said the mayor had asked Transport for London to review their safety, and its report found “very few collisions have occurred at bus stop bypasses and that they have not led to a reduction in bus stop use by older or disabled customers.

“However, we recognise the concerns that some people have when using this infrastructure and we are actively working with disabled people and accessibility groups to look at improvements to design and the behaviour of road users to ensure that this infrastructure is as safe as possible for everyone.”

*Greater London Authority, which is led by the mayor

Picture: Svetlana Kotova, from Inclusion London, being interviewed at an accessible housing protest in Westminster in July

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