• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / Activism and Campaigning / Government faces legal action over ‘disrespectful’ strategy consultation
Separate pictures of Justin Tomlinson giving evidence in the Commons and Doug Paulley at a protest

Government faces legal action over ‘disrespectful’ strategy consultation

By John Pring on 1st April 2021 Category: Activism and Campaigning

Listen

Four disabled people have launched a legal action against the government over its “disrespectful” and “unlawful” approach to seeking their views on the proposed national disability strategy.

The four claimants say that a controversial survey, carried out by the Disability Unit, did not give them and other disabled people the chance to say what they really felt about what should be in the strategy.

Instead, all but four of the questions in the survey were multiple choice.

Three of the other questions were limited to just 100 words, and the other one to 250 words.

The launch of the legal action came as the Disability Unit denied that the publication of the strategy had been postponed.

Ministers had previously stated that the strategy would be published this spring, but recent ministerial statements have promised only to publish it “this year”.

There has been continuing controversy over the strategy and the survey over the last three months, including why the survey included a question that asked non-disabled people if they would be “happy to have a physical relationship with a disabled person”, and concerns about it being rushed, inaccessible, over-long and poorly-planned.

On 1 February, 10 disabled people’s organisations wrote to Justin Tomlinson (pictured, above, left), the minister for disabled people, to ask him to postpone publication of the strategy until the summer.

A spokesperson for the Disability Unit said this week that the government “remains absolutely committed to delivering an ambitious National Strategy for Disabled People in the coming months”.

When asked whether this meant that it had been delayed, the spokesperson said he was not aware of any postponement and that he was working to a timescale of “within [the] next few months”.

But he has so far been unable to explain why ministers have stopped referring to the strategy being published in the spring.

The legal action is being taken on behalf of four disabled people by law firm Bindmans.

They argue that the survey is unlawful because it offers only limited information about the strategy and does not allow disabled people to provide a “proper and effective response”.

They want the consultation to be declared unlawful, and for there to be a new, lawful consultation before the government publishes its strategy.

The government has apparently told Bindmans that the survey is not a consultation – even though the Disability Unit’s own website lists the survey as an “Open Consultation” and the survey is hosted on the unit’s “Consultation Hub” – and that it is not obliged to consult disabled people about the strategy.

Disabled campaigner Doug Paulley (pictured, above, right), one of the four claimants, said: “The secretary of state’s approach to consulting disabled people, on a national strategy which aims to ‘transform’ the lives of disabled people, is immensely disrespectful.

“Disabled people are best placed to say what changes would improve their own lives.

“This survey has not given disabled people any meaningful opportunity to do so, and therefore any strategy developed from the survey will be imposed on disabled people without their voices being heard.”

A government spokesperson said he could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

 

A note from the editor:

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Tags: Bindmans disability survey Doug Paulley Justin Tomlinson national disability strategy

Related

Disability minister fails to express support on disabled people’s international day
8th December 2022
Bus company breached access laws… and then lied about what it had done
8th December 2022
Transport secretary silent after misleading MPs about tactile safety markings
23rd June 2022

Primary Sidebar

Access

Latest Stories

Claimant deaths still linked to systemic flaws in benefits system, DWP document shows

Coffey scrapped plan for independent review of sanctions, DWP admits

Second Labour-led inquiry in two months fails to demand end to care charges

Silent vigil will mark latest stage in fight for second Jodey Whiting inquest

Disability poverty campaign calls on PM to act urgently on prepayment meters

‘Halt new mental health bill until there is a public inquiry into deaths and abuse’

Investigation reveals ‘discrimination and hostility’ faced by disabled parents

Warning of ‘humanitarian crisis’ if governments fail to act on disability poverty

Fresh plans to shut down protests ‘show government is running scared’

Universal credit judgment ‘shows legal system has failed us again’

Advice and Information

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web