The minister for disabled people has been told by 10 user-led organisations (including Disability North) of their âserious concerns and disappointmentâ about his efforts to engage with disabled people on the governmentâs proposed national disability strategy.
The letter from 10 members of the Our Voices* group of disabled peopleâs organisations (DPOs) raises concerns about Justin Tomlinsonâs âdisjointed and somewhat chaotic approachâ and the lack of time given to disabled people to influence the strategy through his new national survey.
It will add to growing pressure on Tomlinson, following similar concerns expressed last month by other DPOs who said they were âshocked and dismayedâ by the governmentâs failure to engage with them.
The 10 DPOs, led by Disability Rights UK, have called on the minister to postpone the release of the strategy â currently planned for the spring â until the summer.
They say this week in their letter that the ministerâs new national disability survey is âunfocusedâ and asks âbroad questions about the experiences of disabled peopleâ without any reference to the broad themes used in other recent attempts at engagement.
They say there is no possibility that the results of the survey could be translated into âmeaningful insightâ on what should be in the national strategy, and that it includes âno mention of the strategy at allâ and âin no way supports genuine co productionâ.
They also tell Tomlinson that they are reluctant to encourage their members to take part in the survey as it is ânot clear how it will support the development of the strategyâ.
The letter also raises concerns about the length and accessibility of the survey and its intrusive nature.
The Our Voices group add concerns about Tomlinsonâs decision to cancel the last two meetings of his new DPO Forum, just as he was supposedly seeking the views of disabled people and their organisations to feed into the strategy.
And they say they are concerned that Tomlinson has instead been consulting closely with large charities not run by disabled people, through the Disability Charities Consortium.
It adds: âOur organisations truly represent disabled people and our lived experience is sadly underutilised by government.
âWe should be the first contact government make to understand the views and experiences of disabled people, with other organisations such as disability charities bringing their perspective, but not being the first port of call.â
The letter says the deadline for survey replies to feed into the strategy â 13 February â is also a âserious issueâ, and they tell Tomlinson that it is âimperative that more time is allowedâ.
They say the disability strategy must âreflect the lived experiences of disabled peopleâ but that they have been âleft with grave concerns about whether this will be achieved with the current approach being takenâ.
The Cabinet Office had not responded to a request to comment on the letter by noon today (Thursday).
*Our Voices is a group of chief executives and policy leads of 14 DPOs â DR UK and 13 of its members â which have âcome together, since the start of the pandemic, to promote the interests of disabled people and to provide mutual support to each otherâ.
Lynne Turnbull, its acting chair, and chief executive of Disability Positive (the new name for Cheshire Centre for Independent Living), said: âThe group has been a terrific way to collaborate with other disabled peopleâs organisations on issues affecting disabled people during the pandemic, as well as working together to find solutions.â
The 10 members that signed the letter are Disability Rights UK, Disability North, Disability Peterborough, West of England Centre for Inclusive Living, Wheels for Wellbeing, Living Options Devon, Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, Disability Sheffield, Breakthrough UK and Disability Positive
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ 4 February 2021