Disability Strategy

Esther McVey, Minister for Disabled People

The Paralympics were a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the sporting talents of disabled people performing at their best. Above all though, it was about engaging with the public and changing their perceptions towards disabled people. Channel 4’s coverage allowed us to go on a journey with each of the athletes, letting us see their world, understand their obstacles and truly appreciate their resilience. We saw far beyond the sport, we saw their life.

In my new role as Minister for Disabled People I want to make sure we capitalise on this ‘attitudinal bounce’ so that there’s a legacy of lasting inclusion. That’s why I’m working with disabled people and their organisations on the development of a disability strategy. Last December we published Fulfilling Potential which invited disabled people to feed in their ideas about what should feature in our disability strategy.

Thousands of disabled people responded and one of the areas they said was important to them was the promotion of positive attitudes and behaviours towards disabled people and tackling discrimination and harassment wherever they occur.

A number of people put forward practical suggestions on how this could achieved including benchmarking attitudes to properly understand how to make changes over the long-term; producing and launching a media guide for journalists; and training for frontline Government staff to embed disability issues at the start of the policy-making process. These are all areas we are now looking at.

But we’re not stopping there. This strategy is about making a real difference and creating role models for future generations by supporting disabled people so they gain more individual control over their lives and realise their aspirations.

That’s why we have set up a new disability action alliance, so that we can deliver changes and carry forward the ideas that have been proposed so that disabled people can fulfil their potential. And as the new Minister for Disabled people, I look forward to working with disability organisations and disabled people on this new approach to bring about real change.