Fulfilling Potential Forum on Disability
Thursday 23rd October 2014
10:45 – 16:00

Summary of the third Forum

This note provides a summary of the discussions held at the third Fulfilling Potential Forum 

Welcome and introductions 

A full list of attendees is shown at Annex A. 

Mark Harper MP - Minister of State for Disabled People
1.	Convened the meeting and spoke about his priorities including,
fixing the assessment process for Personal Independence Payment, the exit of ATOS from the work capability assessment and the appointment of a new provider, working with Lord Freud on the roll out of Universal Credit and the transfer of policy responsibility for Access to Work to himself from the Minister for Employment.

2.	Mark Harper welcomed Baroness Kramer explaining she would speak to the Forum about the Transport issues and she would then be available to answer questions from Forum Members. 

Baroness Kramer - Minister of State for Transport
3.	Baroness Kramer welcomed the opportunity to address the Forum and spoke about smart technology and its importance in providing information for accessible travel. She highlighted the progress being made in accessible travel, such as the development of apps for visual accessibility, including step free information. One of her focuses was new technology and how it can be utilised to support disabled people. This is why she was supporting a new technology prize challenging 14 to 18 year old students to produce cost effective ideas to provide passengers with successful on-board information. This was launched on the 24th October with those successfully short-listed to present to a panel in March 2015.

4.	She said that the bus industry has reported that bus drivers have increased disability awareness following the voluntary disability awareness training. However feedback she has heard from disability groups is that the service is no better. Baroness Kramer asked for further feedback on whether there has been an improvement in disability awareness.  

5.	Baroness Kramer highlighted the issues of accessible taxis and her view that rather than using legislation to ensure taxi drivers adhere to their responsibility of stopping and supporting disabled people, that a change of culture would be a better route. 

6.	She explained that there has been huge investment in the rail network to improve accessibility in Department of Transport’s ‘Access to All’ programme will invest £470 million by 2019 in providing step free routes to nearly 200 stations, with additional funding for smaller schemes to more than 1100 stations.

Questions from the Forum and responses from Baroness Kramer
7.	‘Shared Space’; Baroness Kramer responded that Shared Space is very much a local issue and concerns should be shared with local councillors and local authorities, but she will draw this to the attention of various transport groups to ensure shared space is not a barrier.

8.	Availability of toilets on Crossrail; Crossrail is basically a commuter service and although we can think about how we can include them on this service it is more important to have the service up and running. Baroness Kramer spoke about the accessibility of stations on the Crossrail project and the need to include disability access when large franchises are debated.

9.	The recognition of disabled rail cards and priority need for seating; The slow progress on audio-visual announcements for people with sensory loss; She understood the difficulty in getting a seat on trains as they are so busy and will only get busier. People don’t always recognise if someone needs a seat. The new trains will have more standing room and first class is being removed. She explained that Transport is investing more following years of neglect. Baroness Kramer highlighted that the large companies are making huge progress on AV announcements; it is the smaller buses and local bus routes which are having difficulty progressing due to the cost of installing AV. She explained that she is working with local authorities on this issue and where a good examples are made this is shared such as the progress being made in Tyne and Wear. 

10.	 Disability Hate crime on public transport; Baroness Kramer said that the closure of ticket offices will bring more staff into customer contact therefore providing more support for disabled people. Training rail staff in improved customer service as inspired by the ‘Games Makers’ in the Olympic Games would further support disabled people and increase staff visibility which would help to alleviate hate crime. She also explained that increased CCTV is also supporting British Transport Police in identifying people who behave badly. 

11.	Suicide risk for people with mental health conditions on the railway; Baroness Kramer said that Transport officials work very closely with the Samaritans and highlighted that it is often staff at the station that can recognise when someone is in distress and go to have a conversation with them. There is a lot to do by working with other departments such as the Department of Health and Norman Lamb has done a lot of work on mental health conditions and ensuring they have the same priority as physical health in terms of resource. 

12.	Power wheelchair users unable to access public transport, especially buses; Baroness Kramer was not aware of the difficulty Power wheel-chairs had in accessing public transport. She will take this issue away to check the code of practice regarding wheelchair accessibility.

13.	The rules of some airlines prevent wheelchair users from flying without being accompanied. Baroness Kramer explained that aviation was not in her remit but she would refer the issue to Robert Goodwill who has that responsibility. Mark Harper mentioned that the Health and Safety Executive have a myth busters panel which addresses incorrect use of the Health and Safety at Work Act. 

Mark Harper - Minister of State for Disabled People 
14.	 The Minister thanked Baroness Kramer for her time and went on to speak about the Accessible Britain Challenge which was launched in September. He said he was impressed with the number of examples of good practice which have already been received. He announced the Accessible Britain Challenge awards with nominations opening on 3rd November, judging in January and award winners being announced in March 2015.

15.	He addressed an earlier point made about people with mental health conditions being in police cells as a first place of safety. He highlighted the work the Home Secretary is involved in to get the police services to work with mental health services aimed at preventing people with mental health conditions ending up in a police cell at a time of crisis.

16.	He talked about a recent interview for the ‘Inside Out’ programme which is highlighting the problems raised by Guide Dogs for the Blind in accessing taxis. Guide Dogs for the Blind are putting together a set of evidence which will look at improving the customer service. 

17.	He spoke about the on-going work embedding accessibility into new buildings, providing disability awareness for engineers, designers and professional institutions.

Questions from the Forum members and responses from Mark Harper;
18.	The comments made by Lord Freud on payment of minimum wage to disabled people; Mark Harper said that Lord Freud has explained he did not express himself properly in his remarks and has apologised for any offense caused. Mark Harper went on to say that people who work with Lord Freud know how passionate he is about getting disabled people into work, where they are able and that they are rewarded properly. 

19.	Delays to PIP and ESA assessments; Delays in PIP and ESA were unacceptable and they are going through a process of appointing a new contractor who will be able to deliver a better service. He explained that when working with a contractor the department has a responsibility to evaluate the service on a regular basis and not leave them un-checked. He explained that he was highly involved in the discussions around the new contract and to ensure the delivery is effectively monitored. 

20.	Access to Work and the limits placed on this especially for people with hearing impairments, and people with learning difficulties; Mark Harper spoke about how valuable the Access to Work scheme was and accepted that administering it had not gone as well as expected. However it also did not mean that there was an open-ended commitment and there needed to be a way of limiting the cost. The 30 hour rule, referred to, is a piece of guidance based on an interpretation of what is considered to be full-time employment. He explained that he had been working with Action on Hearing Loss to look at co-producing policy guidance to reasonably control cost. He said that his predecessor committed to the Access to Work Inquiry which is due to report at the end of the year. He has asked the chair if this could be produced earlier to inform the guidance.

21.	Rachel Perkins thanked Mark Harper for his time and also for the work he had done in his contribution to the Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013 which allowed people with mental health conditions able to become jurors. Mark Harper went on to speak about people with mental health conditions having the opportunity to participate fully in society and how he hoped the Act would change people’s perceptions regarding to mental health. 

22.	He thanked the Forum members for attending and hoped they found it useful.  

23.	Rachel Perkins handed over to Sarah McClinton (Director of Mental Health and Disability) at the Department of Health who explained that she would guide them through the afternoon session and went on to introduce Norman Lamb, Minister of State for Care and Support.

Norman Lamb – Minister of State for Care and Support
24.	Norman Lamb spoke about the Care Act which was the biggest reform of care law in over 60 years. It includes a right of appeal which allows individuals to challenge local authority decisions on care. The Care Act was developed in collaboration with the Wider Care Sector, local government, patient services and users of services. He went on to explain that the Care Act seeks to improve an individual’s wellbeing and the duties preventing ill health to stop people drifting into hospital unnecessarily. He explained that the Care Act will also address the standards in care homes and ensure the owners and directors are more accountable. It provides people with mental health conditions the same rights to treatment as those with a physical disability and will join up services, treating the whole person and seeking prevention. He spoke about an introduction of a cap on care costs and extending means tested support. The introduction of minimum standards of care, and supportive training which has clear standards including training on dementia. This would result in a care certificate.  

Questions from the Forum members and responses from Norman Lamb 
25.	Mental Health and suicide linked to the Work Capability Assessment; Norman Lamb said that he had already raised his concerns about any links that the welfare reforms are having on disabled people, especially those who have mental health issues. All public services have a responsibility to disabled people and we cannot treat people with one size fits all. He also added that it is recognised that working is good for people’s well-being but we need to be sensitive to disabled people’s needs. 

26.	Do local authorities have the funding to support the Care Act; Norman Lamb agreed that local authority funding is under pressure. He explained that he has introduced a better care fund totalling £3.8 billion, which will be available next year. It will be partly NHS money and partly care money. It incorporates national conditions which protects social care, by local authorities signing up to this commitment.

27.	Can there be more provision for access to advocacy for people with learning disability; and people with mental health issues who are both offenders and ex-offenders; Norman Lamb said that the right to advocacy was not a universal right but if the individual felt that social workers were acting as ‘Gate Keepers’ then there is now a right of appeal which will be available within the Care Act.

28.	Will the Care Act provide more support to carers; He explained that the Care Act gives more rights to carers, providing them with assessment and support. Funding is still to be allocated to this area but the announcement on the total allocations to local authorities for this element will be soon. 

29.	There is a transforming rehabilitation programme which MOJ is rolling out; can the mentoring and advocacy of offenders and ex-offenders be linked to the Care Act; The liaison and diversion service help to ensure that people with mental health and learning difficulties get the right treatment with the aim to reduce re-offending, and Norman Lamb took on board the links which could be formed within the Care Act. Sarah McClinton who has the lead in mental health and social care has also taken on this ambition. 

30.	Can we do anything to encourage drivers to have their eyes tested to prevent accidents and additionally can anything be done about the state of the pavements, reducing pot-holes etc. which causes accidents; Norman Lamb agreed totally that prevention is the key, blind or partially-sighted people who fall due to uneven pavements are a huge cost to the system and to the individual.

31.	To look at the quality of the assessments of care homes; Norman Lamb responded that if anyone sees or experiences poor care there is available NHS Choices on the internet. The website identifies every care provider, and individuals have the opportunity to include their own comments. The website and the Care Commission are completely transparent and its duty is to expose unacceptable things, as well as grading care. 

32.	What will happen to those people already in the system not covered by the Care Act; Norman Lamb explained that everyone will be covered by the Care Act, whether they are new or existing care workers.

Olivia Butterworth - Head of Public Voice - NHS England 
33.	Spoke about the developing Information Standard for accessible information. A consultation of the draft standard is now open and runs until the 9th November 2014 so there is still the opportunity to be involved. Details about the Standard can be found on the link. This has been developed with Mencap and Action on Hearing Loss.
http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/patients/accessibleinfo-2/  

Questions from the Forum members and responses from Olivia Butterworth
34.	How can I be involved in the consultation as I can’t view a website; There are various options to be involved in the consultation, individuals can have access to audio, braille and there is a phone number on the website which is 0113 8251324.

35.	Some organisations have signed up to the British Deaf Association (BDA), BSL charter but other areas are poor, do you have any power to ensure people adhere to the standard; Olivia said that the BDA charter is a recognised standard, however there is still much work to do to deliver fully accessible services. 

36.	I represent a network of organisations and I would like to get input from our members to feed into the consultation; The opportunity to feed into the consultation is an open invite, the work will continue beyond the life of the consultation as continual improvements are always being sought

37.	Have you had talks with other government departments about applying this standard, I know DWP have inaccessible practices; Olivia explained that if accessible standards of communication is delivered for Health it will be an exemplar and any learning can be included in a similar framework for other government departments.

38.	Pat Russell informed the Forum that Mark Harper was working with his Inter-Ministerial Group to look at accessibility of government communications including DWP. 

June Best – DPULO Ambassador Northern Ireland
39.	Covered her work trying to establish Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations in Northern Ireland, the number of DPULOs in Northern Ireland have increased from 2 to 6 with lots of hard work and funding from the ODI. Working with the larger disability organisations and the support from the Office of the First Minister and the Office of the 2nd Minister we are making lots of progress.

Tara Flood and Team - Shadow reporting on the UN Convention
40.	Tara and her team explained that the report has been produced following consultation with hundreds of disabled people across the four home nations in response to the planned scrutiny of the UN Convention. The detail of when the scrutiny of the UN Convention is to commence is still not known.

41.	A question was raised on whether UK would have to submit an updated report, and the response confirmed that if the information is out of date the committee will ask for updates. 

Matt Parry – HM Treasury – Consultation of the new £1 coin
42.	He spoke about the new and secure £1 coin being developed to be introduced in 2017, the proposals are that it will be 12 sided, consist of two metals and incorporate anti-counterfeiting technology. They are halfway through the public consultation, and If you would like to take part the closing date 27th November. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/specification-of-the-new-one-pound-coin

One question was raised
43.	How many groups of people with learning difficulty are aware of the consultation? Matt responded, that people could share any views through the consultation. Secondly if there are any views about the how to communicate the information around the transition could people inform him by 21st November via the ODI. It would be helpful to work with as many different groups as possible to help raise awareness.

Close  

Annex A

Attendees 

Mark Harper Minister of State for Disabled People MP 
Baroness Kramer Minister of State for Transport MP
Norman Lamb – Minister of State for Care and Support MP 
Rachel Perkins – External Facilitator

Tara Flood – ALLFIE
David Buxton – British Deaf Association
Keith Smith – British Institute for Learning Difficulty
Liz Sayce – Disability Rights UK 
Julie Jaye Charles - Equalities National Council
Paul Breckell – Action on Hearing Loss
Pauline Nolan – Inclusion Scotland
Guy Parkhar – Leonard Cheshire
Dan Scorer – Mencap 
Andy Kempster – MIND
Facilet Hadi - RNIB
Jill Allen-King – National Federation for the Blind
Andrew Lee – People First Advocacy
Anna Bird – Scope
Dan Burden – Spinal Injuries Association
Julie Newman – UK Disabled Peoples Council 
Joanne Sawyer – Age UK
Lee Dolby – English Federation for Disability Sport
Caroline Weston – Marie Curie Cancer Care
Jane Hughes – Rethink Mental Illness
Svetlana Kotova – Sense
Emily Cameron – Whizz-Kidz
Tracey Lazard – DPULO London Rep.
Ruth Gould – DPULO NW Rep.
Keiran Bright – DPULO SW Rep.
Theresa Hodge – DPULO SE Rep.
Mick Dillon – DPULO East Rep.
Pete Millington – DPULO WM Rep.
Andrew McDermott – DPULO Yorks and Humberside Rep.
June Best – DPULO Ambassador NI 
Stephanie Harvey 
Tracey Waltho
Diana Barrimore – Lip speakers
Lesley Weatherson - Lip speakers
Roger Beeson – BSL
Tom Mould – BSL
Palantypists X2