High five - resolutions for the new or old

This is the season for resolutions. As Britain enters the second decade of the new millennium, and a General Election looms, Ruth Patrick says it is timely to set out five inherently achievable aspirations on disability for this or the next Government

This column has frequently returned to the need for the Government to rethink its approach to welfare reform and to reconsider the effectiveness of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) before rolling it out to all disability benefit claimants. Further, as part of the “support” the Government continually promises but less often delivers, it is time for a concerted and sustained effort to dismantle the disabling barriers in the workplace.

Turning to housing, the Government still needs to address the inequities in Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the new benefit for those renting from the private sector. Single disabled people who require a live-in carer can only claim a one-bedroom rate and thus frequently face a rent shortfall. Similarly, families with disabled children are not able to claim a separate room for disabled children should they need it. To resolve this, the Government must pass secondary legislation to enable more flexibility in the room-allocation for disabled people. This legislative reform is long overdue.

January is a cold month and one where reflections often turn to the costs faced by many disabled people seeking to keep their homes warm. Whilst the elderly benefit from Winter Fuel Payments (WFPs), disabled people are not so lucky. This needs correcting, particularly given the Government’s commitment to end fuel poverty for all vulnerable people by 2010, this year! All that is required is to extend WFPs to those in receipt of high-level Disability Living Allowance (DLA) due to mobility impairments. This must be done and soon.

It is now over a year since Gordon Brown pledged to remove prescription charges for those with long-term health conditions. Thus far, this has only been implemented for those living with cancer. Brown should push this up his priority list and seek to ensure that he does not leave office without fulfilling his prescription promise.

Finally, and more holistically, the Government should commit to enabling the genuine participation of disabled people in policy generation, implementation and evaluation. This requires more than tokenistic consultation and demands appropriate, effective and sustained engagement with disabled people.

These five resolutions represent an achievable agenda for change. As individuals, we will each have our own resolutions for the year ahead but I’d like to make a plea for one more to be added to the list. That is to “carry on campaigning” and working hard to hold the Government to account in its progress towards true equality for all disabled people. A long-term resolution for us all.