Lukewarm welcome for Queen's Speech

Disability organisations have cautiously welcomed measures in Gordon Brown’s first Queen’s Speech.

The government’s programme for the next year will include a criminal justice and immigration bill with a new offence of inciting hatred against disabled, gay, lesbian and transgender people. It has delayed plans for a single equalities bill.

The government will also introduce a “stronger” health and social care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with tougher powers.

The CQC will merge the existing Commission for Social Care Inspection, Healthcare Commission and Mental Health Act Commission.

Neil Coyle, head of policy for the National Centre for Independent Living, said he hoped that proposed hate crime laws and the Care Quality Commission would give specific attention to crimes being committed against disabled people in the healthcare system.

Mr Coyle added that he was happy that the Queen’s Speech omitted bills on single equality legislation and adult social care reform.

He said: “The initial fear was that the government would rush through its own views [on these issues] without consulting disabled people.”

Meanwhile, pan-disability group RADAR has called on the government to consider disabled people more closely in every piece of legislation proposed in the Queen’s Speech.

RADAR chief executive Liz Sayce said: “The government will only be able to achieve its admirable targets…by taking into account the needs of the 11 million disabled people in the UK.  All policy-making, regardless of whether its central concern is disabled people, needs to consider the impact it will have on disabled people.”