News round-up

Government’s spending plans will ‘fail to deliver’

Campaigners warned that social care services would suffer as a result of the government's spending plans over the next three years.
As part of its comprehensive spending review (CSR), the government said it would be spending one per cent above the rate of inflation per year for the next three years on social care.
The National Centre for Independent Living said the settlement would fail to deliver independence or control for disabled people.
As part of its CSR, the government also announced it would be publishing a green paper on reforming the system of adult care and support, in an attempt to ensure effective spending and more choice.
Leonard Cheshire Disability welcomed the announcement, saying that it would help stop the country “sleepwalking into a care crisis”.

BBC pulls awareness-raising slot

The BBC has scrapped plans for a woman with a facial disfigurement to read the news. Kathy Lacy was to anchor a BBC South East bulletin to promote awareness, but the BBC backtracked as “it could be seen to be impacting on the balance of our news”.

Mass rally calls for EU disability law

A petition of more than one million signatures was presented to the European Union (EU), at a mass rally demanding EU-wide anti-discrimination legislation.
More than 1,000 disabled people attended the demonstration in Brussels on 4 October, where the petition was handed over to the European Commission president,
Jose Manuel Barroso.
British Labour MEP Richard Howitt, president of the European Parliament's all-party disability rights group of MEPs, joined the petition handover.
He claimed the EU had failed to honour a promise to bring disability legislation in line with race law.
Disabled lawyers brought together by the European Disability Forum have drawn up a model draft directive, with the one million signatures collected following an EU-wide campaign.

Compensation for wheelchair-user

A wheelchair-user who was denied access to a tea-shop was awarded £4,500 compensation by a county court judge.
The court heard that Jazz Shaban and friends visited Wharfe’s restaurant and tearoom, in Shaftesbury, Dorset, in May 2006.
District judge Brian Smith said the tea-shop owner, who is appealing against the decision, had presented a “wholly unmeritorious defence, which exhibited a lack of sensitivity”.
After the case, which was supported by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), Ms Shaban told Disability Now that when she tried to enter the tea-shop, the owner said: “I am not having that in here.”
Sir Bert Massie, at the time of the case the chairman of the DRC, said the ruling underlined that small businesses are not exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act.

Scottish Greens plan hate crime law

The Green Party proposed a new law in the Scottish Parliament to tackle hate crimes on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. The move would bring Scottish law into line with England and Wales.
Patrick Harvie MSP laid plans for a private member’s bill before the Parliament. The bill would put such assaults on the same legal footing as attacks on the grounds of religion and race.
The move came shortly after the Disability Rights Commission in Scotland published an independent study into community safety and policing plans. It found that disabled or gay victims of crime were not a priority in any of the plans studied and recommended that the law be amended to include aggravation on such grounds.
A spokesman for the Green Party said the majority of parties in the Scottish Parliament favoured the bill.
The Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland also backed the move, and said it would “send a clear message of support” to minorities, and give them increased confidence to report such crimes to the police.

Carer employment case goes to Europe

A case heard in the European Court of Justice could lead to more legal rights for carers of disabled people.
Sharon Coleman claims she was forced to resign from her job as a legal secretary after being harassed by her employer, and was refused flexible working.
The case, heard last month, was supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and solicitors Bates, Wells and Braithwaite.
The final judgement is expected next spring.

Possible New York show for Lapper statue

Marc Quinn's statue of artist Alison Lapper has been removed from Trafalgar Square after two years. Negotiations are underway to show it in New York as part of a possible international tour.

Two new members for Equality 2025

The government announced the final two members of its new Equality 2025 advisory network on disability equality.
The first 21 members were announced late last year and have now been joined by Northern Ireland’s representative, Dr Gary McGladdery, and Pauline Latchem, a British Sign Language-user.
The announcement comes as the network prepares to hold its first public meeting, in Birmingham on 12 November, allowing disabled people to discuss the issues they would like the government to address.
Dr McGladdery is a disability officer at Queen’s University in Belfast, and Ms Latchem is a campaigner, trainer, and advocate for deaf people with mental health problems and learning difficulties.

Free Dial-a-Ride for disabled people

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, announced that Dial-a-Ride fares for disabled and older Londoners are to be abolished from 1 January 2008.

The door-to-door transport service is provided by local councils, with major funding from Transport for London, and is used by disabled and older
people who cannot access the city’s buses, trains or the tube.


The move will benefit around 50,000 Londoners who currently pay to take 1.2
million journeys a year, and is the first in a series of plans to
improve transport for disabled Londoners.


The mayor told the Disability Capital conference in east London last month that he would like to move towards also making the Taxi Card service
free.


The mayor also announced that, over the next two years, City Hall plans to
take over Taxi Card and Dial-a-Ride from councils and provide a single uniform
service across London.


He said he was struck by the number of unacceptable travel experiences
relayed to him by disabled people, particularly when using assisted
services like Taxi Card and Dial-a-Ride.
More news at www.disabilitynow.org.uk