Consultation outcome

Annex A: consultation questions

Updated 5 February 2024

Annex A: Consultation questions

This page brings all of the consultation questions from Chapters 4 and 5 into one place for ease of reference. We would welcome responses to the following questions set out in this consultation paper.

Elected office

DU recognises that disabled people are underrepresented in elected office (for example, as MPs or local councillors). DU is proposing to carry out a review of funding for reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates, with the aim of finding a long-term solution. They are also proposing to set up a GOV.UK webpage to signpost guidance and training. The aim of both of these would be to increase the representation of disabled people in elected office over time.

Questions:

1a. To what extent do you agree with proposals to review funding support and create an online hub to improve access to elected office for disabled people?

1b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

1b. If you know of existing guidance or training for disabled candidates to elected office that you think should be included on the GOV.UK webpage, please share them.

Accessible playgrounds

DU is proposing to create an online hub of guidance about accessible playgrounds. The hub would provide information to make it easier for local authorities to make the playgrounds they build or refurbish accessible to disabled children.

Questions:

2a. To what extent do you agree with the proposal to create a hub of guidance about playground accessibility?

2b. To what extent do you agree that the voluntary standards for playground accessibility should be made mandatory?

2c. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

2d. If you know of existing guidance that DU should consider including on the hub, please share them.

Emergency planning and resilience work

DU is proposing to support increased disability inclusion in emergency planning and in resilience work. Examples of emergencies include extreme weather events, power outages or outbreaks of disease. DU proposes doing this by increasing the reach of disabled people’s voices through greater engagement with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs).

Questions:

3a. To what extent do you agree with the proposed plan to increase disability inclusion in emergency planning and resilience work?

3b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

3c. If there are particular DPOs that you think should be engaged in this area, please share them.

Climate adaptations and mitigations

DU has identified climate adaptations and mitigations as an emerging area in need of increased disability inclusion. This would mean making sure that measures addressing climate change consider and respond to the needs of disabled people. Examples of climate adaptations and mitigations include measures implemented to change people’s car use and energy consumption.

Questions:

4a. To what extent do you agree with the need to focus on the emerging area of climate adaptations and mitigations?

4b. If there is anything further that you would like the government to do to increase disability inclusion in climate adaptations and mitigations, or you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

[Please note: the Disability Action Plan covers a short period of time from 2023 to 2024. While all responses to this question will be considered, any large reforms are unlikely to be within its scope. You are invited to focus particularly on the changes that can be delivered by DU in 2023 to 2024.]

4c. DU has already identified Clean Air Zones (CAZ) and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) policies as an area for action. Please tell us if there are other climate adaptations or mitigations that require greater disability inclusion?

Disability Enabled Badge

DU is proposing to develop a Disability Enabled Badge to encourage businesses and services to train their staff in disability awareness, and to make it easy for disabled customers to identify businesses and services that have done so.

Questions:

5a. To what extent do you agree that this scheme would give increased confidence to disabled customers when accessing businesses or services?

5b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

Special Olympics

DU and DCMS are proposing to work together to commission a feasibility report into Great Britain hosting the Special Olympics Summer Games in 2031. The Special Olympics is a global movement to drive social change for people with learning disabilities. The aim of hosting is to raise awareness of learning disabilities, drive greater grassroots participation and celebrate the wider world of human talents and potential.

Questions:

6a. To what extent do you agree with the proposal to explore hosting the Special Olympics Summer Games in Great Britain as a way of meeting this aim?

6b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

6c. To help lay the groundwork for a bid, please inform us of any learning disability sports organisations that you think should be engaged, if the Special Olympics Summer Games were hosted in Great Britain?

Addressing access refusals for guide dogs

It is illegal to refuse entry to a disabled person with a guide dog under the Equality Act 2010. An access refusal is when a person with a guide dog is denied entry to a business or service despite having these rights. DU is proposing to work with the guide dog sector to establish what more the government can do to address access refusals experienced by people with guide dogs. This would include consideration of increasing the civil penalties (fines) for access refusals.

Questions:

7a. To what extent do you agree with the proposed plan to work more closely with the guide dog sector to establish what more the government can do to address access refusals of guide dogs?

7b. To what extent do you agree that increasing fines would address the issue of access refusals for guide dogs?

7c. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

Raising the profile of assistive technology

DU is proposing a number of activities to raise the profile and understanding of assistive technology in government. Examples of assistive technology include ‘low tech’ products like ramps and modified can openers, and ‘high tech’ products like voice-activated control systems within the home. The aim of this work is to ensure the government can keep up to date with the assistive technology field, so it can advise disabled people on what assistive technology could support them and how to access it.

Questions:

8a. To what extent do you agree that access to assistive technology would be improved by better-informed advice from public sector staff?

8b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

Wellbeing and opportunities of disabled children

DU is proposing establishing a task force to improve the wellbeing and opportunities of disabled children. This task force would bring multiple government departments together to work on a broad issue that they are all responsible for in different ways. It would aim to improve the way government services for disabled children work together. The proposed areas of focus would be: transitions to adulthood, accessibility of public spaces and transport, bullying, personal safety and the impact on wellbeing and early identification of need and support for families.

Questions:

9a. To what extent do you agree with each of the following proposed areas of focus?

• transitions to adulthood
• accessibility of public spaces and transport
• bullying, personal safety and impact on wellbeing
• early identification of need and support for families

9b. If there are other issues that you think this taskforce should consider, or you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

[Please note: the Disability Action Plan covers a short period of time from 2023 to 2024. While all responses to this question will be considered, any large reforms are unlikely to be within its scope. You are invited to focus particularly on the changes that can be delivered by DU in 2023 to 2024.]

Support for disabled parents

DU is proposing to establish a task force on improving support for disabled parents. This would bring multiple government departments together on a broad issue that they are all responsible for in different ways. DU has initially identified disabled parents’ access to parenting support in health and care services, family courts and child protection and domestic abuse support as likely areas of focus.

Questions:

10a. To what extent do you agree with each of the following proposed areas of focus?

• access to parenting support in health and care services
• Family Courts and child protection
• domestic abuse support

10b. If there are other issues that you think this taskforce should consider, or you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

[Please note: the Disability Action Plan covers a short period of time from 2023 to 2024. While all responses to this question will be considered, any large reforms are unlikely to be within its scope. You are invited to focus particularly on the changes that can be delivered by DU in 2023 to 2024.]

Disability evidence and data improvement programme

Government evidence and evaluation on disabled people usually focuses on outcomes. Outcomes data is that which measures the final result of a policy area or service, such as being in employment or having a degree. This type of information can be very valuable, but DU believes that improving the lives of disabled people also requires government evidence and evaluation that focuses on the experiences of disabled people. This additional evidence helps to put outcomes data in context, allowing a clearer picture of how policies really impact disabled people’s lives.

Questions:

11a. To what extent do you agree with this proposed approach to evidence and evaluation?

11b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

Disability foresight

DU is proposing to commission foresight research to better understand the emerging issues and evolving priorities for disabled people in the next 5, 10 and 20 years. Foresight explores possible futures, and allows policy makers to predict and plan for possible future scenarios. It enables policy makers to consider issues other than those that are already known to be important.

Questions:

12a. To what extent do you agree that DU should focus some of its evidence and insight work on anticipating future challenges for disabled people, rather than focusing solely on further exploring known needs?

12b. If you would like to explain your answer, please do so here. (Suggested maximum 500 words)

Final questions

Government is also interested in hearing your views on the plans and actions as a whole. In particular, DU is interested in hearing about additional or alternative actions that should be considered that would make a significant difference to the lives of disabled people.

1. What do you think of the plans and suggested areas of action described in this consultation as a whole? Are these the right things for the government to be focusing on over the next year?

2. What alternative actions might the Government consider that would make a positive difference to the lives of disabled people?

Questionnaire: demographics

About you

This section asks for information about you or your organisation. Demographic information will allow us to consider the responses of different groups, and to consider equality impacts in any future policy decisions.

Question 1. Are you responding as an individual or an organisation?

• Individual (please go to Section A)
• Organisation (please go to Section B)

Section A: Questionnaire for individuals

Question 2a. Which of the following descriptions do you identify with? (Tick all boxes that apply)

• Disabled
• Neurodiverse
• d/Deaf
• None of the above
• Other _____________
• Prefer not to say

Question 2b. Do you identify as having conditions or illnesses that affect you in any of the following areas? (Tick all boxes that apply)

• Vision (for example blindness or partial sight)
• Hearing (for example deafness or partial hearing)
• Mobility (for example walking short distances or climbing stairs)
• Dexterity (for example lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard)
• Learning or understanding or concentrating
• Memory
• Mental health (for example depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Stamina or breathing or fatigue
• Socially or behaviourally (for example autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which includes Asperger’s, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• None of the above
• Prefer not to say
• Other _____________

Question 3. Where do you mostly work? If you are currently not in work, please indicate where you live most of the time. (Tick one box)

• England
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales
• Other _______________

Question 4. What is your ethnicity? Please choose the option that best describes your ethnic group or background.

White:

• English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British
• Irish
• Gypsy or Irish Traveller
• Roma
• Any other white background

Mixed or multiple ethnic groups:

• White and black Caribbean
• White and black African
• White and Asian
• Any other mixed or multiple ethnic background

Asian or Asian British:

• Bangladeshi
• Chinese
• Indian
• Pakistani
• Any other Asian background

Black, black British, Caribbean or African:

• Caribbean

• African
• Any other black, black British, Caribbean or African background

Other ethnic groups:

• Arab
• Other ethnic group _____________
• Prefer not to say

Question 5. What is your religion? (Tick one box)

• No religion
• Christian (Including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations)
• Buddhist
• Hindu
• Jewish
• Muslim
• Sikh
• Any other religion __________
• Prefer not to say

Question 6. How old are you? (Tick one box)

• under 18
• 18 to 24 years
• 25 to 34 years
• 35 to 44 years
• 45 to 54 years
• 55 to 65 years
• Over 65 years
• Prefer not to say

Question 7. What is your sex? (We will ask about gender next) (Tick one box)

• Female
• Male
• Prefer not to say

Question 8. Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth? (Tick one box)

• Yes
• No, enter gender identity
• Prefer not to say

Question 9. Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? (Tick one box)

• Straight or heterosexual
• Gay or lesbian
• Bisexual
• Other sexual orientation
• Prefer not to say

Question 10. What was the occupation of your main household earner when you were about aged 14? This question provides an indication of socio-economic background. (Tick one box)

• Modern professional and traditional professional occupations such as: teacher, nurse, physiotherapist, social worker, musician, police officer (sergeant or above), software designer, accountant, solicitor, medical practitioner, scientist, civil or mechanical engineer
• Senior, middle or junior managers or administrators such as: finance manager, chief executive, large business owner, office manager, retail manager, bank manager, restaurant manager, warehouse manager
• Clerical and intermediate occupations such as: secretary, personal assistant, call centre agent, clerical worker, nursery nurse
• Technical and craft occupations such as: motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver
• Routine, semi-routine manual and service occupations such as: postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter or waitress, bar staff
• Long-Term Unemployed (claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance or earlier unemployment benefit for more than a year)
• Small business owners who employed less than 25 people such as: corner shop owners, small plumbing companies, retail shop owner, single restaurant or cafe owner, taxi owner, garage owner
• Prefer not to say
• Other

Section B: Questionnaire for organisations

Question 2. What type of organisations or networks does your response represent? (Tick all boxes that apply)

• Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO)
• Charity
• Social enterprise
• Trade union
• Private organisation or business

• Umbrella organisation

• Other

Question 3a. Whose views does your organisation or network represent? Please state whether members are individuals or organisations.

• Individuals
• Organisations

Question 3b. How many members does your organisation or network represent?

• 1 to 24
• 25 to 249
• 250 to 999
• 1000+

Question 4. Where does your organisation or network operate? (Tick one box)

• England
• Wales
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland
• England and Wales
• Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland)
• UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• International (UK and other countries)
• Other ________

Question 5. What is your role in the organisation?

• CEO or equivalent
• Head of network
• Trade Union representative
• HR professional
• Policy or research professional
• Comms or campaigns or external affairs professional
• Diversity and Inclusion professional
• Other