Guidance

Overview and information pack

Updated 1 February 2024

Applies to England

The deadline for applications has now passed.

1. Overview and information pack

The Cabinet Office Disability Unit is recruiting 2 Regional Stakeholder Network (RSN) chairs on behalf of the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work.

We have chair vacancies in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West. These chairs will join an existing stakeholder engagement network that covers 9 regions of England.

RSNs have supported government work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and have worked to develop and implement wider disability policy. The RSN’s chairs work with networks in their region and the Cabinet Office to continue to ensure the voices of disabled people throughout England are heard and valued in a way that informs policy and strategy.

Previous chairs have made significant changes in their sectors, using their expertise to make good progress for disabled people. They have helped the government improve the lives of disabled people and remove many obstacles and barriers they can face.

Yet there is still more that can be done to improve the lives of disabled people. The new chairs will continue the work to tackle issues faced by many disabled people through an ongoing dialogue with the government.

2. What being a chair involves

RSN chairs are:

• leaders in their region who want to make a difference locally and nationally
• effective change-makers who help to drive improvements in the accessibility and quality of life for disabled people
• promoters of best practice from within the network
• coordinators of regular membership meetings
• advocates for the voices of disabled people, heard through a range of platforms

These are voluntary positions held alongside the chair’s usual job.

3. Could you be a chair?

As a chair, it is expected that you will be:

• a self-motivated, successful leader in your region, with strong networks
• credible and respected within your region, and able to reach out to a wide range of disabled people, their carers, parents and disabled people’s organisations
• passionate about driving social change for disabled people

The 9 chairs should live and work in one of the following regions:

• South East
• South West
• East of England
• London
• West Midlands
• East Midlands
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• North West
• North East

4. What an RSN chair says about the role

“The RSN has been a great opportunity so far, to talk to disabled people and their representative organisations across the North West. As a proactive network we have been able to address barriers disabled people face by gathering insight to influence policy such as the impact of the pandemic, the importance of advocacy, and communication.”

Lynne Turnbull – former Chair, RSN North West.

5. Are you ready to become an RSN chair?

To find out more about the role and how to apply, see the Documents section for an application form.

6. Ministerial foreword

The Regional Stakeholder Network is a voluntary network that spans the 9 regions of England. It involves disabled and non-disabled people routinely meeting to discuss policy issues facing disabled people in their region.

Each regional network is governed by a local chair, who is appointed by the Cabinet Office. We are now recruiting for 2 chairs in:

• Yorkshire and the Humber
• North West

In my role as Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, I want to work constructively with the Regional Stakeholder Networks to tackle issues that many disabled people face.

This government is committed to having an ongoing dialogue with you, and as chair of your region’s RSN, you will be a leader in your region who wants to make a positive difference.

By working together, we can make tangible progress in improving disabled people’s lives.

Tom Pursglove MP

Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work

7. Background to the Disability Unit

We support the Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health in their cross-government role on disability.

At the heart of our work is a focus on reducing the barriers faced by disabled people, both in government and across wider business and society.

We are the focal point for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities across government.

8. About the Regional Stakeholder Network

The Regional Stakeholder Network began in 2019. It is facilitated by the Disability Unit to enhance the government’s existing engagement with disabled people.

The main objectives of our stakeholder engagement are to provide:

• regular, meaningful opportunities for disabled people to share their views and experiences of the policies, services and programmes that affect them – and inform government on issues that they feel are important
• greater diversity and regional representation from individuals and smaller disability organisations
• a more proactive approach to engagement with face-to-face meetings, virtual meetings, digital communication and other accessible methods
• the co-ordination of disabled people’s views to feed them into the design, development and running of government policies, services and programmes.

In order to meet these objectives we have established a Regional Stakeholder Network (RSN), made up of 9 regional groups.

8.1 How it works

There are 9 regional groups in England:

• North West
• North East
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• West Midlands
• East Midlands
• South West
• South East
• East of England
• Greater London

Each regional network consists of 10 to 40 members from local disabled people, parents and carers of disabled people and disabled people’s representative organisations.

The regional network is led by a chair who is supported by a deputy. The chair and deputy are supported by the Disability Unit and given a small expense budget for personal assistance in the role.

Each of the regional networks should meet at least 4 times a year. These meetings will be arranged and paid for by the Disability Unit. Networks will have the freedom to meet more often should they wish, but this would be without Disability Unit support.

The meetings provide an open forum to share views and experience across all policies and services that affect disabled people.

The network chairs will meet monthly. This is currently a virtual meeting. The agenda for the meetings will be decided collaboratively between the chairs and the Disability Unit, and will be based on the principles as follows:

• ensure fairness and equality – we will empower disabled people by promoting fairness and equality of opportunities, outcomes and experiences, including work and access to products and services
• consider disability from the start – we will embed inclusive and accessible approaches and services to avoid creating disabling experiences from the outset
• support independent living – we will actively encourage initiatives that support all disabled people to have choice and control in life
• increase participation – we will enable greater inclusion of a diverse disabled population in the development and delivery of services, products and policies
• deliver joined-up responses – we will work across organisational boundaries and improve data and evidence to better understand and respond to complex issues that affect disabled people

The RSN chairs will play an important role in providing insight through our contract to gather qualitative and quantitative data. Insight gathered from the meetings and engagement will be passed to the relevant government department and policy makers working on the issues that have been identified. Feedback will also help to inform disability policy and the government’s responsibilities under the UNCRPD.

8.2 How the government will use information gathered from the networks

The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will meet with the chairs of the 9 regional groups to hear about the views and priorities of the members of each group.

Additionally, the views and experiences gathered from the Regional Stakeholder Network meetings and from the online engagement will be passed to the relevant government department and policy makers working on the issues that have been identified. This information will be used to help them to understand where policies might not be working as well as they could be, or provide feedback on things that are working well.

The Disability Unit will provide updates to the members of the Regional Stakeholder Network to share progress on the issues that have been raised and how government is using this information.

9. Regional Stakeholder Network chair role

We are looking for chairs with lived experience and understanding of disability who represent groups of disabled people in each region. They will have links, and can make links, with other local organisations in their region to identify issues of interest to disabled people and represent those disabled people at the regional Network.

The chairs will be expected to engage with and give feedback to other local organisations between Network meetings to ensure that their representation is accurate and current to the needs of the people they represent.

The chairs must be fair and even handed, and must be able to:

• convene and facilitate Network meetings and ensure all members have the opportunity to be fully engaged with the meeting process
• be impartial and ensure all voices are heard regardless of their personal views and report a broad range of views
• work with the Disability Unit to feed the views of the Network to the government and coordinate the work of their Network during the year

They will be expected to:

• confidently engage with different people, gain their views and opinions
• be a figurehead for the Network in their region, ensuring that regular recruitment of organisations and members are encouraged to join.
• report views and opinions of others in an engaging and meaningful way, reflecting differences of opinion and points of agreement
• bring together people with differing views
• build trust to create a collaboration and dialogue between network members

The appointments are unpaid, however travel expenses and any costs required to support a disability will be paid to enable you to attend the annual in-person Network meeting. Meetings are currently held virtually, in the main. There is an expense allowance for Chairs to gain personal assistance with the administration of the Network.

10. Confidentiality

All discussions will be conducted under ‘Chatham House rules’. Participants are free to use the information received, but the identity of the speaker is not revealed. Comments will be attributed to the network as a whole not to an individual.

11. How to apply

If you are interested in being considered for one of these positions, please either:

• complete the application form
• send us a document or email containing the same information

11.1 If you are using the application form

Download an application form from the Documents section.

Complete the application form and send it by post or email to the return address.

11.2 If you are not using the application form

Please send us the following information either in a document (for example, Word or Google) or in an email.

About you

Please tell us your:

• name
• postal address
• email address
• telephone number

About your organisation

If it is relevant to your application, please tell us about your organisation – for example, if you represent a disabled people’s organisation.

Please tell us the organisation’s:

• name
• interests
• size – the number of members it has

Your preferences

Please tell us:

• whether you would like us to contact you by email or post
• if you need alternative formats of any materials
• if you would need any communication or other adjustments to attend any meetings in the future

Your suitability for the role

To demonstrate your suitability for the role, please send us the following.

A short CV (no more than one page).

The names and contact details of 2 referees – we will only contact them if you are shortlisted for the role.

A statement explaining why you want the role and what you want to achieve.

Examples of when you have demonstrated the following attributes:

• being self-motivated and having set up strong, sustainable networks
• being impartial and able to achieve a reasonable compromise when complex and opposing views are being discussed
• being credible and respected in your region
• being passionate about driving change for disabled people
• the ability to ensure members have a voice and are fully engaged in their network

12. Return address

Send your application by email to disabilityunit@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Or send it by post to:

Disability Unit Correspondence Team
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
United Kingdom

You must complete your application in full so the selection panel can compare all candidates equally and transparently. We will not consider incomplete applications or links to websites such as LinkedIn.

12.1 Accessible formats

Please contact disabilityunit@cabinetoffice.gov.uk for an application form in an accessible format.

Receipt of all applications will be acknowledged by email, and we will notify you if you are successful, or unsuccessful in due course.

13. Closing date

The deadline for applications has now passed.

14. Recruitment process

A selection panel will sift candidates for appointment based on the criteria in the application pack. If 2 or more candidates are deemed equally suitable for a particular role, they will be invited to an interview. Should interviews be required they will be held virtually or in a fully accessible venue to be confirmed.

The panel will submit its recommendations for appointments to the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work who will decide on and make the appointments. The minister may also wish to meet all candidates recommended by the selection panel.

All information will be treated in the strictest confidence. However, if you are successful, some information will be used to prepare the press notice of successful appointees – we will however clear any information used with you first.

15. Standards of conduct and conflicts of interest

The successful candidate will be required to show commitment to the Seven Principles of Public Life, as drawn up by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, more commonly known as the Nolan Principles.

The RSN is a public body and, as such, is expected to maintain a register of members’ interests to avoid any danger of board members being influenced or appearing to be influenced, by their private interests in the exercise of their public duties. Candidates may be questioned about any real or perceived conflicts of interest. These do not constitute an automatic bar to appointment, but they must be manageable.

Conflicts could include:

• financial arrangements – for example, fees or shareholdings of the candidate, business associates or close family
• membership of organisations whose aims might be perceived to be in conflict with those of the Cabinet Office the DWP
• any activity which, if revealed after appointment, could cause embarrassment to the government

16. Equal opportunities

The Department is committed to providing real equality of opportunity irrespective of race, nationality, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, age, gender assignment, work pattern or membership or non-membership of a Trade Union.

17. Data protection

We take our obligations under the Data Protection Act seriously. Any information about you will be held in secure conditions with access restricted to those who need it in connection with dealing with your application and the selection process.

Data may also be used for the purposes of monitoring the effectiveness of the recruitment process, but in these circumstances, all data will be kept anonymous.

If you are unsuccessful, your personal data relating to your application will be destroyed after 12 months.

18. Annex: Role description

18.1 Background

In 2019, the Cabinet Office’s Disability Unit (previously the Office for Disability Issues) established Regional Stakeholder Networks (RSNs) of disabled people and disabled people’s user-led organisations to advise government officials on inclusive policy development.

The networks support the government’s commitment to meet the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights Disabled People (UNCRPD) to bring disability issues into the mainstream across policy-making.

There are 9 RSNs in England, one in each English region. Each network has a local chair who acts as the central link between its members and the Disability Unit. Each network has 10 to 40 members representing the diversity of disabled people in the region.

18.2 What we are looking for

We are looking for people keen to be RSN chairs with an understanding of disability who represent groups of disabled people in each region. They will have links, and can make links, with other local organisations in their region to identify issues of interest to disabled people and represent those disabled people at the RSN.

The chairs will be expected to engage with and give feedback to other local organisations between network meetings to ensure that their representation is accurate and current to the needs of the people they represent.

Each network chair must be fair and equal. They will:

• convene and facilitate network meetings and ensure all members have the opportunity to be fully engaged with the meeting process
• be impartial and ensure all voices are heard regardless of their personal views and report a broad range of views
• work with the Disability Unit to feed the views of the network to the government and coordinate the work of their network during the year

They will be expected to:

• confidently engage with different people, gain their views and opinions
• report views and opinions of others in an engaging and meaningful way, reflecting differences of opinion and points of agreement
• bring together people with differing views
• build trust to create a collaboration and dialogue between network members

Chairs will not be paid, but travel expenses with receipts will be paid to attend the annual network meeting.

The chairs can access 4 hours of personal administration support per week, paid at a rate of £25 per hour.

These expenses are for the sole use of supporting the Chair and the administrative duties associated with the role. Expenses must be claimed using official Disability Unit forms.