"Enforcement of equality law and employer centred welfare reform should not be undermined by spending cuts, otherwise disabled people and employers could lose out says Employer's Forum on Disability"
Tomorrow's Comprehensive Spending Review will affect the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Office for Disability Issues. The Chief Executive of the Employer's Forum on Disability, Susan Scott-Parker said;
"We fully support the government's intentions to get disabled people off benefits and into work. We know from working with hundreds of employers over nearly 20 years that it makes good business sense to employ disabled people. We also understand that the government has tough decisions to make.
Two proven ways to get disabled people into work are: credible enforcement of equality law by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and putting employers' recruitment needs at the heart of welfare reform. Government work after the Comprehensive Spending Review should build on, not duplicate, our experience in this area"
Full article at eGov Monitor
Campaigning against the government's distressing war on disabled benefit claimants. All posts represent the opinions of their respective authors and not WtB as a whole.
Showing posts with label Quangos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quangos. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Fate of disability quangos becomes slightly clearer
Last month, we posted that a number of vital disability quangos were facing the axe as part of the government's spending review. On Thursday 14 October, a list detailing the fate of all the quangos under review was published. Of those that affect disabled people, things are not much clearer.
Perhaps most importantly, the Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance Advisory Board is to be closed. It no longer qualifies as an NDPB* and its functions are to be transferred to both the Department for Work and Pensions, with external specialist advice if required, and Equality 2025.
The Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee is also to be closed, as it too no longer has NDPB status. The government says it it is still "exploring options for continuing to gain the disability advice we need through a more flexible, accountable structure". This leaves our transport issues in limbo, as once the committee is shut down it could be months or even years before any announcement is made as to who or what will take over its function. And in the meantime, nothing will happen.
Equality 2025 will also take on responsibility for the functions of the Disability Employment Advisory Committee, which again no longer has NDPB status.
Both the Independent Living Fund and Remploy are officially "under consideration"** with options still being looked at. On the one hand, that might not be a bad thing - no decision has been made yet as to whether to keep them as they stand. On the other hand, if they do go, their replacements could be far worse, assuming they are actually replaced.
Lastly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is to be retained and substantially reformed, with "better focus on its core regulatory functions and improved use of taxpayers' money". Let's hope the changes will put finally disability equality on a par with racial and gender equality.
* Non-Departmental Public Body. NDPBs may have either an executive or advisory role.
** "Under consideration" means "part of an existing wider review, including the spending review, or under specific consideration as part of public bodies reforms".
Perhaps most importantly, the Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance Advisory Board is to be closed. It no longer qualifies as an NDPB* and its functions are to be transferred to both the Department for Work and Pensions, with external specialist advice if required, and Equality 2025.
The Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee is also to be closed, as it too no longer has NDPB status. The government says it it is still "exploring options for continuing to gain the disability advice we need through a more flexible, accountable structure". This leaves our transport issues in limbo, as once the committee is shut down it could be months or even years before any announcement is made as to who or what will take over its function. And in the meantime, nothing will happen.
Equality 2025 will also take on responsibility for the functions of the Disability Employment Advisory Committee, which again no longer has NDPB status.
Both the Independent Living Fund and Remploy are officially "under consideration"** with options still being looked at. On the one hand, that might not be a bad thing - no decision has been made yet as to whether to keep them as they stand. On the other hand, if they do go, their replacements could be far worse, assuming they are actually replaced.
Lastly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is to be retained and substantially reformed, with "better focus on its core regulatory functions and improved use of taxpayers' money". Let's hope the changes will put finally disability equality on a par with racial and gender equality.
* Non-Departmental Public Body. NDPBs may have either an executive or advisory role.
** "Under consideration" means "part of an existing wider review, including the spending review, or under specific consideration as part of public bodies reforms".
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