North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Disability, Mark Isherwood, has once again raised concerns that the Welsh Government’s Disabled People’s Rights Plan won’t deliver what it was set out to.
The ten-year strategy was published on December 15th last year, and in today's meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood said much of the detail regarding how it will achieve what it was designed to, is still missing from the Plan.
Challenging the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS, he said:
"Although, when you published the final Disabled People's Rights plan 2025-35 on 15th December, you stated that ‘to secure meaningful progress for disabled people, it is crucial that 'we and future administrations are held to account for delivering clear, measurable actions and outcomes that improve equality for disabled people in Wales', and the Plan itself states that it ‘sets out its intention to deliver real, measurable change across a range of policy areas that affect the everyday lives of disabled people in Wales’, the detail on this is still missing.
"How, therefore, does the published Plan address the preceding statements by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, that the draft plan lacked ‘clear, measurable outcomes, time-bound actions and accountability mechanisms’, and by Disabled People's Organisations represented on your Disability Rights Taskforce, that without funding and clear, robust targets to implement the Plan, ‘it is very difficult to see how the Plan will make a difference to Disabled People in Wales’?"
In her response the Cabinet Secretary said:
"This is a 10-year plan. What's really important, and I have the opportunity to reassure colleagues across the Chamber, is that disabled people want to monitor how this plan is being implemented. That includes cross-Government, and it obviously includes financial commitments that have been made, and you saw that in my oral statement on the international day for disabled people. So, we are setting up an external independent advisory board to play a critical role in shaping the direction, monitoring progress and maximising the impact of the plan."
Speaking outside the meeting, Mr Isherwood said:
"This Plan was an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of Disabled People across Wales. It is therefore deeply disappointing that the published Plan does not seem to address the concerns raised during the consultation period, instead referring to the development of ‘Theories of Change’, or ‘logic models’, and stating that ‘an overarching measurement framework is in development to evidence progress and demonstrate the direction of change across key areas of the Plan’. It is precisely language such as this which is destroying faith in Governments and Politics.”
