As this” Annual Wales Impact Report” states, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s goals are to:
- Ensure that people’s life chances aren’t held back by barriers in their way
- Make sure we have strong foundations on which to build a more equal and rights respecting society
- And Protect the rights of people in the most vulnerable situations
It refers to the launch of their “Housing and disabled people: Wales’ hidden crisis’ report”.
I Chaired a meeting of the Cross Party Group on Disability at which the Commission spoke about this.
They expressed concern about the lack of data held by Local Authorities around Disabled people’s housing requirements and knowledge of the stock they hold, and that only 55% of Local Authorities said they conducted Equality and Impact Assessments on their local development plans - and rightly stressed the importance of listening to disabled people.
The report found that:
• there is a significant shortage of accessible homes
• disabled people are not getting the support that they need to live independently
- there was no target in the Welsh Government's 20,000 affordable housing target by 2021 for accessible homes
- only one out of 22 local authorities had set a percentage target for accessible and affordable homes
- And only 15 per cent of local authorities in Wales said that the information they had about disabled people's housing requirements was 'good’.
The European Convention on Human Rights was drafted by the Council of Europe, not the European Union.
As a signatory, the UK would be breaking international law if it failed to respect the rights in the European Convention.
The 2019 UK Conservative Manifesto states that the UK Government will update the UK Human Rights Act and establish a Constitution, Democracy & Rights Commission to examine issues in depth.
It also states that the UK has long been a beacon of freedom and human rights – and will continue to be so.
This report refers to the Commission’s 2018 “Is Wales Fairer” Report and the Commission is keen for the Welsh Government to provide evidence detailing how it has taken forward its specific recommendations.
Highlighting the difficulties experienced by disabled people accessing public transport, it recommended that :
- Transport for Wales should work with Network Rail and rail contractor KeolisAmey to improve accessibility of the existing rail infrastructure across Wales.
- And that Public transport providers and regulators should provide training to ensure all staff have the knowledge and skills to help meet the needs of disabled passengers.
Although the Welsh Government has stated that it intends to explore further incorporation of human rights in law in Wales, it voted against Darren Miller’s proposal to incorporate the UN Principles for Older Persons in Welsh Law.
It therefore now needs to set out its specific proposals.
I regularly hear from disabled people who have been discriminated against and therefore need the Commission to support strategic legal cases which establish legal precedent.
I therefore welcome the cases supported by the Commission which resulted in the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales ruling that a North Wales school unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of disability, and in a judgment means that landlords must allow disabled leaseholders to make changes that are reasonable and necessary.
I have previously spoken here in support of a proposed Bill to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons into Welsh law, and called for Welsh Government action to address the failure by public agencies to carry out their duties and responsibilities to disabled people, noting that the Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to think ahead and address barriers that impede disabled people.
This report notes that the Welsh Government has committed to review the Public Sector Equality Duty in Wales in line with the Commission’s recommendations.
I will therefore close by referring to three recent examples amongst many where this is being ignored on the ground:
Where an Local Education Authority has told the parents of a young girl that she should not go to her local Primary school because they deemed her wheelchair adaptations too expensive, without consulting them.
Where Flintshire-based “Changing Places” campaigner, Kim Edwards, stated “currently people with profound disabilities are excluded from their local towns because they are not able to have their basic human needs met; simply use the toilet”.
And where Social Services failed to establish and meet the communication and processing needs of an autistic child when they interviewed her - and then determined that she was not at risk of abuse from her perpetrator. Fortunately the Court saw through this.