North Wales MS and Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Disability, Mark Isherwood, has today highlighted the various ways in which disabled people in Wales were failed during the pandemic and questioned the Minister with responsibility for Human Rights over actions being taken to ensure that they are not let down in this way going forward.
In this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood highlighted the high Covid death rate among disabled people in Wales and the identified reasons for this, and said disabled people did not always have their human rights fully respected during the pandemic.
Speaking as the Shadow Minister for Social Justice, he therefore asked the Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, what is being done to address such failings.
He said:
“I was re-elected as Chair on the Cross Party Group on Disability at its first meeting this Senedd Term on 17th December.
“The online meeting included a presentation by the Chief Executive of Disability Wales on the ‘Locked Out Report: Liberating Disabled People's Lives and Rights in Wales beyond COVID-19’, which originated from discussions at the Welsh Government’s Disability Equality Forum, Chaired by you.
“This found that 68% of deaths from COVID-19 in Wales were among disabled people and stated that: ‘there is nothing inevitable about this statistic and this report illustrates how social factors including discrimination, poor housing, poverty, employment status, institutionalisation, lack of PPE, poor and patchy services, inaccessible and confusing public information and personal circumstances, significantly contributed to this figure during the pandemic’.
“The report also found that disabled people did not get all the medical help they needed, had less access to public services and social support, had less access to public spaces and public life, struggled to live independently and did not always have their human rights fully respected.
“The report reaffirmed the fundamental right of disabled people to be fully involved in decisions about their own lives and the need for reasonable adjustments to be made to make sure that everyone is able to use places and services.
“What specific action are you taking as the Welsh Government Minister responsible for Equality and Human Rights accordingly?”
The Minister replied:
“in light of the testimonies that came from the Disability Equality Forum and data that was emerging, we commissioned forum members to examine the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was having on disabled people, and that resulted in the report you've just mentioned, 'Locked out: Liberating Disabled People’s Lives and Rights in Wales beyond COVID-19', and that was co-produced by Professor Debbie Foster of the Cardiff Business School and the Steering Group, who have worked together to ensure that we have a disability taskforce that's been established. I attended and co-chaired the first inaugural meeting in November, and, indeed, taking this forward, in terms of ensuring that the findings of the 'Locked out' report can be delivered.”
Mr Isherwood added:
“As Professor Debbie Foster told the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee this morning, which I was Chairing, to drive the change required will need change to the way we work across the public sector in Wales, with embracement of true co-production not political soundbites that often misunderstand and misuse the term.”
