The Challenge
Across the political spectrum, concern about the demise of representative democracy, evidenced by low electoral turnout, has led to increased interest in ‘participative democracy’ – for example citizens’ juries – as a means of engaging the public in decision-making. Equally, concern about the strength of civil society has turned attention to ‘active citizenship’ – increasing the number of people involved in voluntary and community activities. This could foster more positive relations within and between communities.
Despite the considerable achievements of disabled people in developing voluntary organisations, to create a powerful voice and enable them to escape exclusion, people who are disabled officially constitute only 6 per cent of formal volunteers and around 4.3 per cent of public appointments across Britain. This is compared to 20 per cent of the population at large.
By the age of 26, young disabled people are more than three times as likely as other young people to agree with the statement “whatever I do has no real effect on what happens to me”. Initiatives aimed at promoting social responsibility and active citizenship are more likely to characterise disabled people as objects of voluntary activity rather than participants.
This is a major missed opportunity and a waste of talent. Opportunities for disabled people to play a more active role in the design, delivery and evaluation of public services are denied, perpetuating inequality. Since they are unable to demonstrate the contribution they could make, a consistent strand of prejudice goes unchallenged: low expectations of individual competence. Voluntary activity provides an untapped opportunity for people to acquire the skills and confidence that could help them into paid employment. In some areas of Britain – where there is a high incidence of disability and poverty, low skills and high crime levels – voluntary activity can provide a way out of exclusion.
This paper provides a range of policy solutions to the challenge of increasing participation. It is part of a series offering the Disability Rights Commission’s (DRC) proposals for a future public policy agenda.
Everything in this paper should be taken as relevant to all three countries of Britain unless otherwise stated.
An alternative future?
The DRC believes it is desirable for disabled people, communities and the country that many more disabled people have a voice and make an active contribution to public, civic and community life.
The objectives for an effective reform agenda are to:
- Set and meet ambitious targets for the participation of disabled people in civic, public and community life.
- Remove disincentives and barriers to participation and provide individual support.
- Encourage and nurture leadership.
- Recognise and reward participation.
Recommendations for action
1. To set and meet ambitious targets for the participation of disabled people in civic, public and community life
Governments should:
1.1 Set ambitious targets to improve participation by disabled people in all aspects of local and national life, including the work of public bodies, citizens’ panels and other public involvement initiatives. For example, the Commissioner for Public Appointments should require each NHS trust to appoint at least one person meeting the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) definition of disability (one in five of the British population) to its board, in line with the commitment to a patient-led NHS. The revised performance framework for local government should set outcomes on equality, with national indicators, including the participation of disabled people in civic and public life.
1.2 Establish an effective network connecting existing national, regional and local involvement structures with central government involvement mechanisms.
1.3 Establish formal involvement protocols between governments and organisations representing disabled people, as proposed by the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. Participation mechanisms must be clearly and transparently linked to decision-making and allocation of budgets.
1.4 Undertake disability equality impact assessments of relevant policies to ensure they contribute to greater participation of disabled people, for instance national digital inclusion or democratic renewal strategies. Ensure that strategies to devolve more power (from central government to local government and from local government to the neighbourhood) explicitly ensure equality of opportunity and increased participation by disabled people.
1.5 Review, with the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), the operation of Compacts in England and Scotland and the Voluntary Sector Scheme in Wales, to ensure that they effectively promote the participation of disabled people.
1.6 Ensure that government funding programmes to increase the capacity of the voluntary sector include, as a core success criterion, action to develop skills and the capacity to encourage disabled people’s participation.
National voluntary organisations should:
1.7 Adopt ambitious strategies to increase the participation of disabled people throughout the sector and to build the capacity of member organisations through advice, guidance and training. This includes umbrella organisations such as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
Local councillors should:
1.8 Ensure participation of all members of the community in shaping decisions.
Funding bodies should:
1.9 Set criteria that require applicants to demonstrate their ability or provide an action plan to enable disabled people to participate as service users, volunteers, trustees, directors and employees. This includes private, voluntary and public funders, including large bodies like the National Lottery.
All public sector bodies should:
1.10 Require, in their procurement processes, that contracting organisations in the private and voluntary sectors meet the Disability Equality Duty (DED) to increase the participation of disabled people in public life.
2. To remove disincentives and barriers to participation and provide individual support
Governments should:
2.1 Remove benefit disincentives in the welfare system. Welfare reform should actively promote participation in public and community life (in line with the requirements of the DED). Reform should ensure that ‘work-related activity’, including volunteering, is supported by government funding (similar to Access to Work schemes).
2.2 Establish a learning framework to increase the skills and confidence of individuals and organisations to engage in active citizenship. Government funding for local provision of citizenship learning opportunities should ensure the participation of disabled people.
Social enterprise and other capacity-building initiatives should:
2.3 Target disabled people’s organisations, in order to create strong and sustainable bodies capable of encouraging the participation of disabled people in the wider community.
Social and healthcare services should:
2.4 Set outcomes in terms of full citizenship and independent living, ensure that advocacy is available to support this, and measure success against the requirements of the DED to promote participation.
3. To encourage and nurture leadership
Governments should:
3.1 Encourage political and community leaders and senior executives to be open about their experience of impairment or long-term health conditions, as this can provide positive role models to encourage others and help tackle low expectations. This might be co-ordinated by the Office for Disability Issues (in England), and by Ministers in Scotland and Wales.
3.2 Support mentoring schemes to help disabled people attain leadership positions.
All political parties should:
3.3 Set targets for increasing the percentage of members and candidates who meet the definition of disability in the DDA and establish ‘disability A lists’ for safe and winnable seats.
4. To recognise and reward participation
Governments should:
4.1 Establish inclusive national centres for citizen participation with educational partners, offering a range of accredited courses in citizen participation leading to recognised vocational qualifications. This would increase incentives for engaging disabled people.
4.2 Include action in national volunteering and youth work strategies to enable disabled people to participate in formal volunteering opportunities.
4.3 Ensure, with partners, that national innovation awards schemes reward initiatives which actively increase the participation of disabled people in public life. This could be achieved with corporate and other partners.
Measuring change
1. The Cabinet Office should report on performance in England and Wales against its public service agreement target to increase engagement in voluntary and community life, especially amongst those at risk of social exclusion. The participation of disabled people, specifically, should be reported under this target. In Scotland, similar targets should be set as objectives in regeneration strategies.
2. The Citizenship Survey should be used to track levels of participation of disabled people compared to other citizens across all areas of measurement.
3. The CEHR should monitor diversity of leadership in British life, including disabled people as leaders. Inspectorates should track progress in increasing the proportion of leadership roles in the public sector held by disabled people.
4. The Charity Commission and other agencies regulating the voluntary sector (for example, the Housing Corporation) should establish targets and guidance on the participation of disabled people.
5. The Commissioner for Public Appointments should set specific and ambitious targets, and report progress, on the number of people meeting the DDA definition of disability securing public appointments, and the diversity of roles taken. Reporting should be broken down by broad impairment group in line with DED requirements.
6. Public authorities should, under the DED requirements, report regularly on progress to improve disabled people’s participation across civic, public and community life. This should include reporting on how they have involved disabled people in the development of Disability Equality Schemes. Reporting should be broken down by broad impairment group and also by gender, ethnicity, age, parental and carer status, religion and belief, and sexual orientation.
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