Following our active involvement in the coproduction of the Locked-Out Report (2021) into the impact of the pandemic on disabled people in Wales, as well as representation on the Disability Rights Taskforce, DW welcomes publication of Welsh Government’s long awaited Disabled People’s Rights Plan.
The ten-year plan outlines short- and longer-term actions aimed at making Wales ‘an inclusive, accessible nation where disabled people can assert, access and enforce their rights’.
To ensure robust oversight and meaningful guidance throughout the implementation of the Plan, Welsh Government will establish an ‘influential and independent’ External Advisory Board, consisting of disabled people and representatives of Disabled People’s Organisations.
DW’s Chief Executive Rhian Davies, a member of the Taskforce and Chair of the Independent Living/Social Care Working Group, said:
‘The Disabled People’s Rights Plan was born from the dark days of the pandemic where disabled people were an afterthought in public policy resulting in high numbers of avoidable deaths and thousands more facing loneliness, isolation and hardship. Coupled with over a decade of austerity and the cost-of-living crisis, many disabled people are ‘barely surviving’.
Nevertheless, the high level of engagement among disabled people in the work of the Taskforce together with the collective leadership demonstrated by the ten Taskforce Working Group chairs, shows the resilience and commitment within our community to creating a more inclusive future where disabled people ‘truly thrive’.
With Senedd Elections on the horizon, taking forward delivery of the plan will fall to the new Welsh Government working coproductively with the External Advisory Board, including pinning down detail regarding the actions as well as the measurement framework.
To tackle the regression in disabled people’s rights, DW’s Manifesto From Barely Surviving to Truly Thriving (2025) calls for delivery of a robust, long-term Disabled People’s Rights Plan including resourcing of Disabled People’s Organisations and a designated Minister for Disabled People.
It is vital that the cross-party commitment secured to date follows through beyond the Election to ensure that the demands of disabled people for a more inclusive society in Wales are fully realised.’
Read the written statement about the publication of the Plan.
