DPTAC response to:
Welsh Assembly Government's consultation 'Starting To Live Differently' on The Review Of The Sustainable Development Scheme
Introduction
1. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) is grateful for the opportunity to comment on the Welsh Assembly Government's consultation document 'Starting to Live Differently' - The Review of the Sustainable Development Scheme'.
2. DPTAC was established under the Transport Act 1985 to advise the Government on the transport needs of disabled people. Our role was recently extended, on a non-statutory basis, to advise the Government on the built environment needs of disabled people.
3. DPTAC has identified four overarching principles on which to base its advice to Government, other organisations and disabled people, which are that:
- accessibility for disabled people is a condition of any investment;
- accessibility for disabled people must be a mainstream activity;
- users should be involved in determining accessibility;
- achieving accessibility for disabled people is the responsibility of the provider.
4. These principles are the basis of DPTAC's response to consultations. In this response we set out some general issues before making specific comments on the consultation.
General comments
5. DPTAC's principle concern is to ensure accessibility for disabled people, by which we mean inclusive transport systems and built environments which are easy to reach, use and understand in safety and comfort.
6. Depending on the scope of 'environment' the process of assessment has considerable benefits for addressing access for disabled people. Our focus is therefore on the wider sustainability appraisal, which includes social and economic concerns.
The population
7. Disabled people account for a significant proportion of the population. The number of disabled people varies according to the definition used. Disabled people constitute 20% of the UK population, or 11.7 million adults in the UK, one in five of whom is of working age, and it is estimated that one in four households has a disabled resident. Levels of disability increase with age: 8% of those aged 16-17 years have a current long-term disability, compared with 33% of those aged 50 to 65. Disabled people have a spending power of around £40 billion per annum. Wales has a higher level of limiting long-term illness than any English region, and 87,882 persons were registered with a sensory or physical disability in Wales at 31 March 2002.
8. Disabled people are not a homogenous group sharing the same needs. The needs of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities are distinct from those of wheelchair users for example. Sensitive signage design, for example, will assist many with people with visual impairments, but not those who are wholly blind.
9. Of disabled people overall, in broad terms:
- 70% have difficulty walking and/or climbing steps;
- 41% have a hearing loss;
- 24% have a vision loss.
10. Disabled people live throughout the community. One in four households has a disabled resident. The need for access for disabled people is not limited to specific areas or buildings but present throughout transport and the wider built environment.
11. In broad terms, over the next 30 years:
- The proportion of people over 65 will increase by 40%;
- The number of people aged over 65 will double;
- The proportion over 80 will double, while the number will treble.
12. The same period that will bring about these changes in the population profile will see the overall population increase by less than 7%.
13. The growing populations of disabled and older people will have social, as well as economic, implications if those responsible do not recognise and address the need for more inclusive environments. Mobility and transport are vital to achieving and sustaining self-sufficiency and independence into old age.
A strategic approach
14. There is enormous scope and opportunity to improve accessibility for disabled people but it will require a strong commitment at all levels.
15. Accessibility for disabled people is often only considered in terms in terms of detailed design. DPTAC believes this is no longer sufficient and that strategic decisions, investment and policies must be underpinned by consideration of accessibility for disabled people, with evidence of how diversity has been considered in decision making.
16. We welcome the Government's commitment to accessibility being a condition of public money being spent in the Ten Year Transport Plan.
17. Private and public investors of any transport or built environment project need to know whether investment plans meet the need of disabled people. To prevent a waste of resources, they will also need evidence that people at all levels of responsibility understand how to provide accessibility for disabled people.
Specific Response to the Consultation
Is it right to maintain and extend the distinction between a statement of principles in the Scheme, adopted by the Assembly, and a set of actions to deliver them in an accompanying Action Plan for the Assembly Government?
18. DPTAC is content with this distinction, so long as each of the two elements is evaluated, reviewed and fully consulted on regularly.
The Vision of a Sustainable Wales
19. The explanation given of the social elements of sustainable development places a proper emphasis on the need for social justice to tackle poverty and ill health. However as drafted this could lead to insufficient recognition being given to the contrition of age and disability as contributors to social injustice. DPTAC therefore recommends the following three changes:
- Add to the first indent of the new section 3.1 "and maximise the equal distribution of these benefits";
- Replace the second indent of the new section 3.1 with "action on social justice that tackles, poverty, disability and poor health, and provides people and their communities with the means to free themselves from the consequences of social imbalances that can arise from these factors."
- Replace the sixth indent of the new section 3.1 with "supporting all people to live healthy and independent lives, irrespective of income, location or disability."
By working with others
20. In the spirit of the Compact between the Government and the voluntary sector, DPTAC proposes that the first indent on work with the voluntary sector be amended to read "by promoting and developing the potential for citizenship by all members of communities".
By setting and using indicators and targets
21. DPTAC believes that it is important to state that the indictor sets used, as well as the statement of principles in the Scheme, and the Action Plan, will be subject to consultation. We therefore recommend that the fourth indent states that the indicator set will be reviewed and consulted on.
Action Plan
22. DPTAC welcomes the inclusive reference in the Action Plan to the need to address inequalities in people's life chances and the poor quality of life of too many people. However we believe that this needs to be specially related to the reference to planning in the third indent on the planning system so that it reads "making the planning system more proactive and responsive to the needs of all in Welsh society".
Neil Betteridge,Chairman
Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
1/14 Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4 DR
Tel: 020 7944 8012
Email: dptac@dft.gsi.gov.uk
7 January 2004
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