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Disability Equality Targets and Prison
www.drc-gb.org/health and www.dotheduty.org
The Disability Equality Duty is a new way of helping the public sector make a real, positive change to the lives of disabled users and employees, ensuring that they are treated fairly and equally. 45,000 public bodies across Great Britain are covered by the Disability Equality Duty (DED). Many of these, under the specific duties, should have produced and published a Disability Equality Scheme by 4th December 2006.
- Promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people
- Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the DDA
- Eliminate disability-related harassment
- Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people
- Encourage participation by disabled people in public life
- Take steps to take account of disabled persons’ disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled persons more favourably than other persons.
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D.E. OBJECTIVE |
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1. Find if strategic objectives could be better met by ensuring equality for disabled staff and service users, including people with long-term health conditions, mental health issues and disabled people from black and minority ethnic communities |
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2. Collect wide-ranging data on the experiences of disabled staff as well as the needs of all disabled people in your area |
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3. Take actions to bridge the gaps between the experiences of disabled and non disabled staff and service users |
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4. Set targets for employment retention and career progression of your disabled staff |
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5. Set relevant targets for improving the service delivery and health outcomes for disabled service users, including those with long-term health conditions, mental health issues, learning disabilities and disabled people from black and minority ethnic communities |
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6. Mechanisms in place for involving disabled staff as well as disabled people in key decision making, particularly on issues relating to disability equality |
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7. Set aside funds to comply with statutory requirement to involve disabled people. Liaise with other organisations who share similar functions in the geographical remit to jointly involve disabled people’s organisations |
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8. Monitor and set targets for appointment of disabled people to advisory boards, committees etc. |
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9. System in place for capturing improvements made as a result of disability equality impact assessments, of initiatives, policies and practices. Committees to receive this detailed information for major policies they are considering |
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10. Senior staff to receive training on disability equality, particularly to ensure that when they set budgets or approve corporate plans they have due regard to promoting disability equality |
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11. Manager identified to drive the work on disability equality and the Disability Equality Scheme |
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12. Staff undertake disability equality training |
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13. Measures in place to routinely meet existing obligations on Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act (Access to Goods, Facilities and Services) |
Disability Awareness and Services for Elderly in Prison
Many elderly patients are disabled. The prison population has increasing numbers of over 50s. The problems of the elderly (over 50) in prison were outlined in HM Inspector’s Thematic Review: “No Problems-Old and Quiet: Older prisoners in England and Wales”. Since October 2004 prisons have also been subject to DDA and the Prison Service followed this by PSO 2855. Prisons need also to follow The National Service Framework for Older people.