Press release: London Assembly passes key motion on disability equality
The London Assembly is calling on a more strategic approach towards improving the lives of Disabled Londoners
Today, on the 5th of September 2024, London Assembly members unanimously supported a motion calling on the London Mayor to take more strategic approach to developing policies that impact on the lives of 1.2 million Disabled Londoners.
Photo: Sophia Kleanthous, Svetlana Kotova, Adam Gabsi, Laura Vicinanza, Hina Bokhari LA (left to right)
The motion, which was tabled by Hina Bokhari AM, reaffirms the Assembly’s commitment to the Social Model of disability and recognises the systemic injustice faced by Disabled Londoners and the need for all deputy mayors and GLA functions to listen to Disabled people’s voices and to coordinate and develop policies that address the needs of Disabled Londoners from the outset.
Among other things, the motion calls on the Mayor to appoint a Disability Equality Champion, who would lead on the development of Disability Action Plan, and to establish effective Co-production mechanism where Disabled Londoners and our organisations play an active role in policy development.
Adam Gabsi, Inclusion London chair said:
“Meaningful co-production is an essential part of improving the lives of Disabled people in London. Having a Disability Equality Champion who would be responsible for overseeing the development of the Disability Action Plan would be extremely beneficial in achieving the much needed necessary improvements. We welcome this motion and are grateful to Hina Bokhari for working with us and championing it and to all Assembly members for supporting it.
Now the ball is in the Mayor’s corner and we urge him to engage with us, listen to us and to take more strategic and proactive steps to improving our lives.
Our community has been one of the hardest hit by austerity, the COVID pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. We are disproportionately living in poverty, achieving poorer outcomes in education and far more likely to be unemployed or earn less. Public transport, technology, housing, street space, cultural and sports venues and activities remain inaccessible for many of us.
As a Disabled Londoner I live those barriers every day, and so do 1.2 million other Disabled Londoners. We are tired of empty commitments, we urgently need a real meaningful action. This is why we fully support a coordinated, strategic plan across all GLA group to proactively tackle the barriers we face every day.”
Watch the London Assembly debate
Notes to editors
The motion can be accessed here: https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/documents/s112906/Motions%20Report.pdf and below.
Inclusion London is a London-wide organisations bun and controlled by Deaf and Disabled people. We campaign for equity and inclusion for Disabled people and support other organisations run and controlled by Disabled people.
The Social Model of Disability recognises that Disability is caused by the way society is organised. More on the Social Model https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/about-us/disability-in-london/social-model/the-social-model-of-disability-and-the-cultural-model-of-deafness/
Motion text
The following motion has been proposed in the name of Hina Bokhari AM and will be seconded by Gareth Roberts AM:
“This Assembly notes:
- There are 1.2 million Disabled people in London. Disabled people are not a homogenous group: they have different impairments, have different genders, sexual orientations, come from different backgrounds, and live different lives.
- Yet all Disabled Londoners should be able to live in an inclusive city free from discrimination, a city where there are no disabling barriers preventing them from fully participating in society.
- Societal infrastructure, such as housing, transport and the street environment, consistently fail to meet Disabled people’s varied needs because of the lack of meaningful engagement with the Disabled community during policy formulation and implementation.
- While we recognise some progress has been made towards including Disabled Londoners in policy making – such as through TfL’s ‘All Aboard’ research panel – to achieve true justice and equity for the Disabled community, we believe the Mayor should do much more. He must ensure all Deputy Mayors and functional bodies
within the GLA Group work together to develop plans that address the specific needs of Disabled people from the outset.
- This Assembly reaffirms its commitment to the social model of disability which sees people with impairments and health conditions as being Disabled by how society is run and organised.
- It also recognises that Disabled people are experts by experience and know the solutions that are needed to tackle the challenges they face in society. We recognise the value and the need for the GLA and all the functional bodies within the GLA Group to meaningfully engage and co-produce our policies and programmes with Disabled Londoners and Disabled People’s Organisations.
We therefore call on the Mayor to:
- Appoint a Disability Equality Champion who would lead on making London a better place to live for Disabled Londoners. A Disability Equality Champion would be responsible for developing specific GLA disability policies and programmes and would work closely with Deputy Mayors to ensure disability equality and co- production is embedded into all their plans and policies.
- Establish an effective co-production mechanism where lived experience is recognised and Disabled Londoners and their organisations play an active role in developing policies that affect their lives.
- Appoint a Champion who would lead the strategic development of a London Disability Action Plan. This would bring together a coordinated list of actions to improve the lives of Disabled Londoners, with specific targets and monitoring mechanisms to ensure Disability equality is central to all functions of the GLA group.
- Ensure a Disability Equality Champion has a role separate to the one undertaken by the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice in order to take a broad, cross- cutting and non-political role across the GLA group.”
The motion passed as tabled, with an amendment to include an independent review of bus stop bypasses.