pension333: Conditions have improved for disabled councillors, but could still be better

A fund to support disabled people into local politics is a step in the right direction ? but what more can be done?

As a wheelchair user David Chung says that campaigning for a council seat in Merton, London, in 2002 was not easy. Public meetings weren't as accessible as they now are, and he had to ask for special requirements to suit his needs.

"We talk about the social model of disability. Basically this is about the environment not being friendly to us, so we have to make adjustments to the environment."

He adds: "You just make the best of the situation you're in. So, if I say I'm going to go somewhere, I check in advance about the facilities so I don't get any unpleasant surprises. If you make plans in advance it's likely that arrangements will be made to accommodate you."

Eleven years later, there is now support available. Last year the Government Equalities Office launched the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund. The fund makes grants of up to �20,000 to disabled candidates in local, national, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections to cover any additional cost they may incur associated with their disability.

Jude Palmer is the managing director of Digital Outreach, the organisation in charge of administering the fund. She says: "If someone is disabled they may well incur additional costs to those of a candidate who isn't disabled. For example, if someone was deaf and needed to hire a British sign language interpreter to come along to their hustings, that is a cost a person who wasn't deaf wouldn't have to pay."

Palmer stresses that many disabled people are put off running for office because of the costs they'd incur. It's very rare that the first time a candidate runs they are selected and then elected, so if they were determined to keep trying, the costs would stack up.

So far, Palmer says, the feedback they've had has been positive. However, the fund only supports candidates in the selection and election processes ? once they've been elected, they're on their own.

Chung says that this is a problem because you don't know what needs you may have further down the road. "There is the Access to Work scheme, but people need to know that there are these avenues available to them once they become elected," he says.

John Park, strategy and policy director at Community trade union, which represents the National League of the Blind and Disabled, welcomes the fund but stresses that more needs to be done to engage disabled people in politics at an earlier stage.

He says: "Getting people involved in politics is difficult. Getting disabled people involved in politics is even more challenging so support to actually engage people so they become politically active in the first place should also be considered. This would obviously involve working directly with political parties to improve their structures for disabled members."

And what of a career as a council officer? Stephen Marsland is a transport planner in the data and modelling team at Hertfordshire county council, and has cerebral palsy. Since joining the council just over 10 years ago, he hasn't had a problem with their accommodating his needs and nor, he says, have other disabled people with different mobility needs.

He says: "I've worked for large employers, small employers, and I've also been to university as a mature student, and I'd probably say that the council was one of the top ones."

Hertfordshire has been taking action to make life easier for disabled staff. Louise Tibbert, head of human resources and organisational development at the council, insists that while they have reduced the overall entitlement to sick leave for everybody due to tightened budgets, they felt the council should be more supportive of those with a disability.

"We introduced some special leave for those people, so if somebody's got a debilitating illness like Crohn's disease, they could draw up to five days a year from the disability leave allowance," she says.

And it seems that local government in general is becoming more accommodating to people with specific needs.

Tibbert says: "Across the country, because there are requirements now to make sure public buildings are accessible for the general public coming into them, by and large they're also accessible for our staff."

Park agrees that many of the practical issues that disabled people faced in the past, in terms of accessibility for example, have thankfully improved in recent years.

Marsland and Chung say that disability support groups can be a great help for anybody interested in getting involved in local government.

"For people who are thinking of becoming councillors, it would be useful if they could have some kind of orientation training session with people like themselves, a session with disabled people who are councillors, speaking to people who've gone through the system before and can give them the benefit of their experiences," Chung says.

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Emily Wight

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2013/jul/23/issues-faced-by-disabled-council-staff

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