Disabled People Against the Cuts are holding a demonstration in Birmingham on

Sunday 18th September

Assemble at 11am Granville Street, B1 1JW  Continue Reading

Following recent discussions with members of the Long Term Impairments Partnership Board, the City Council Adult services Team have arranged a conference for people with long-term impairments to establish the future structure of the Board and inform future strategy.

It will be held on September 15th at the A4I premises in Albert Road WV6 0AF, commencing at 10.00 am with coffee and closing at 3.00 pm.

The Agenda is:

10.00     Coffee

10.30     Opening presentations and outline for the day.

11.00     Working Groups.

12.00     Lunch and Display Market stalls of Disability groups in Wolverhampton.

1.30       Working Groups.

2.30       Plenary session

If you want to come along as part of One Voice let us know soon and we will make sure your place is booked.

One Voice was involved along with many disabled people, in putting forward suggestions to make the new bus station less of a barrier for disabled people.

The project was called The Interchange Project – because it was supposed to enable passengers to easily change from bus to train to metro (if the Metro ever gets the funding to extend).

On the day the bus station opened, many passengers found that their bused no longer stopped at the bus station – there was no interchange at all – just a chaos of buses outside the Art Gallery. So now, many people have to go much further to get to the train station than before. Perhaps the project should have been called the ignoring-the-passengers project.

Not content with making this change, the bus company decided to changes the numbers and routes of most buses. There was a leaflet about these changes that came out 2 weeks before – so people had some notice. The leaflet though, was not called “changes to bus service” it was called “a fresh start”, so most bus users didn’t pick it up. The changes in number and service have been condusing to every passenger we have met on buses.

Now we have the passenger-unfriendly situation of more buses stopping or waiting in Lichfield street than there is room for. So some stop away from the bus stop, or change which end of the bus shelter they stop at, because of lack of space – this makes it much more difficult for blind and visually impaired and mobility impaired people to use the bus – it is also very stressful for all bus users. Sometimes, a bus will stop in the right place, and the driver will get out and passengers have to wait for a new driver.

This isn’t a fresh start, it is a fresh hell, and it seems to have been done without any consultation with passengers. It has made huge new barriers to using the bus service for many disabled people and others.

It is not the way to make sustainable change.

A new poll found 70 per cent of disabled people were concerned that a change of law to allow terminally ill patients to receive help to die would create pressure on vulnerable patients to “end their lives prematurely”.
This probably says more about disabled people’s feelings of not being treated as equal and valued members in society, than it does about assisted suicide.
Any change to the law, proposed by disabled celebrities like writer Terry Pratchet and campaigner Debbie Purdy would need to have strong safegaurds and recourse to independent advocates to protect disabled people’s rights to self-determination.

A British Diplomat praised for her work promoting disability rights as a diplomat in Poland, has had her new posting as Britain’s deputy ambassador to Kazakhstan revoked, after Foreign Officie officials decided that her deafness makes it too expensive for her to work abroad.
The Equality and Human Rights commision is taking up her case.
But this signals an interesting approach by a Government that – in oppositiion, said that disabled people’s equality was safe in their hands.
Overcoming disabling barriers can be expensive, but the Disability Discrimination Act looks at the resources of the organisation when deciding whether the cost of removing barriers or providing aids and adaptations, is prohibitive and can be refused.
It seems a clear indication of the Government’s continued intention for poorer and “less equal” groups to bear the main burden of the Government cuts.
After all, a Government that is still paying MP expenses for TVs, up to £24,222 for rent/housing costs, an annual Communications Allowance of £10,400, and up to £37,281 to each MP for staff costs.
Readers may also remember an item in the news that foreign secretary William Hague was employing 3 Special Advisors, but apparently, paying for the lip speakers that Jane Cordell uses to do the job she was selected for is too expensive.
The EHRC must win this case, or the hard won rights of Disabled people to live and work as equals will have been effectively repealed.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun it’s inquiry into disability-related harassment and how well it is being addressed by public bodies. They want to hear from disabled people who have been harasssed or organisations working for disabled people in the 3rd sector (voluntary and community sector) as well as public authorities (like police, councils, housing authorities, and education) and public transport bodies.

You can find out more from their video >>>

The Government has launched its new white paper on plans for a National Care Service.

The white paper comes after wide consultation with many people including disabled people in wolverhampton who came to our 3 consultation meetings to have their say and be part of our submission to the Government>>

They seem to have moved from their original position – opposite to the funding of the health services – that only individuals who need care will pay for it – taking notice about what many disabled people’s groups have said on the matter.

Minister Andy Burnham said:

“I feel very strongly that this is a responsibility we must all help to shoulder. And it’s clear from what we have heard from the thousands of people who have given us their opinions on this over the past twelve months, that people agree. That’s why we know that the fairest way to help everyone who is affected by a serious disease, illness or disability is for us all to pay into a system so we get free care when we need it.”

You can download your own copy of the white paper here>>

As yet another disabled person dies as a result of bullying in their homes, are authorities doing enough?

Quiet enjoyment of property, a right to live free of fear, a right to protection from crime – these seem to be pretty basic human rights that disabled people are not being entitled to.

In the most recent case where a man with a learning disability collapsed and died after continued and sustained harassment at his home from local youths, is yet another case where police have been informed and involved, but the disabled person has died anyway.

Police in this case were keen to point out in interviews that they had “done a lot of work” with the victim, including waiting in his house, installing CCTV cameras etc. The bullies’ response to the CCTV cameras was to wear hoods and balaclavas – we know, because we saw it on tv – so what happened then? What did police do when they saw that footage, surely they could have had regular patrols – arrests under hate crime legislation or public order offences.

I can see how the bullies made it difficult for the police, i can see how the police took positive action like the CCTV cameras, but i cannot see how the man was still allowed to be subject to bullying on a regular basis until he died.

Nobody can be complacent here – the police cannot congratulate themselves on “hard work” when the victim dies, but although the failure to protect the individual and to maintain civil order and neighbourhood safety is a police responsibility, it is also a responsibility for local councils and housing authorities, for local schools and neighbours, and for local communities.

How much damage was done when we all so readily embraced the idea that there is no such thing as communities? Surely as human beings we have a responsibility to our neighbours, but we stopped doing things at community level, stopped knowing who are neighbours are, made it that much more difficult for us to intervene when someone in our street needs help or is being bullied.

Perhaps we need more opportunities to meet and socialise with the people accross the road or corridor, the people down the street or in the next block, because history tells us that when communities band together to let bullies know that an injury to one is an injury to all, they soon stop coming around.

Today i had a letter from chris hudderton head of community services advising me that i can claim a percentage of my outstanding membership for my leisure card which is equivilent to 0.17p per month. also there is now something called the fit card which is available at 2 rates for 2 ways of paying:-

1)just the gymnasium £11.00 per month

2)just the pool   £15.00 per month

or

3)both gym and pool £26.00 per month

the 2 seperate payment methods:-

one payment for only £480-00 yes only £480.00

or

£26.00 per month yes only £26.00 per month

i forgot, the second payment method is only available by direct debit, what if you only have a basic bank account that does not accept direct debits such as a post office account.

alternatively you can pay a one off payment of 480.00 yes only £480.00 who has got that sort of cash lying around anyhow.

it seems that the disabled community is once again being excluded from leisure facilities