The Greater London Authority has produced a new draft Disability Equality Scheme (DES). The draft DES is being circulated for consultation until 15 October.

Copies of the DES can be found at www.london.gov.uk

While the fact that the GLA has produced a proposed new scheme is welcome, it has the feel of a document that has been pulled together hastily. There is a worrying level of confusion and lack of transparency.

The relationship between proposed objectives, the actions needed to reach objectives and how success will be measured is not clear. The equality objectives that the mayor proposes to ‘measure’ are shown in Chapter 6 of the DES but the list omits some very important areas of GLA influence. The Scheme reveals a drop in the representation of disabled people among GLA employees.

The Greater London Authority’s approach to equality for disabled people is very important. The GLA has a lot of direct powers that can be used to improve equality for disabled people. The DES is an opportunity to consider all the ways in which the GLA can use its powers to improve equality for disabled people and set out clear and measurable objectives.

Inclusion London hopes that disabled people’s organisations will seize this opportunity to respond to the consultation on the GLA’s new proposed DES.

Inclusion London has set out its views in an information paper which can be downloaded from the link on the right.