Major new report says disabled young people must have a greater say

The National Assembly’s Equality of Opportunity Committee is to launch a major new report into services for disabled young people in Wales. In the first such initiative of its kind, a reference group of disabled young people from across Wales was appointed to assist the Committee in carrying out its policy review of services. The group was facilitated by Barnado’s Cymru who enabled the group to identify the issues affecting disabled young people in Wales and produce evidence for the Committee in several innovative formats. The review looked at areas such as education and training, transport, independent living and legislation. The final report makes a total of forty wide-ranging recommendations. These include more involvement for young disabled people to choose their own carers, better complaints procedures and more suitable rented accommodation to be made available. The report also addresses the issue of employment, and says there is a need to overcome the disincentives to work within the current benefits system that are experienced by disabled people, and more needs to be done to encourage both public and private sector employers to employ disabled people. The Committee is also recommending that the Welsh Assembly Government ensures that one-to-one support is available to disabled young people as part of education, training and employment services. Gwenda Thomas AM, Chair of the Committee, said: “We  decided to undertake a policy review of service provision for disabled young people after being presented with the manifesto of disabled young people involved in organising the first ever ‘Rights into Action’ International Congress of Disabled Young People, held in Swansea. The manifesto identified a number of important issues that were affecting the young people’s ability to have control over their lives and achieve their full potential. The motto adopted by the Congress, which was an initiative emerging from the European Year of Disabled People 2003, was ‘nothing about us without us’. It reflects the fact that historically services have been provided to disabled young people by non-disabled people, without young people themselves having a real say in what they want and need. The Committee adopted the motto ‘nothing about us without us’ for its review. “Members hope that the experience has been a positive one for all concerned, particularly the young people involved, and that it will encourage other policy and decision-makers in the future to see the benefit of working directly and appropriately in partnership with young people when developing policies and delivering services. “ The Committee’s report is being launched at 12.30pm, Tuesday January 16, in the Oriel, Senedd, Cardiff Bay