11 December 2006

Promoting Equality

With the help of local disabled people, Wealden District Council has launched a Disability Equality Scheme which sets out how it will be promoting equality for disabled people in everything the council does.

“We had an excellent response to the survey into the experiences disabled people had in using Wealden’s services,” said Councillor Raymond Parsons, Cabinet member for Corporate Services. “The responses of the 428 people with a range of impairments, followed up by a number of interviews and focus groups, have given us a much clearer idea of areas where we can improve our service to disabled residents.”

Over 90 per cent of survey respondents said their experience of Wealden’s service were either good, very good or excellent, and felt they had the same opportunities to access Wealden’s services as anyone else. Over three quarters said that when they had contacted the council, adjustments had been made to take account of their impairment.

“We are very grateful to the East Sussex Disability Association for helping us conduct this survey and assess the results and we intend to engage further with disabled people in designing services for the community,” said Councillor Parsons.

The Scheme will seek to improve the district’s response to the needs of disabled people over the next three years through staff training, communications and access, and look at ways of opening up greater employment opportunities.

“We are not complacent and will be undertaking a number of actions to improve our services and access for disabled people even more,” added Councillor Parsons. "It is our intention that no disabled person is disadvantaged if we can possibly avoid it."

Further information about Wealden’s Disability Equality Scheme, is on the Wealden District Council website, www.wealden.gov.uk, under latest news.