BDF: Time to change the narrative on disability inclusion

The UK’s Business Disability Forum (BDF) has urged the Government and businesses to change the narrative on disability inclusion. The call follows a panel discussion between key employers, campaigners and diversity and inclusion professionals, which took place at BDF’s annual conference today. 

The panel entitled ‘How do we build on the positive and tackle the negative for disabled people post Covid-19’ highlighted the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the lives of disabled people. “While we’ve seen lots of kindness and community spirit during the pandemic, for some disabled people the reality has been very different. Disabled people are amongst those most impacted by coronavirus with deaths disproportionately high,” pointed out Business Disability Forum’s CEO Diane Lightfoot.

“But alongside this we are seeing the loss of casual interventions – acts of kindness by the public to assist disabled people who need it – and worse, the rise of abuse of disabled people in public. We need to raise awareness amongst the general public of those who legitimately cannot wear a face mask or who are unable to guarantee social distance, for example people who need to lip read or who have sight loss. As we move at pace, we need to make sure that the solutions we put in place are solutions that work for everyone,” she added.

DISABILITY INCLUSION CONCERNS

The other panellists at the conference also believe there are positive lessons to be learnt from the pandemic. However, they expressed concerns about a return to the medical model of disability. “Even if we wanted to drive forward with the positives – and I think that there are many. The framework coming out of the Government is worrying because it is going back many years in its perception of disability. This then underpins and forms the framework for the way organisations are looking at this,” noted Rick Williams, CEO of Freeney Williams Ltd. “To take a simple example, the term vulnerable is being used a lot in and it is a very confusing term. They are conflating vulnerability with disability, and they are two different things. My concern is that unless we move forward in a much more creative and broad way at a policy level, we could slip back to the way we used to think about disability in the 80s and 90s.”

Although disability equality campaigner Lord Shinkwin remains “hopeful and optimistic” overall, he agreed with the other panellists. He also believes there “is a danger of moving back to a solely medical model understanding of disabilities”. Commenting on the impact of the language used in relation to disability and Covid-19, he added: “It has reduced the worth of disabled people’s standing and value in society, and may have sent out a message to society that disability was something that eroded the value of someone’s contribution to it.”

Wendy Irwin, Head of Equality and Diversity at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), highlighted her concerns for health staff. “In some cases, some members have felt that the risk assessment process has been weaponised against them. Risk assessments are done on mass and people are removed from areas without thought being given to reasonable adjustments or better-quality PPE.”

DISABILITY EQUALITY

Bela Gor, Business Disability Forum’s Head of Legal, warned of “age, race and disability claims coming through down the line”, where individualised risk assessments have not been conducted. She also urged the Government to consider the unintended consequences of its initiatives and to introduce “disability speed bumps” to ensure that policy does not disadvantage a particular group. 

Finally, Allan MacKillop, Disability Lead for Workplace Strategy at the BBC, emphasised the link between accessible housing and employment. “Inaccessible housing is a major thing,” he pointed out. “This will affect individuals’ ability to take up opportunities in the employment market when they arise.”

Looking to the future, Lightfoot backed the panel’s call for disability equality to be the centre stage of Government and business planning in the months and years ahead.  “We must not let economic and social disadvantage be a foregone conclusion of the economic downturn for disabled people. If we are to ensure that progress on disability inclusion is not lost, Government and businesses alike must continue to invest in and prioritise disability equality as a fundamental element of rebuilding for the future,” she concluded.