Draft Disabled People’s Rights Plan: progress update

Travel

• Working to establish a Disabled People’s Transport Advisory Committee, led by disabled people.
• Working to conduct surveys and interviews with disabled people and transport providers to gather data on the availability, affordability, and accessibility of transport services during and after the pandemic.
• Providing funding and guidance to local authorities to install and maintain digital information systems at bus stops with audio functions / screen readers.
• Working to ensure that any future Apps developed to support customer information are fully compliant and compatible with screen reader technology, adhere to the relevant legislation and accessibility standards, and involve disabled people, transport operators, and local authorities in the process to integrate accessibility features of transport modes, routes, and facilities into journey planning websites.
• Working to allocate funding from within Active Travel budgets to support the involvement of disabled people, and evidence their involvement when submitting schemes to Transport for Wales for approval.
• Working to ensure availability of charging points for wheelchairs, provision of accessible equipment, resting points, information on gradients, and where space is shared with cyclists.
• Working to provide assurance and oversight of the functions which are devolved in regard to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of recommendations by transport organisations and hold them accountable.
• Working to engage with disabled people and their representative organisations on how to make 'Active Travel' and all modes of transport more inclusive and accessible.
• Working to ensure ‘Transport for Wales’ continue to install clear and visible signs in the priority seating areas.

Accessible and affordable housing

• Working to review the Gypsy Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) guidance with a social model of disability lens to make it accessible for disabled people.
• Working to review the content of the GTAA guidance to ensure it requires local authorities to engage with disabled Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people in an appropriate and accessible manner.
• Working to, when evaluating GTAA reports, require the GTAA to continue to give consideration to the needs of disabled Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.
• Working to consult and consider the views of disabled people’s organisations in informing the next steps on work relating to Adequate Housing and Fair Rents.
• Working with housing organisations to help ensure that information on housing is accessible and meets disabled people's needs and preferences.
• Continuing to work with local authorities as the Local Housing Market Assessment process continues to be developed and improved, to identify local housing needs.

Embedding and understanding the Social Model of Disability

• Working to review Welsh Government’s training programme to staff on the Social Model of Disability, and to evaluate its effectiveness.
• Making the Social Model of Disability e-learning available to public sector bodies across Wales.

Employment and income

• Working to engage with the UK Government on the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
• Involving Disabled People’s Organisations in the development of the statutory guidance on the procurement regulations that will be laid as a consequence of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement Act.
• Exploring the feasibility for a Disability Confident kite mark scheme.
• Working to conduct research into the attitudes of employers in relation to employing disabled people and their understanding of the support available.
• Working in collaboration with Medr in relation to apprenticeships, to encourage businesses to take the online course on the Business Online Support Service platform and seek further advice and training from Disabled People’s Organisations with lived experience on the Social Model of Disability and inclusion.
• Working to signpost to advice, guidance, resources, and best practice to help businesses employ disabled people and explore the feasibility of a central portal for this purpose.
• Exploring the feasibility of establishing a Disability Confident Leader Forum for Wales
• Working in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions to take a strategic approach to increase the number of employers in Wales reaching Disability Confident leader status.
• Producing printed and digital resources for employers that promote the recruitment, retention and progression of disabled workers.
• Through ‘Working Wales’ disabled people across Wales, including those within the secure prison estate and seeking sanctuary, can continue to access personalised impartial careers and employability information, advice, and guidance, along with a wider range of support including accessing training, upskilling, funding, and help with CV writing and interview techniques. 

Children and young people

• Continuing to embed Curriculum for Wales Enabling Learning guidance to support practitioners develop a pedagogically appropriate inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all their learners providing effective environments and engaging experiences.
• Continuing to increase investment and monitor impact of implementation of the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system.
• Working on raising awareness of children’s rights, to help public bodies to understand how to embed a children’s rights approach into their work.
• Working to promote, using various media and languages, including British Sign Language, awareness of Hwb’s materials in regard to the rights of disabled children and young people.
• Reflecting individual needs and promoting equitability, Careers Wales are continuing to support disabled young people plan their career, prepare to get a job, and find and apply for the right apprenticeships, courses and training. 

Well-being

• Working with holiday/visitor accommodation providers in Wales to improve the provision of information relating to accessible facilities.
• Making use of existing networks to promote access to Welsh medium sports and recreation for disabled people.
• Working with local authorities on creating accessible play spaces. Local authorities to assess and, as far as is reasonably practicable, secure sufficient opportunities for children to play in their areas and consult with children as part of Play Sufficiency Duties.
• Supporting local authorities in complying with their statutory duty to provide information, advice and assistance to parents, carers, and families at local authority level about inclusive and accessible childcare and other available services.
• Working with local authorities and sector stakeholders to support childcare and play workers to access training and resources required to support disabled children to access childcare in Welsh and English.
• Working to ensure that appropriate Welsh language assistive software, including bilingual speech recognition and synthesis is easily available to improve the well-being of disabled people.

Social care and independent living: health

• Working to develop and implement a standardised reporting framework to monitor the progress and impact of local authorities.
• Working with disabled people on the feasibility of establishing a National Centre for Independent Living.
• Working to make provision for people with a range of impairments within the updated and Broadened All-Wales Accessible Communication and Information Standards.
• Improving access for disabled children and young people in accessing community mental health services, including drug and alcohol services.
• Working with health and social care providers to address barriers to discharge from hospital for disabled people.

Access to justice

• Working to continue support for the Information and Advice Quality Framework Wales (IAQF).
• Working to make resources available to support a strategically planned framework of social welfare advice services across Wales that targets key population groups, including disabled people, improving their access to quality assured impartial social welfare advice.
• Working to review provision of support services for disabled survivors of abuse in Wales through the Violence Against Women Domestic Abuse and Sexual Abuse (VAWDASV) Whole System Approach to sustainable commissioning workstream.
• Continuing to take action to explore how to embed the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP) in Wales following the work of the Legislative Options Working Group.
• Welsh Government established the British Sign Language Stakeholder Group in January 2025. This task and finish group has been formed to develop a set of key recommendations to inform the Welsh Government’s production of a BSL policy ‘route map’.
• The BSL policy ‘route map’ will outline the actions Welsh Government are taking to ensure equal access and outcomes, recognition and promotion of BSL, equal language rights, and the empowerment of Welsh Deaf leadership. The group will advise on BSL priorities across a broad range of cross-government policy, including education, health and social care and public services, and will consider where there are language barriers, and the actions required to ensure equity of access to information and services for Deaf BSL signers. 

Access to services

• Working to engage with political parties and support initiatives that aim to increase the representation of disabled people in politics.
• We will continue to support and work actively with partners to increase diversity in democracy, we have already run 2 phases of our Diversity in Democracy Programme aimed at removing the barriers to participation and encouraging greater diversity amongst local elected members.
• The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024 builds on our work to date and includes a range of measures aimed at creating a more inclusive political environment. This includes the requirement for the Welsh Ministers to establish and maintain a fund to support disabled candidates with the additional costs associated with standing for election. We are in the process of implementing these arrangements.
• We will continue to work with stakeholders to identify barriers faced by disabled people to seek elected office and seek to understand further what can be done to remove these to make a positive difference. This includes the establishment of the Access to Politics Grassroots Network.