Liberal Democrats Breaking Down Barriers Policies for Disabled People Tackling Discrimination Liberal Democrats believe above all in the importance of the individual and their rights. Disability is less about medical diagnosis or health condition than it is about issues of justice, equality and rights. Society's suspicion of what is different has meant disabled people have often felt left out of society. This exclusion occurs, by default or design, through such factors as access to buildings, information and employment. Guaranteeing Civil Rights for Disabled PeopleMore than any other party, the Liberal Democrats place human rights at the heart of our agenda. Ideally we seek a society where rights are guaranteed without the need for recourse to the courts. We would: * Introduce a United Kingdom Bill of Rights as part of a written constitution. As a first step, we would promote equality and opportunities for all by replacing current legislation with a comprehensive Equality Act securing civil rights for disabled people. * Create a Supreme Court to replace the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords with the responsibility to protect the rights of citizens guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. * Establish a Charter of Rights for people with disabilities, working closely with disabled people and organisations representing them to ensure that the Charter meets their needs. * Ensure high quality local health services by breaking down the barriers that artificially divide health and social care and encourage the services to work more closely together by merging these services at the local level in the context of a reformed structure of local government. * Widen the remit of the Social Exclusion Unit to include disability issues. Providing Financial Independence for Disabled People Liberal Democrats would: * Reform the social security benefits system in order to create a more effective system where benefit entitlement is based on the individual and not on their disability. We will extend the winter fuel allowance to severely disabled people. * Relax the rules which restrict the amount of 'therapeutic' work which those receiving disability benefits can undertake without loss of benefit and revise the All Work Test to take employability into account. Opening Up Education to Disabled People Liberal Democrats would: * Give parents greater say in which type of school their child should attend and give parents the right to look for a school that best meets the needs of their child, Local authorities must have a statutory duty to assist them in finding all the options available. * Introduce independent 'advocates' to tailor the education system to individual needs. * Establish an integrated, supportive and accessible environment for all children in which differences are relished and what we have in common is recognised. We would draw on the abilities and skills of disabled people as educators. * Ensure that part-time students and further education students are not disadvantaged in relation to full-time higher education students. This is imperative for students with disabilities who are more likely to have to study part-time. Using the Skills and Talents of Disabled PeopleWe would: * Change benefit rules on therapeutic earnings limits and voluntary work, thereby increasing contact with the labour market. * Introduce an information campaign about the Access to Work schemes and extend the coverage of the scheme to include public sector and voluntary work. In addition we would monitor the number of disabled people employed in all public organisations. * Introduce 'Technability' and 'Netability' schemes leasing computing and Internet connections to disabled people making working from home feasible. This network would include information, training and education services overseen by the Disability Rights Commission. * Give training agencies the responsibility of providing work-related training that results in marketable skills and encourage employers to invest in disability awareness training for their employees. Enabling Independence We further improve the independence of disabled people by: * Co-ordinating health and social services departments to provide a more integrated service. * Co-ordinating take-up campaigns for elderly people to include disability benefits. * Formally recognising BSL as the first language of many deaf people, and provide disability awareness for all emergency service personnel. * Including communication costs within the Disability Living Allowance. Policies stated in this briefing represent policy passed by the conference of the Liberal Democrats. A fully costed manifesto containing our priorities for government is published at each general election. This briefing contains extracts from the Policy Papers Access for All and Breaking Down Barriers, and Policy Review Paper, Moving Ahead - Towards a Citizens' Britain. February 2001 Produced by the Policy Unit. Printed by Liberal Democrats, 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB Published and Promoted by Chris Rennard, 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB Breaking Down Barriers