Parliamentary Launch - October 2006

Our host was Terry Rooney, MP for Bradford North. Terry spoke about the appalling attitude of many employers towards disabled people, especially those with mental health issues. He compared the 350 plus Disability Champions to the 12,000 Union Learning Reps: emphasising the importance of both of these roles he pointed out that there was still a long way to go in terms of recruiting and training new people.

The next speaker was Roger Berry MP (Kingswood). Roger is a long term friend of the project. He is the Secretary of the All-Party Disability Group and a member of our steering group from the start of the project. He talked briefly about the legislation but stressed “there’s no point in legislation without enforcement: this is where Disability Champions come into their own”. “the law talks about Reasonable Adjustments”, he said, “It’s easy to say, Disability Champions are making it happen”. He further commended the Champions role in raising awarness and in carrying out audits of documents, buildings and procedures. He echoed Terry’s thoughts that 350 Champions is a great start but we need more and more.

Our next speaker was John Sparkes, CEO of Scope. John told us how Scope had changed as an organisation moving from 3.7% disabled employees to 19.7%. The figure within the senior management team is 30%. This has been achieved by reserved post policies and a culture change that has seen a number of existing employees declairing their disability. Disability Champions, he said, have the opportunity to build a unique alliance between employers, trade unions and the Government. Scope continue to campaign for the right to independent living for disabled people, equality in employment makes a huge difference.

Then came Margie Woodward, one of our project workers. Margie gave an overview of her involvement dating right back to 2003 when she first got involved including examples of why this role is so important. Click on this link to read the full text.

The final speaker was Graham Goddard, Amicus Deputy General Secretary. Graham spoke about the importance of not making this a role only for disabled people but for all trade union activists. 50% of our Champions are disabled, 42% are women. This gives a great opportunity to benefit from the diversity within the network. He also spoke about Amicus’s on going campaign to resist job cuts within Remploy – re-enforcing John Sparkes’ comments about the importance of employment for disabled people.

Terry Rooney closed the formalities. This was a great opportunity for the assembled audience to mix with and talk to the eight Champions who attended and find out more about the practicalities of the role. It was wonderful to see Gail Cartmail there. In her former role of Amicus National Equalities Secretary she was instrumental in the conception and launch of this project. Other distinguised guests included Rt Hon Lord Jack Ashley of Stoke, a long term campaigner and champion of disability issues.

All in all a successful day and a great promotional opportunity. Thanks to all at Scope and Amicus for organising the event and to all the speakers and attendees for their contributions.

Dave Parr

What did the delegates think?

Caroline Beard

“I thought the speakers put the message over well, to an audience who all seemed interested. Hopefully everyone took something positive away from the day, I certainly did. As the speakers stressed, the Champion’s role is a positive step foreword in the workplace but we still have a long road to travel to get all employers on side.”

Mick Walters

It was with great anticipation that I attended the Disability Champions@Work event at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday. When I arrived at Kings Cross to meet Dave I was pleased to see Chris Elson was also attending the event. Chris attended the same training course as I did some 3 years ago.

Security was paramount at the Houses with machine guns in evidence but we all passed through safety after being searched beforehand. Being a keen historian it was an experience to enter the House which is steeped in history

Was not over impressed with the food available but there was plenty of it and I was delighted to discover that all the speeches were stenographed onto a screen at the side of the speech maker - which meant that, as a profoundly deaf person, was able to follow all of the speeches. It was a sobering experience to learn that 40% of disabled people are currently unemployed according to Government statistics -as Terry said this is something that shows how much work needs to be done. I have always been a big fan of the project but hat not realized the full and stark statistics of the task ahead

A lot of the progress will be dependent of cooperation from employers which has not always been forthcoming - the word "reasonable" can be used to hide a labyrinth of hard truths - what is reasonable for one is not always so for someone else especially where the cost factor is taken into account

It was good to see Lord Derby (Jack Ashley) present as he has been a shining example as to the heights possible for a disabled person to reach and a shining light as champion of disabled rights for many years

Many years ago a former manager said to me that i I was to go for a job with a normal person and we were equal in ability (or even if I was better qualified) he would choose the other person above me every time as principle - that is the attitude that we have to break - although things have improved a lot of work remains to be done

An enjoyable and interesting day and I thank those who invited me to it

Mark Login

Other reports of the event

Community Care