The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 introduced a new duty on local authorities to promote disability equality. At the heart of the specific duties under the Act is a requirement to produce and publish a Disability Equality Scheme.
At the Council we welcomed this as a helpful way of underlining the commitments to disabled people that we made last year in “All Together Now: A Social Inclusion Strategy for Darlington”.
Disabled local people and Council staff have not just been consulted about the development of this scheme. They have led it. The Council owes a debt of gratitude to the chair of the Scheme steering group, Gordon Pybus, of Darlington Association on Disability, and all the members of the group who have worked together on an honest appraisal of the Council’s disability equality performance. In doing this they have been supported by the Council’s Social Inclusion Implementation Group, whose job it is to carry the Council’s commitment to equality through to the front line of service delivery. Together they have produced a Scheme that is plain to understand and clearly committed to action.
In the delivery of this Scheme we look forward to continuing and developing a dialogue between Darlington Borough Council and the disabled people who live and work here. I see our Disability Equality Scheme as an important tool to help us eliminate discrimination and disadvantage in Darlington.