Report of the Strategic Lead/Lead for OMDP

This report provides an overview of progress, challenges and achievements in relation to the OMDP and an update on other disability-related projects such as the Disability Confident scheme.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Lead/Lead for OMDP which provided an overview of progress, challenges and achievements in relation to the OMDP and an update on other disability-related projects such as the Disability Confident Scheme.

The Strategic Lead (Adult Social Care) provided an overview of the OMDP and the work taking place as part of the Health and Social Care workstream.  Jackie Driver, the Co-Chair of the OMDP Board, outlined her background and her involvement in the OMDP Board.  She reported that this work was unique within the UK and recommended that it be showcased more widely.  Michele Scattergood from Breakthrough UK provided an overview of the Work and Skills workstream.  She thanked the Work and Skills Team for their contribution and outlined the challenges involved, including the challenge of getting more organisations to contribute.  Richard Jones, the Chair of the Engagement Group, outlined the Group’s role in ensuring that the Council, partners and organisations led by disabled people were involved in and influencing strategy.  He emphasised the importance of all those involved taking responsibility for communicating the OMDP in an accessible way to people across the city.  He reported that, going forward, the Group needed to do more to engage with disabled people across Manchester but that time and resources were limited so support from the Council was important.  He shared his experiences as a Deaf person, outlining some of the barriers facing Deaf and disabled people in day-to-day life. He reported that the OMDP aimed to break down these barriers and give disabled people a quality of life equal to that of non-disabled people and he thanked those involved.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• How this work could be showcased more widely;
• What was being done to ensure that disabled people who were living in residential care homes and were socially isolated were included;
• Whether the impact of the work was being measured;
• Request for more information on the Disability Confident Scheme; and
• Whether the Work and Skills workstream was aligned with sector demand.

Jackie Driver suggested that this work could be showcased through organisations such as the Local Government Association and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  Michele Scattergood informed Members about a project that her organisation, Breakthrough UK, was running to support isolated disabled people to establish themselves in their community.  The Strategic Lead (Adult Social Care) reported that it was now recognised that supporting disabled people living in residential care by, for example, providing independent living equipment, should not be solely left to the care provider. 

Michele Scattergood reported that the focus of the OMDP work at present was on getting people involved rather than producing statistics on outputs.  The Strategic Lead (Adult Social Care) informed Members that a Research, Data and Policy Group would be developed in future.  She reported that the need for an evidence base was recognised but that attitudinal change was needed first.  The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager reported that there was an under-representation of disabled people in the Council’s workforce, particularly at a senior level.  He reported that the Council was using the Disability Confident Scheme to put in place a number of approaches to increase the number of disabled people in the workforce, provide opportunities for progression and development and bring about a change in the organisational culture.  Michele Scattergood reported that the Work and Skills workstream focused on enabling disabled people to have the same job opportunities as non-disabled people and did not try to direct them into particular sectors; however, she reported that the partner organisations currently involved in this work were from a limited number of sectors.

A Member who was also the Lead Member for Disabled People reported that the OMDP Board provided a high level of constructive challenge to those involved.  She emphasised the many aspects of this work which related to a wide range of elements of everyday life for disabled people.

Decision

To thank the guests for their contribution and to note the report.