Disability Equality Scheme
The Borough has already set out its policy commitment to the Disability Equality agenda in its Promoting Equality, Respecting Diversity document.
The Disability Equality Action Plan has been developed and incorporated into the revised Corporate Equality Action Plan. Relevant actions are covered in two sections. The first where there is a commitment to take action across key objectives that are common to the six equality strands and then in a second part that looks at issues specific to disability equality. The other equality issues are also covered in this way.
The format of second part reflects the most important concerns of local disabled people as identified in the Positive About Disability consultation 
and ongoing consultation with disabled people.
The Council’s response has been informed by the Social Model of Disability
Involving Disabled People
Positive About Disability was a consultation exercise organised in a partnership between the Council, PRO Disability and Poole Partnership over the summer of 2006. It was an attempt to join up discussions with disabled people in Poole to feed into statutory agencies’ Disability Equality Schemes and prevent consultation fatigue. Disabled people identified what their key concerns were and shared how they would like to see them addressed.
The Disability Equality part of the action plan also shows other existing and ongoing mechanisms by which services engage with disabled children and adults to inform their service design and delivery. The resulting action plan has therefore been developed by services to respond to existing concerns and to begin to respond to the concerns raised by Positive About Disability and additional consultations undertaken by partners in Dorset.
If any disabled people are interested in talking about their experience of being disabled and living and/or working in Poole to inform future disability work please get in touch. We would be interested to listen to anyone who wanted to influence the Borough’s equality and diversity work from their own experiences.
More information on any of the above issues please e-mail Sue Newell, Improvement and Policy Officer - Equalities or telephone 01202 633035.
Directgov