CONFERENCE: Lib Dems call for disabled councillors' funding

From Cathy Reay in Bournemouth

Disabled campaigners kicked off the Liberal Democrat party conference proceedings this weekend by calling on the party to extend Access To Work funding for disabled councillors so more party members can run for local councils.

During a disability consultation session on Saturday, activists said that it is virtually impossible for disabled people to run for council under current legislation as councillors do not qualify for Access To Work support, so costly assistance or adaptations could not be reimbursed.

Vaughan Bruce, member of the Liberal Democrat Disability Association, said: “Able-bodied people are always willing to just sit there and judge without knowing what disability is about. If we had disabled councillors they would know the importance of disability issues, like disability hate crime.”

David Harrison, Hampshire county councillor, said: “We’ve had requests through the Liberal Democrats Disability Association from other disabled people wanting to become councillors who have researched it and found out they can’t do it because they can’t receive Access To Work. This is a real problem.

When I became a county councillor there were two other disabled people going for councillor roles and they just got picked off because they couldn’t get the funding for the assistance they needed.”

Robert Adamson, Liberal Democrat candidate for East Yorkshire, who has multiple sclerosis, said: “some disabled people don’t want to get involved, they want to just be couch potatoes or whatever, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want us or that we shouldn’t try to fight on their behalf.”

Abigail Lock, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns at disability charity Scope, added: “This is exactly why we want to put forward an Access to Public Life fund. The unique issues that disabled councillors face could be tackled by this.

“Under the Disability Discrimination Act and Equality Duty, for the first time, local councils are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people wishing to go into council. As we all know, having something in legislation is one thing but getting reality on the ground is another.”

Celia Thomas, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Work and Pensions, who has muscular dystrophy, said the she is determined to make this change. She added: “I am going to look into trying to get an amendment in the Welfare Reform Bill for Access To Work for councillors, I think it would be good even if we can just discuss it. It’s vital that this changes.”

19th September 200