7. Statement by the Leader of the House and Chief Whip: Action on Disability: The Right to Independent Living

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 16 October 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 4:39, 16 October 2018

I'm very grateful to you, leader of the house, for your response to Siân Gwenllian's question, because I was about to raise the same point, that it is a bit difficult to have a sensible discussion about a framework that one hasn't yet read, but I also take your point that you wish to highlight the fact that the consultation has begun, and I very much welcome your commitment to, at the end of the consultation, bringing your proposals back to this Chamber, so that we can discuss them in some detail.

I have one particular question in this context. I very much welcome what you said about reinforcing the Assembly and the Welsh Government's commitment to the social model of disability, which is incredibly important. Your statement refers to the UN convention and refers to other legislation. Would you agree with me, leader of the house—and it refers, in a sense, to some of the points that Mike Hedges has made—that there must be some legal redress for disabled people in Wales when their rights under the new framework are not met? Would you agree with me—and I think everybody in this Chamber would probably agree—that the Equality Act 2010 is not proving a very effective mechanism for disabled people to use when they feel as individuals that their rights are not being met? So, will you agree to give, in the context of the discussions around the new framework, further consideration to the matter we debated last week when we considered the potential of embedding into Welsh law the UN convention, which might then give disabled people rights under Welsh law to seek redress if their needs under the framework were not being met, either by service providers or potentially also by employers?