Therefore, we move to item 4, which is a statement by the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip marking the international day of disabled people. I call on the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Prynhawn da. This Thursday is the United Nations international day of disabled people. Since 1992, the United Nations has designated 3 December as a day for promoting the rights and well-being of disabled people and celebrating their achievements across the world. The theme for 2020 is building back better towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world. The pandemic has shone a light on and amplified the problems within our society. Many of these are not new or specific to COVID, but they've become more obvious to us all. During the pandemic, isolation, disconnect, disrupted routines and diminished services have greatly impacted the lives and mental well-being of many disabled people.

The latest available data from the Office for National Statistics shows that in the period from March to July in Wales, 68 per cent, or almost seven in every 10, of COVID-related deaths came from our disabled communities. It has also been reported that people with a learning disability were disproportionately more likely to die from COVID, and I'm sure we are all greatly saddened by this. It is also emerging that this death rate was not the simple, inevitable consequence of impairment, as many of these deaths were clearly rooted in socioeconomic factors. Building on the admittedly slow progress made over the last 25 years since the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act in November 1995, we must take positive action so that we can do better as we recover from the effects of COVID.

Since 2002, the Welsh Government has adopted the social model of disability, a model that recognises that people with impairments are in fact disabled by the actions of our society and not by their impairments. When we say 'actions of our society', we must remember that disabling actions are designed and carried out by people, and it is people and systems that disable people, whether that is driven by organisational culture, ignorance, prejudice or simple indifference. While much of our work has correctly been focused on trying to mitigate the actions of our disablist culture, I intend to explore how we can directly address disablism, in itself.

It's important that we all understand this model, as it changes the way we think. It means we focus on identifying and removing barriers to disabled people's contributions. We must build this approach into all our work developing and delivering policies across the whole of the Senedd’s work. That's why I'm pleased to support the Minister for Housing and Local Government's current consultation on the establishment of a new fund to provide support to disabled people to seek elected office for the 2021 Senedd elections and the 2022 local government elections. This is a proactive step to reduce some of the barriers that may otherwise prevent an individual from participating in local democracy and representing their community by standing for elected office. I very much hope that this fund will encourage disabled people to stand as candidates in next year’s elections. Their voices need to be heard in every part of society.

Disabled people also play a key part in our economic recovery, and this is why, in Wales, we will soon have disabled people employment champions. These champions will support employers across Wales to create a workforce that is representative and open to all. I'm pleased to announce employers will be supported by a new toolkit, 'A more equal Wales: a practical guide for employers employing disabled people', which will be launched this Thursday to coincide with the international day of disabled people.

I regularly speak to stakeholders and representatives of disabled people’s organisations through our disability equality forum. I've chaired six meetings of the forum since the start of the pandemic, and the last meeting was held on 21 October. Their advice and guidance has helped us to understand how the pandemic is impacting on different communities, what is concerning people, and what we can do to make things better, easier, and equitable. I also want to thank the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and the cross-party group on disabled people for the part they played in exposing the inequitable impacts of COVID-19. Disability forum members contribute to the Welsh Government’s accessible communication group, who have informed us of the difficulties faced by various groups, including disabled people, when accessing information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disability equality forum members provided essential feedback on the ‘Creating safer public places: coronavirus’ guidance, ensuring the inclusion of accessibility considerations when developing and adapting urban centres and green spaces. So, I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed to our understanding over the past months. In these challenging times, being able to work so closely with our partners has been a huge asset.

One of the harsh side effects of the pandemic has been the impact on the economy and, in particular third-sector organisations' ability to fundraise and maintain their income. This in turn has reduced their ability to support their members and is making their future less certain. That's why I'm pleased £200,000 from the Welsh Government’s reserves for reconstruction package has been allocated to fund disability projects across Wales. It will augment the £100,000 allocated to Wales from a UK-wide COVID emergency scheme. This funding will be distributed as small grants to nine disabled people’s organisations across Wales, supporting vital work, providing information and advice and developing new ways to respond to the COVID-19 needs of disabled people. 

I am delighted that Professor Debbie Foster from Cardiff University has agreed to lead a project to produce a report on the impact of COVID on disabled people. Members of the disability equality forum will work alongside Professor Foster to bring together information, evidence and case studies. 

Finally, it is my intention that this important report will inform a refresh of the 'Action on Disability' framework that I launched in 2019. By revisiting the framework in the light of COVID, I'm determined we will be able to act quickly to embed the learning from this pandemic. With such a range of important work taking place in Wales, I'm pleased to invite all the Members of the Senedd to celebrate with me the contribution of disabled people in Wales on the United Nations international day of disabled people.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. I welcome this statement today on the international day of disabled people, which aims to identify and address the discrimination, marginalisation, exclusion and inaccessibility that many people living with disabilities face. It was back in 1992 that the United Nations called for an international day for celebration of people living with disabilities to be held at this time, on this date in December every year. It provides us with an opportunity to outline and reiterate our commitment to create inclusive, accessible and sustainable communities here in our country, Wales. This objective has been made more urgent by the effects of the coronavirus, as the Deputy Minister just outlined.

Many disability charities here in Wales have united to call on the Welsh Government to act decisively to safeguard the well-being and survival of disabled people and others categorised as being at high risk of contracting the virus. For disabled people, much of the advice on how to avoid infection, such as self-isolation and social distancing, is impossible to follow. Many disabled people require daily assistance and need the support of personal assistants and care workers. Concerns have been expressed about the quality of care that can be delivered when care workers go into isolation or become sick. Disabled charities have called upon the Welsh Government to put co-ordinated plans in place on how to respond to a shortage of care workers. It is clear that disabled people are likely to face harm, not just through the coronavirus itself but through the general strain on the health and social care system. The Welsh Government must ensure social care delivery and the provision of accessible information and support is adequately resourced in Wales. We have a duty to ensure that disabled people are not treated as unavoidable casualties in this pandemic, and therefore we welcome the money that you've just outlined in the light of COVID-19.

I would ask the Deputy Minister, in her reply, to confirm that disabled people will be treated as a priority in the forthcoming vaccination programme here in Wales. Hate crime is an increasing problem in the UK, and, sadly, Wales is no exception. There was an 84 per cent increase in the number of on-line disability hate crimes reported to police in Wales last year. Although hate crime legislation is not a responsibility devolved to this Parliament, Welsh Government has a duty to ensure that adequate funding for advocacy and support for victims is provided. We must continue to encourage the police service to work in partnership with disabled people and their organisations to ensure accurate recognition, recording and reporting of disability hate crime.

The Deputy Minister will know of my support for the Purple Vote campaign, which is geared around raising the subject of disability awareness to those in elected roles at all levels. Society still presents significant challenges for disabled people, and it's critical that all voices from all sectors of Welsh society are heard and are equally valid. I understand the Welsh Government has launched a consultation on the establishment of a new fund to provide support for disabled people to seek elected office for the 2021 Senedd elections and the 2022 local government elections. I welcome this and look forward to seeing more candidates who have disabilities standing for election at both local and national level in the future. It would add such great value to the work that's done here.

Finally, Deputy Minister, may I ask about the opportunities for disabled people to participate in sport in Wales? Sports governing bodies need to adopt a more coherent, planned and co-ordinated approach to disabled sport in Wales. Do you agree that sports governing bodies should set targets for raising participation rates among disabled people, and how is this Welsh Government going to monitor that progress on achieving greater participation by disabled people in sport? And do you agree with me that more all-weather facilities in Wales are needed to ensure participation is possible all year round? Participation in sport can play an important role in making disabled people feel more involved and integrated in society. This is one of the objectives on the International Day of People With Disabilities, and I thank the Deputy Minister for her statement today.

Well, diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much, Laura Anne Jones. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. And I am very grateful for her support to join that celebration and recognition of the positive endorsement of the United Nations International Day of People With Disabilities, and thank you for not only welcoming the statement, but also bringing out other issues, particularly issues that I didn't address, for example, in terms of disability sport.

It is important that we start, of course, in terms of responding to the very many points that you've made, by looking at the impact that disabled people have been experiencing as a result of COVID-19, and the importance of us learning, listening and working with disabled people to address these issues. I'm very conscious of the fact that, earlier on in the pandemic, we recognised that there were many difficulties, for example, faced by blind and visually impaired people: social distancing, and you mentioned that point about changes to physical environment, and difficulties in terms of maintaining the 2m social distance. They were raised—those points—at an early disability equality forum, and it was very helpful that there was a briefing drafted by RNIB Cymru and Guide Dogs Cymru, back in May, highlighting concerns around proposed sustainable transport measures. And, of course, those points had to be reflected in equality impact assessments; Guide Dogs Cymru sending a briefing to both myself and to the Deputy Minister for economy and transport, then communicating that to local authorities in terms of changes to physical environments, and then, in June, as I said, publishing guidance entitled, 'Creating safer public places: coronavirus'. These are all key issues to explain how we have worked with disabled people and their organisations to try and get this right, as much as possible, in terms of impacts.

And, of course, it has been important too, the fact that we have made funding available to the third sector, and particularly to say £1.1 million of support to 24 organisations supporting disabled people—the voluntary services emergency fund. Fourteen organisations, including Sparkle (South Wales), Mirus-Wales, RNIB, Disability Can Do, Vale People First, Cerebral Palsy Cymru—all these organisations being able to be supported as a result of that fund that we made available.

It is important that you raise the issue of hate crime, and the fact that the hate crime statistics that we more recently received did still identify that 11 per cent were disability hate crimes. This is very concerning. We have got to raise awareness. We've provided funding of £22,000 to All Wales People First for a hate crime consultation with all their networks of adults with learning disabilities. It's crucial that that, of course, had to be done through remote sessions, engaging with All Wales People First, to explore options. But also I have written to the Home Secretary to urge the UK Government to recognise hate crime and, of course, that is something where we await now for the position from the publication of the Law Commission review.

You raise a number of key points, many of which I have addressed in my paper today, but I think it is very important—as you have yourself acknowledged—that the access to the elected office fund is going to make a difference. Disability Wales actually was awarded the contract to deliver that fund—pilot project—to provide support for disabled candidates, in both our Senedd and local government elections, and we hope that fund will help them to compete on a level playing field with non-disabled candidates. So, I do welcome all your comments, on particularly recognising the scope and the recognition that it is through working with and learning from disabled people who want action—not just listening, they want action—that we can then bring this together and account for ourselves in the statement today.

Thank you very much for the statement.

The Plaid Cymru group welcomes this statement, Deputy Minister. We support the aims of identifying and removing barriers to disabled people's contributions to public life, and we will be happy to promote this new fund to enable and support people to elected office. Now, on that fund, I'd like to know what is being done, in an ongoing way, to ensure that the fund is administered and used in the most effective way. I welcome the fact that Disability Wales is going to do the administration, but it does need to be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Now, the COVID pandemic has disrupted everyday life for everyone, however, it is critical that it doesn't go unnoticed how disabled people have been disproportionately affected. Isolation, loneliness, disconnect, disrupted routines and diminished services have greatly impacted on the lives and mental well-being of people with disabilities. So, what discussions has the Minister had with disability and neurodiversity organisations to ensure that the Welsh Government COVID restrictions are proportional and do not either directly or indirectly discriminate against people or disadvantage people with disabilities?

Disabled workers have dealt with the disability employment gap and disability pay gap since way before the COVID-19 crisis. A culture of ableism means that disabled workers struggle to be employed, to develop within employment and to be paid fairly. Therefore, I welcome the disabled people employment champions programme and the new guidance for employers, but will the Minister explain to us what she can do to ensure that employers are engaged with the new programme and the guidance to ensure the best possible outcomes for people? Diolch yn fawr.

Diolch yn fawr, Leanne Wood, and thank you for acknowledging the statement, and also, I think, implicit in that was the acknowledgement of the importance of the social model of disability. It's about the actions we have to take to remove the barriers, where we are disabling through policy and practice because we have not taken into account the impact of these barriers.

I'll go first to your—just more clarification on the access to elected office fund. And I'm glad, as I'm sure all of us here in the Senedd—all parties would accept that this is important. Disability Wales were awarded the contract. It is going to be about providing crucial support to enable disabled candidates to access Senedd and local government elections, because they are likely to face greater costs due to their impairments, so the fund will help them in terms of access to meeting those costs. Up until recently, there's been a limiting factor in terms of establishing a fund, because it's been difficult to exempt the additional costs associated with an individual's impairments from the candidates' expenses limit, but we're now addressing that. Legislation is expected to be in place by the end of this year, to facilitate this approach for both Senedd and local government elections.

But it is important that this is taken forward, and there will be an advice service to encourage and support disabled people to seek election, financial support to assist prospective candidates—so, this is all important public information for political parties today—to meet the additional support cost, administration of the fund and management of allocations made available to support disabled candidates, and there will be an evaluation report prepared by December 2022 to inform the development of a longer term scheme, which I'm sure, Leanne, was what you were seeking in terms of the outcomes of that, to increase disabled representation at all levels of representation in Wales. So, the consultation opened on 11 November and will close on 21 January, and I urge everyone to respond to that.

I'm also grateful that you've raised issues about the impact of COVID itself, the lockdown and social restrictions, and restrictions on disabled people's lives. We have engaged with disability and neurodiversity organisations through not just our disability equality forums, but through many other arenas where we have been able to come together and listen and learn from their experience.

Of course, there have been some pluses expressed to working from home, to virtual working. It hasn't meant so many issues around access to transport. But this has also led to loneliness and isolation, and, of course, there are also disabled people who can't work from home in terms of the impact of their employers and expectations. We have to work very closely with the Wales Trades Union Congress to look at their rights as well, because disabled people play a key part in our economic recovery.

In terms of the employment champions, this is a strong message to employers on the importance of inclusive recruitment and retention of disabled employees. They are disabled employment champions and they will be central to our work going forward. We've got a comprehensive package of support for employers, as I said in my statement—an online toolkit, a network of disabled people, employment champions to be launched. But also as part of the COVID-19 employability commitment, we've recruited six disabled people's employment champions. There are much greater collaboration opportunities with business leaders, HR professionals and employer representatives. And the role of those champions, I believe, will be inspirational and aimed to not only dispel misconceptions but also to actually take action to see where employers can have the tools to remove the barriers, by applying the social model of disability in their workplace. But there is a disability pay gap as well as a gender pay gap, as well as a race pay gap, and we have to look at all of those socioeconomic issues as well. 

I thank you, Minister, for your statement today. To mark the international day on Thursday, I, along with others, will be taking part in a panel discussion for Leonard Cheshire Cymru, and the topic is political engagement, encouraging young disabled people to use their voice and vote in the political process. So, today's discussion will be a good jumping-off point for that event. This year, of course, the day is framed by the pandemic, and I have a couple of questions concerning disability and coronavirus. Firstly, Minister, have you had discussions with Unison about its research on disabled employees and home working? According to their research, disabled employees working from home have been more productive and have taken fewer sick days than when they were in an office. So, would the Welsh Government support the union's call to give disabled people new rights to work from home if they wish as part of the 'reasonable adjustments' protection they already have under equality legislation? 

My second point is that not all disabilities are visible, as has been mentioned several times here today. Some, obviously, are more visible than others. This week also marks Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week, and it's estimated that a quarter of people with those conditions have been classified in the 'extremely vulnerable' category. One of the major issues they have faced throughout the pandemic is access to free, clean and available toilets. So, will you back the Crohn's and Colitis UK campaign to ensure that all public services, businesses and employers display appropriate signage on their toilets to indicate that not every disability is visible? And specifically, will the Welsh Government work with Crohn's and Colitis UK to prioritise access to toilet facilities with appropriate changing and waste disposal services to allow everyone with ostomy bags to be able to change these with dignity in a private and hygienic environment, and not disable these individuals from living a full life like everybody else does simply because they can't access the appropriate toilet facilities? Thank you.  

Thank you very much, Joyce Watson. I think it's so important that you are going to be marking the day, as you say, on Thursday, by joining Leonard Cheshire. In fact, I spent time not just with the disability equality forum but also with other organisations like Leonard Cheshire, who have engaged with me and with other Ministers, with young people raising questions with us about the issues that affect them. I know that you'll be able to participate and hopefully reflect on this statement on Thursday.

I think one of the hallmarks of the last few months has been the intensity of the engagement that we've had with organisations. In some respects, we've been able to engage virtually, perhaps, with more organisations, because they've been able to engage from home. From north to south-east and west Wales, we're engaging with disabled people. Tomorrow I've got my Wales race forum; we'll be engaging in the same way from Anglesey to Newport. I know in terms of representations that the Wales TUC also has been meeting regularly. I've been meeting with their equalities committee and, of course, then you hear from all the different unions about the particular issues and challenges and good work that they've been doing in terms of surveys.

But certainly, in terms of Unison's work and representations, we will be looking at that, because as you know, the Welsh Government is itself developing remote working policies and looking at the impact that has on people who can and wish to work from home, given that often, it is perhaps more difficult for front-line people who can't work from home, or who are on lower pay and have less power within their organisation. So, I think the Unison work and evidence and representations will be very important to that. I certainly make sure that for every policy stream that's coming forward, there is an equality impact assessment and that we are asking for the views and engaging with those who are most disadvantaged and don't have as strong a voice as perhaps others do who are perhaps socioeconomically in a better position.

So, yes, we will be looking at that very carefully, and I'm glad that you've used this opportunity, Joyce, to raise those issues around those who experience and suffer from Crohn's. Crohn's week is an important week for raising awareness of extremely vulnerable people, but people who can live their lives—and, of course, where it isn't always visible, as you say; impairments aren't always visible in a whole range of impairments. But Crohn's week does enable you to bring forward these particular calls relating to public toilets, accessibility, signage, and recognition of the particular needs of those who suffer from Crohn's. Thank you.

I look forward to speaking and listening at both Leonard Cheshire's young disabled persons' political engagement day and Disability Wales's launch of the disabled people's manifesto on Thursday. All public authorities have a duty under the UK Equality Act 2010 to ensure they meet the needs of disabled people and actively involve disabled people in the design and delivery of their services. The UK Equality Act also states that service providers must think ahead and take steps to address barriers that impede disabled people, and that you should not wait until a disabled person experiences difficulties using a service. However, I know from both my own casework and my work as chair of the cross-party groups on disability, autism and neurological conditions in this Welsh Parliament that too many Welsh public bodies continue to tell disabled people what they can have, rather than work with them to agree their needs and ask them what they want to achieve. This is damaging, costly and entirely avoidable and applies in particular to people with hidden impairments. Given that the 2020 theme of the United Nations international day of disabled people on Thursday is 'not all disabilities are visible', when and how will the Welsh Government therefore ensure that public bodies involve disabled people in the design, evaluation and review of services in accordance with both the Equality Act and your own legislation?

Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. As I said, I thank the cross-party group for the work you've done. I've appeared before you and it's been such an important contribution, again from a cross-party perspective. But also I very much welcomed the report from the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, which covered the whole range of inequalities exposed as a result of the pandemic. But in a sense, I suppose that's one of the messages of the UN day, and what will be discussed on Thursday is not just how lessons can be learned; it's actually how we can now address—. We have the legislation, as you say, we have the Equality Act; it's about implementation—I think this is the key point—of legislation to address those barriers.

I think in my statement I mentioned—well, I know I mentioned—the 'Action on Disability' framework, which I launched in 2019 and which, in fact, was co-produced with disabled people's organisations covering every aspect of Government policy. I think it's crucial—and I know you recognise this, Mark—that this is not just about health and social care; it's about transport, it's about culture, it's about housing, it's about education. And of course that then has to be delivered through the public sector equality duties by public bodies. I also think that, when we pass, as I'm sure and hope we will, the socioeconomic duty that will be coming before the Senedd very shortly, this will also be important in terms of impacts on disabled people.

I hope you will welcome the work that's being undertaken by Professor Debbie Foster of Cardiff University. She's doing the work now with disabled people on the impacts of COVID. This will help us to learn the lessons, but also find a way forward in terms of addressing these issues so that disabled people are truly influencing public policy from their own lives' perspective, from the evidence that we've got, the data we understand, and that that will influence not just the Welsh Government, but every public body in Wales.

Thank you very much, Minister. We'll now suspend proceedings to allow change-overs in the Chamber. If you're leaving the Chamber, can you do so promptly? The bell will be rung two minutes before the proceedings restart. Any Member who's arriving after the changeover should wait until the bell has been rung before entering the Chamber. Thank you.

Plenary was suspended at 15:26.

The Senedd reconvened at 15:34, with the Deputy Presiding Officer in the Chair.