"For too long the disadvantage experienced by disabled people has not been widely acknowledged and this has resulted in many people being excluded from activities and opportunities, and ready access to public services.

The publication of Disability Equality Schemes is a challenge for us to demonstrate our commitment to disability equality.

We will do more to understand the needs of disabled people in delivering efficient and reliable services. This will be achieved by forging closer contact with disabled people across Ashfield and entering into meaningful dialogue. As we progress the Scheme, and begin meeting objectives, I expect the Scheme to change to reflect the changes disabled people tell us we should make.

By involving disabled people in what we do, we aim to build trust and confidence within our disabled communities.

This Scheme also makes commitments to the disabled people we employ and to those who may become disabled whilst in our employment. Championing disability equality for employees is important; as if we get it right for our own people we are more likely to get it right for our disabled service users too."

The words of former Cllr Les Matthews
Former Deputy Leader of the Council & Portfolio Holder for Equalities

Select to download the Disability Equality Scheme
as pdf; 25 pages, 148KB