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THE GIBRALTAR DISABILITY SOCIETY WISH LIST 2015

Disability Legislation

• The Disability Bill is in the process of being brought into law. The Society wishes Government to further build on this and introduce the UN Convention via the UK once Gibraltar has disability legislation framework in place.

Supported Employment

• Although the Government introduced Supported Employment Co Ltd it no longer functions and exists in name only. It needs to be restructured with trained HR staff to UK National Occupied Standards. We would also like to see a supported internship programme.
• Social insurance contributions towards pension entitlement for workers on the scheme.

Independent Inspections

• A statutory body should be introduced to monitor and audit all areas of the disability and care services.

 

Staffing of the Disability Services

• Training of all staff should be continued and increased and should lead to formal qualifications.
• Less reliance by Government on supply workers. More permanent staff should be employed to ensure quality continuity of care which is paramount to service users.
• If private agency supply workers are hired they must be trained and inducted to the same degree as Care Agency workers.
• The issue of disability nurse contracts needs to be addressed. At present they are on 11 months contracts and over a dozen nurses have left the services since December 2011.
• Staff absenteeism is exceedingly high. Schemes offered in other government organisations ought to be extended to disability services staff.

St Bernadette’s Resource Centre

• Centre needs to be expanded due to increased number of users. This could be achieved, should the Dr Giraldi Home be re-sited, by expansion to the second floor.
• Better provision should be made for the different age groups. This could be achieved by the aforementioned expansion and should include a transition unit for new arrivals.
• Centre should open at least one evening a week to provide leisure facilities to its users and the community
• Hydro-therapy pool has been unused for years – a decision needs to be made as to its future.

Dr Giraldi Home

• This should be re-sited to allow the expansion of St Bernadettes Resource Centre onto two floors.
• Respite Unit should be re-sited to a separate location.

 Future planning for persons with disabilities

• Information on Disability Action Plan talked about in the 2011 manifesto
• Community Care for persons with disabilities as promised in 2011 manifesto

 

Education

• New school for St Martin’s with provisions for difference age groups.
• Increase capacity of Early Birds Nursery.
• A commitment to review and improve inclusive education at secondary level.

 

Supported Independent Living

• Dr Giraldi Home is full and has already been divided from 3 to 6 flats. Government to commit to providing any future residential care within the community.
• Commitment to give disabled persons the right to live independently with care and support in their own home. Not wait for the death of a parent to offer such independence.
• Disabled persons to retain tenancy of family home on the death of last surviving parent should they still be living within the family home. All necessary care and support to be provided to allow them to continue to live in the community.

 Sponsored Patients

• Although there has been an increase in sponsored patient’s allowances it should be taken into consideration that in some instances families with a disabled family member need both parents to attend appointments.
• Help should be provided for some families with a limited support network with regard to other siblings.

 

Increase support from Government

• More help provided from Housing for families who have a family member who is born or becomes disabled. A parent may have to give up work to provide care for their disabled family member and therefore can no longer afford to pay a mortgage. If they have to go back on the housing list it should be with all entitlements.
• Introduction of financial aid for families whose need to adapt a private property due to a family member being born or becoming disabled.
• Government departments such as GHA, Social, Housing, Education and Employment, still need to work more closely to ensure a smooth transition for persons with disabilities throughout their lives.
• Government should appoint a working party to examine the effectiveness of Government departments and how this can be improved.

 

Accessibility, Services and Transport

• The existing programme of making all official buildings accessible should be accelerated and a commitment to make this happen by 2020.
• Part M of the Buildings Regulations to be legislated without further delay.
• To amend the Equal Opportunity Act to end discrimination against disabled persons in respect of services.
• Better policing of disability parking bays and increase fines for obstruction of dropped curbs, illegal parking within a demarcated disability parking bay and misuse of the disabled parking blue badge.
• Expansion of wheelchair accessible taxi fleet with a commitment of 50% accessibility by 2020 and 90% by 2025.
• Ensure at least 25% of coaches are wheelchair accessible by 2020. This will be a benefit not only for locals but for tourists as several tourist sites are now disability friendly.

PRESS RELEASE

The Gibraltar Disability Society is pleased to see the release of the Disability Bill by Government for public consultation. Although the Society and many others hoped to see the introduction of the UN Convention we were recently informed that this would not be possible at present. The reason we are given is that Gibraltar is not a member of the UN and the Convention therefore would need to be introduced through the UK. This would not be possible unless Gibraltar had existing disability legislation on which to build. We therefore hope that the introduction of the Disability Bill into law will be the first step by Government towards Gibraltar being included in the UN Convention. It is upon this condition that the Society has given its support to the proposed Disability Bill. The Society thanks Minister Sacramento for giving the Society the opportunity to be a stakeholder and considering our representations. Now the Bill has been released as a Command Paper and after considering the final draft presented by Government the Society will be making further comments for the improvement of the Disability Bill.

Government publish Command Paper to enhance rights of disabled persons

In  line  with  the  commitment  in  its  general  election  manifesto,  the  Government  will  publish a Command Paper for legislation which will further enhance and protect people with disabilities. The terms of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been used as a model for a Bill which will make provision for the betterment of persons with disabilities within Gibraltar. This  Bill  introduces  a  standalone  piece  of  legislation  for  persons  with  disabilities  setting  out several principles and obligations that should be considered by the Government or any public body before taking policy decisions or actions. The ultimate purpose being to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all fundamental rights and freedoms by persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
The main drive of the Bill is to create a structure upon which persons with disabilities have a stronger say in the policies that affect their lives, establishing standards that public and private entities should meet in order to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are protected and promoted, increasing the possibility of participation in all aspects of life, to promote positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities and to obtain a greater level of protection against discrimination.
These aims are met by committing the Government to take practical action to make the rights a reality by –
a) taking steps so that persons with disabilities can enjoy the same rights as everyone else;
b) looking at existing legislation and revoking or amending if necessary;
c) ensuring  that  professionals  who  work  with  persons  with  disabilities  have  training  to understand how to respect their rights;
d) promoting accessibility including the development of standards; and
e) gathering  information  and  statistics  about  the  position  of  persons  with  disabilities  in society so that progress may be tracked and policies developed and improved as necessary.
Commenting  on  the  publication  of  the  Command  Paper, the  Minister  for  Equality  and  Social Services Samantha Sacramento said: “The Government has given much thought as to the method that would be employed to take this important matter forward. I am delighted that we will further enhance and protect the rights of
disabled  persons.  A  Command  Paper  is  a  consultation document  which  is  issued  before  the publication of a Bill. As with other important Command Papers, there has been consultation and discussion with relevant stakeholders. I am very proud to have led on this matter as Gibraltar’s first Minister for Equality.”