Consultation outcome

Breakthrough UK response

Updated 23 March 2020

1. Introduction

Breakthrough UK is a Manchester based disabled people’s organisation (DPO). We are led by disabled people, and we support other disabled people to work and live independently.

Breakthrough works to make positive changes at an individual, regional and national level. We provide disabled people with person centred support to develop their independence and gain access to training and employment. We advise employers, policy makers and other organisations to understand and remove barriers that disadvantage disabled people.

Our aim is to bring about a society where disabled people can participate fully in all areas of life. This brief response is based on Breakthrough’s experience in the last 3 years.

If DWP have not engaged with you in the past, please answer the following questions:

We have chosen to answer the second set of questions because we have not had any meaningful engagement with the DWP on its policy activities for many years since Right to Control (RTC) circa 2008 when the involvement of Disabled People and their organisations was central to the design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of RTC.

A couple of years ago we were invited to a co-design workshop before the Journey to Employment programme was rolled out. This workshop was more about programme delivery content than policy and processes affecting disabled people.

We were involved in a recent Ministerial visit by Therese Coffey, but this was organised through a third party voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) group, was at extremely short notice and was not a direct approach to us. After that visit, all groups involved were invited to submit a maximum of 1 paragraph to her office as part of a joint letter, outlining “what you think should be improved about the Department of Work and Pensions”. This was not adequate to share the detailed feedback we had about some extremely detrimental workings of the Access to Work Scheme.

Our local DWP office sent us a standard print feedback questionnaire to send out to clients about their experience of DWP services. This was to be emailed back and not anonymous. No alternative formats were provided.

2. Question 7

In what ways do you think you could have made a valuable and constructive contribution to DWP’s work, and what would be the most effective way for DWP engage with you?

2.1 Response to question 7

It would be useful for the DWP to re-establish a formal mechanism for dialogue with disabled people’s organisations. We would suggest mechanisms with regional or local authority footprints to allow reasonable access from across the country – which could be pulled together to create national picture. We would like to engage with DWP on the following:

• Policy and practices relating to disabled people – especially around protecting disabled people’s civil and human rights, reducing the employment gap, Access to Work, disabled people’s career progression and independent living as it relates to employment. We work with, on average 250+ disabled people at any one time, most of whom are in regular contact with the DWP as benefit claimants.

• Sharing impact of DWP policy on the lives of disabled people we work with, offering suggestions for more effective approaches.

• Demonstrating the impact of sustainable peer led approaches to disabled people’s employment.

• Sharing policy impact at a local level, via the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Mayoral Panel (see below).

• Commissioning practices as they relate to small VCSE organisations and Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO).

3. Question 8

Would you wish to engage with DWP in future? Please provide the reasons for your answer?

3.1 Response to question 8

Yes. We are always open to generating opportunities to influence local and national policy.

Disabled people we work with have contributed to our responses to parliamentary committee inquiries into the workings of the DWP and the benefits they are responsible for.

Disabled people tell us that they often don’t feel listened to, are scared and feel that the DWP’s approach is punitive, hard to navigate, disrespectful and inaccessible. Whilst we understand that this consultation is about policy involvement rather than benefits, we feel it is important to say that there is a huge overlap here.

The lack of co-design in the system, coupled with an approach rooted in the bio-psycho-social model of disability, has resulted in processes across the board which are inaccessible and deeply damaging to many.

On a positive note, our local work around employment has fostered good working relationships with staff at DWP offices in Greater Manchester, and our Employment Support Co-ordinator predominantly works from JCP offices.

At an operational level, we have excellent working relationships with local Disability Employment Advisers and Work Coaches, who refer many disabled people to our community connecting, Pathways and employment projects.

Individually, we have fostered good working relationships with more senior regional DWP officers, but again, this is focused on service delivery rather than policy influence on the way in which DWP impacts on disabled people.

We have invited the Greater Manchester DWP to be representatives to Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Mayoral Panel because of the particular impact that DWP policies and processes have on disabled people. This would be an excellent opportunity for the DWP to hear and act on the concerns of local disabled people and our organisations.

4. Question 9

What would be the most effective way for DWP to make sure you could engage with them?

4.1 Response to question 9

The DWP has seats at the Our Manchester Disability Plan Board and sub groups but attendance has been mixed. Since the representative passed away there has been no replacement offered – yet this would be an excellent place for DWP to engage with disabled people and their organisations. The DWP had provided good support to the Employment and Skills Workstream with regard to Disability Confident, but this has tailed off in recent months.

Unfortunately, the approach of involvement relies on local individual relationships rather than a systematic commitment to be involved – this reduced the impact of progress with community relationships that it could have done.

5. Question 10

Are there any areas or types of engagement that you would not have with the department?

5.1 Response to question 10

We would not use a relationship with the DWP to endorse any process which we believe to be wrong and detrimental to disabled people’s, or any citizen’s, rights – e.g. sanctions.

6. Question 11

Please tell us about other engagement you have had on disability issues with public sector or other organisations outside of DWP? For example: please explain the process for this engagement?

6.1 Response to question 11

We have engaged extensively on disability issues with a wide range of stakeholders from all sectors.

The most effective engagement approaches value disabled people’s input as experts by experience and reward individuals and groups for their time and involvement. They are fully accessible, use a variety of methods and formats, and allow plenty of time for people to get involved.

They do not take digital inclusion for granted. Their engagement is based on co-design rather than tokenism, and ensures that feedback results in accountable change, going directly to people who are able to make and enact important decisions.

Two examples:

Disability Design Reference Group (DDRG): Now in its 12th year of operation, the DDRG is a huge success story. The group is made up of disabled people from across Greater Manchester, who face a range of disabling barriers and can share their lived experiences of the challenges travelling on public transport.

Breakthrough manages this award-winning group on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester. All participants are remunerated for their contribution, recognising their input as experts by experience.

The DDRG has proved itself essential in removing barriers to accessible transport and travel in the region, ensuring as many people as possible are able to use public transport services. This is largely because disabled people have been involved at an early stage of design so that meaningful changes can be implemented following their advice. Also, this is because external partners have done their utmost to ensure that materials have been made fully accessible to all members before presenting to the group. A co-designed presenters guide has facilitated that.

6.2 Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Mayoral Panel

Greater Manchester is the first combined authority in the country to establish a formal partnership between DPOs and the elected mayor.

The staff leads of this are based at Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People and are paid - unlike the Chairs of the Regional Stakeholder Network (see Q 13).

The panel aims to “strengthen the voice of disabled people and their organisations in shaping, challenging and influencing strategic policy issues that are important to disabled people across Greater Manchester”.

The panel is currently doing vital work to ensure that the impact of Covid 19 on local disabled people is understood by public sector policy makers across the region. DWP, however, remains highly difficult to navigate and contact.

7. Question 12

Do you have any suggestions to develop the process for you to be able to engage with DWP in future?

7.1 Response to question 12

The most effective engagement approaches value disabled people’s input as experts by experience and reward individuals and groups for their input. They are fully accessible, use a variety of methods and formats, and allow plenty of time for people to get involved. They do not take digital inclusion for granted. Their engagement is based on co-design rather than tokenism and ensures that feedback results in accountable change, going directly to people who are in a position to make and enact important decisions.

Disabled people and their organisations should be contracted and fees paid for engagement.

8. Question 13

What would be your minimum expectations of who the department should consult, and how that consultation should take place, to provide reassurance that decisions taken by the Department are well-informed and credible?

8.1 Response to question 13

The DWP needs to take disabled people’s organisations seriously, recognising our unique position as organisations led and made up of disabled people, to inform policy and practice. The DWP need to be in regular, proactive contact with DPOs. A first step would be to generate an up to date list of DPOs and keep that maintained.

The DWP should ensure that organisations and forums led by (not for) disabled people are specifically engaged with on key, national policy issues.

The Independent Living Strategy Group, chaired by Baroness Jane Campbell, would be a good starting point, as would the Reclaiming our Futures Alliance (ROFA) - a national network of disabled people and our organisations.

More visibility and active engagement of the DWP on key forums of disabled people locally – such as the GM Mayoral disabled people’s panel, would be very helpful.

9. Question 14

Is there any other evidence on this subject you would like to add?

9.1 Response to question 14

A big issue is taking feedback gathered from large disability charities to be representative. The appointment of only 2 Chairs from DPOs to the ODI regional stakeholder networks is a striking example of this.

Also relevant is the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD), noting how the DWP did not involve DPOs in monitoring of how the UNCRPD is implemented. DPOs are uniquely placed to provide fast and robust feedback on the disadvantages disabled people we are working with face.

This is an opportune time for the DWP to address this, before the National Disability Strategy is fully developed. Despite the promise that the Strategy “will set out practical proposals on the issues that matter most to disabled people”, so far we have not been invited to input into it.

We have also raised concerns about how commissioning practices affect DPOs in our responses to DWP consultations. It is increasingly difficult for smaller providers to operate effectively and ethically within the current statutory supply chains.

9.2 Contact details

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this call for evidence. We would be very happy to expand on any of the points raised in detail.

For more information, please contact:
xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx
Breakthrough UK
Tel: xxxxxxxxxxx
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx