General News
Rights control and reality
As the Governmentโs consultation on what theyโve called the Right to Control comes to a close, Ruth Patrick asks whose right is it to control what and what does it all mean in practice
Scope Downing StreetNotions and ideas of control are at the very heart of disability politics and discourse. A lack of control frequently characterises portrayals of disabled people, both in the media and in public perceptions. At the same time, the disabled community, in its struggle for equality, continues to articulate a demand for control.
In the world of politics, too, disability and control are frequently debated together. Just this month, a Government consultation closed on the โright to controlโ for disabled people. Unfortunately, this new right is not as all embracing as it first sounds. It refers to the proposed extension of direct payments and individual budgets to enable all disabled people to have control over the support package they receive. Under the right to control, service users will be able to choose whether they want their support provided directly by a public body or whether they would prefer to receive a direct cash payment to enable them to purchase the support they need. Funding streams affected look likely to include access to work, the independent living fund, and disabled studentsโ allowances.
From next year, this right will be piloted across eight trailblazing local authorities. These pilots will last for two years and will then be reviewed, before the national roll out begins. Thus, it will be some time before this right is accessible for the majority of disabled people.
Undoubtedly, the right to control should be cautiously welcomed. In principle, it will deliver more choice and control to disabled people over the support and services they receive to help them to manage their impairments. What is more, this right recognises disabled people as the real experts on their own needs and will help shift power from local authorities and central administrations to disabled people themselves.
However, there are fears that the funding streams involved are still too bureaucratic and unwieldy to work well with personal budgets. Additionally, the right to controlโs success will rest on the level of support available to assist disabled people in making the most of their individual budgets. More broadly, there seems to be a rather ironic lack of fit between the Governmentโs proclamations of the right to control and their recent welfare-to-work measures which appear to wrestle control and choice away from disabled people.
What is more, some are concerned that, in the current economic climate, the right to control could turn into little more than a cynical cost-cutting exercise. As the trailblazers are launched, the disabled community should monitor the development of the right to control with critical interest. Hopefully, it will assist in the longer-term battle to transform true control for all disabled people from rhetoric and soundbite to reality.
Source: Disability Now eNewsletter October 2009
Additional Information
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain
Website: http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/campaigns/rights-control-and-reality/
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Source: Mail from : Frank Mulcahy
When: 05/10/2009
