Leader of the Conservatives in the Greater London Authority - Susan Hall AM - has published this report to highlight the importance of making London more accessible and inclusive for disabled people. The CDG met with Susan a few months ago when she listened to the views of our members, during the process of compiling this report.

The report highlights the following: 'Disabled people face significantly larger social and health inequalities than people without disabilities. The odds are often stacked against disabled people; research shows they are more likely to be unemployed, a victim of crime, in poverty or have a mental health condition than non-disabled people.

In addition to this, it is estimated that living costs on average are £583 more per month for disabled people . In spite of these challenges, disabled people remain a vital and valued part of our society, for example, a much higher proportion of disabled people aged 16 years and over in England engage in civic participation than non-disabled people . It is paramount that we do all we can to support disabled people and include them in our policy-making processes. 

Conclusion and recommendations

This report gives a snapshot of some of the issues disabled Londoners face and the Mayor of London’s record in supporting and including them. There is a lot to be done across different levels of government to ensure disabled people are sufficiently supported and included, but it is clear there has not been enough progress in London and disabled people have fallen through the gaps. The Mayor must take action now. Making London fully accessible and inclusive to all people with disabilities will be a process that takes time but there are still some immediate steps the Mayor can take now to work towards improving this. We therefore recommend that the Mayor should:

• Recommendation 1: Work with boroughs, disability groups and businesses across London to establish a platform where disabled people can find disabled accessible venues and areas to help make London more accessible and inclusive for disabled people.
   
• Recommendation 2: Review the membership of the Mayor’s advisory boards and panels to identify any gaps where disabled people are being under-represented.
   
• Recommendation 3: Commit to including people with disabilities in London’s recovery plans with specific considerations given to the impact on disabled Londoners.
   
• Recommendation 4: Review and identify gaps in the Mayor’s stakeholder engagement lists to ensure disabled groups and advocacy groups are sufficiently consulted on key decisions.
   
• Recommendation 5: Commit to ensuring all future Mayoral Strategies genuinely consider their impact on disabled Londoners.
   
• Recommendation 6: Review and improve what data is collected by the GLA group on disabled people to help fight the inequalities they face.
   
• Recommendation 7: Set up a disability employment taskforce to help address the disability employment and pay gaps in London – which are higher than the national average.
   
• Recommendation 8: Work with disability groups to set out an achievable action plan to review and identify why disability hate crime has risen across London and take action to drive cases down.
   
• Recommendation 9: Instruct TfL to review its step-free access rollout to identify where this can be accelerated across the London Underground Network.

More information on Susan Hall AM is on the GLA website and on her Twitter Account.