DISABILITY EQUALITY DUTIES FOR SCHOOLS

Early day motion 890, tabled 10 March 2005 by Julie Morgan (Labour). Signed by 73 members.

That this House notes the recent Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report on the life chances of disabled people which states that there are currently no incentives for local service providers to prioritise disabled children; believes that schools in England and Wales need a clearer, more effective and less bureaucratic framework if they are meaningfully to tackle current inequalities for such children; further notes that disabled children's access to other services including wraparound childcare increasingly depends upon schools promoting their equality; further notes that the current legislative framework does not cover the promotion of equality for disabled teachers, support staff or disabled parents; supports the call for change in these areas presented by the Disability Rights Commission, the Special Educational Consortium, the Disability Charities Consortium, the Children's Society and teachers' unions; and therefore calls on the Government to follow these organisations' advice and include schools in England and Wales in the list of public bodies to be subject to specific duties to promote disability equality in regulations to be made under the new Disability Discrimination Bill in line with schools' existing duties under the Race Relations Amendment Act and to ensure effective joint working with other public sector partners.

Signatures by party: Labour 44, Liberal Democrat 17, Labour/Co-operative 4, Conservative 3, DUP 2, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 1.