Disability
As our Diversity statement suggests, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is committed to eliminating discrimination. This means that people with disabilities can expect the same opportunities and level of service as anybody else. We are committed to upholding the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005, and offer staff training on Disability Awareness; Basic Deaf Awareness; Developing Disability Confidence; and related areas.
Meeting our statutory obligations is only the start. We have also taken action to ensure that disabled people have a voice and a chance to work. The Pan-Disability Panel enables those with disabilities to shape our services, while the Tower Project provides disabled workers with all the services they need to find a job. The Council also works with DisabledGo – an organisation that produces accessibility guides for disabled people. We’re providing information on the level of accessibility at 1,000 venues in Tower Hamlets so that disabled people, their family and friends can make the most of local services. We’re thinking about how disabled people travel in our borough too. Our Getting Around day is designed to give disabled people the chance to try public transport, see how it can help them and make informed choices about travelling. At the heart of all this are our services. We have six schools for children with special educational needs, community centres catering for disabled people and a comprehensive range of social services, tailored to individuals’ needs.
These are just some of the reasons why we’ve been awarded level 5 of the Equality Standard (the highest equality mark for Local authorities); the ‘two ticks’ disability symbol; and an overall 92 per cent benchmark score in our 2009 Disability Standard report. This score is an increase from 85 per cent achieved in 2007 and considerably higher than the national public sector average of 66 per cent.
We are proud of these achievements, but determined to make further improvements. With the support of our community and workforce, we’re making sure that disabled people have more opportunities, freedom and equality than ever before.
