Campaigns

Party Conferences 2008 - Fair Game

Summary: RNIB visits the 2008 Party Conferences

Conference update

Our 'Fair Game' stand won the prize for 'the stand that best gets its message across' at the Liberal Democrats conference.

Fair Game stand

RNIB will take their 'Fair Game' campaign stand to the annual Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party Conferences this autumn.

The stand, based on a fair ground coconut shy, will raise awareness of issues around Disability Living Allowance (DLA), social care, employment and accessible text books.

We will encourage delegates to 'lobby' bean bags at key decision-makers to help end the exclusion of blind and partially sighted people from:

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

Blind people face some of the biggest barriers to independent mobility. However, blind people are excluded from receiving the higher rate mobility component of DLA, which assists people who have difficulties getting out and about safely and independently.

Drawing of Gordon Brown

A listening Prime Minister should pay attention to:

  • his own Ministers and officials, who found that the necessary changes could be made
  • his own Party, which supports the change
  • the general public, over 90 per cent of whom support our call for people with severe sight loss to receive the higher rate mobility component of DLA.

How to help us change the DLA situation

Employment

Two out of every three people with sight loss of working age are not in work. Nine out of ten employers say that they feel it would be impossible or difficult to employ someone with sight loss.

There is a huge amount employers can do to help boost the numbers of disabled people in work, such as:

  • making job vacancies accessible
  • being positive about employing disabled people
  • having policies to retain in work employees who become disabled.

Drawing of David Cameron

How to help us change the employment situation

Social Care

Local authorities are adopting increasingly restrictive criteria for social care services. Low awareness of the impact of sight loss is leading to the exclusion of visually impaired people from social care.

Councillors who hold the adult social care portfolio must ensure the council implements the policies set out in 'Putting People First'. They should strike up close relationships with counterparts working in health and housing to ensure services are genuinely joined-up.

How to help us change the social care situation

Drawing of Nick Clegg

Textbooks

Blind and partially sighted children's progress is affected by a lack of textbooks, say nine out of ten teachers. For example, research found 88 per cent of maths GCSE textbooks aren't available in large print or Braille.

Gordon Brown repeats that ‘every child matters’ - but every day blind and partially sighted children are unable to access their textbooks, despite the best efforts of their teachers.

Gordon Brown needs to lead the way and ensure blind and partially sighted children matter to Government

How to help us change the textbooks situation

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Content author: campaign@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/10/2008 16:12

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Your stories

Jenny's story - Jenny Burgess volunteered for a disability support group run by people with physical disabilities. She was the only staff member with a sight problem. “I depended on a colleague with physical disabilities to give me a lift to work. I have far greater mobility problems than most people with physical disabilities who can drive a car, yet receive less benefit - it’s unfair and unjust.” Join our campaign to make the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance fair - taken for a ride.