Disability Sheffield has added our name to a growing list of signatories calling for the rights of disabled people to be restored. A group of over 60 organisations including Disability Rights UK, Inclusion London, Liberty and Mind have signed an open statement asking the government to withdraw the sections of the Coronavirus Act relating to disabled people, as the House of Commons prepares to review the Coronavirus Act on 30 September.
The Act will be debated in the House of Lords on the 28th September. A letter , signed by 30 peers, including Baroness Jane Campbell and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, has asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, to restore Care Act rights.
The Coronavirus Act contains provisions allowing local authorities to reduce vital social care duties, weakens support and education for disabled children and young people, and enables the removal of basic legal safeguards that could severely impact the rights of people coming into contact with the mental health system.
The statement is now up on the Disability Rights UK website and is open for other organisations and individuals to sign. You can also write to or email your MP before 30 September using this template letter .
DR UK CEO Kamran Mallick said: “Almost two thirds of the deaths caused by Coronavirus between March and July were those of disabled people. As we move into winter and an increase in the rate of infection, the government needs to do more to support and protect disabled people. Removing our rights is not an acceptable strategy. What is needed is a level of funding sufficient to see local authorities through this winter, which will maintain the full rights of disabled people to the provisions they are entitled to under the Care Act.”
Read more and sign the statement on Disability Rights UK’s Website.
