Councillors in York will discuss how the council can help to deliver equality for Disabled people, when they meet later this week.
A Labour motion will be debated at a time when York Council is coming under increased pressure both from the public and from councillors, after a series of controversial decisions affecting Disabled people.
Labour councillor George Norman will propose the motion, and explained why it was necessary, commenting:
“This week’s council meeting will receive a petition from ‘Reverse the Ban’, a coalition of local organisations pushing the council to readmit BLUE BADGE holders to access the city centre. Labour fully backs this call and has confirmed we’d find a solution that permits access once again, while still prioritising the security and safety of the public from the terrorist threat, as other cities have done.
“Our motion is about changing the whole approach within the council to one that recognises that people are disabled by the barriers put in their way, not by any impairment they may have. Despite the controversy of the city centre access ban, I hope that all councillors will recognise there’s a much more constructive approach we can take as a council that should lead to more inclusive, better decision making”.
In addition to the BLUE BADGE holder restrictions in the city centre, the council has recently undertaken a multi-million pound refurbishment project at the Guildhall that has concluded with Disabled people, including councillors, being unable to properly participate in public council meetings. And in planned changes for Union Terrace car park, the council intends to move a majority of existing parking bays for Disabled drivers further away from the city centre end of the car park.
“When you see one decision after another like this, you really do start to wonder what’s going on with the Lib Dem-Green administration running the council,” said Cllr Pete Kilbane, who will also speak in support of the motion. “In every case, there are alternatives to what they are doing, yet they rigidly plough ahead when they know full well what the impact will be on Disabled people.
“We need the council taking an approach of co-production that looks at removing barriers to Disabled people’s active participation in all those parts of daily life that non-Disabled people take for granted. This will help to ensure it fulfils its legal duty under the Equality Act in the future, something we don’t believe it is currently doing”.