Representing the Voice of Disabled people
Representing the Voice of Disabled people
HRDF wishes to represent the views of disabled people in Hastings and Rother regarding the issues that affect them in their day-to-day lives. We aim to do this in a number of ways:-
Through our newsletter, we will publicise the work we are currently involved in and invite members to contact us with any views they have on any of the topics we have raised.
From time to time, we will hold themed open meetings about issues that disabled people have contacted us about. Examples of these are the meeting we held on changes to rules around blue badge parking in Hastings Borough Council car parks, the meeting to discuss disabled people's concerns around Social Services and the meeting we are about to hold to discuss disabled people's housing concerns.
A number of committee members sit on local groups and networks, either as a representative of HRDF or representing themselves in their local community. These include: the community ward forums, the Community Network, the Local Strategic Partnership, the Hastings Borough Council Disability Equality Duty Working Group, the Carers Development Group, the 1066 Disabled Tenants Access group, to name but a few. These groups and networks often discuss key developments in the town, and include key decision-makers such as Local and County Council Officers, people from seaspace and SEEDA (South-East Economic Development agency).
Through this section of our website, we would like to take the opportunity to feed back to you about some of the issues that are discussed at the various groups and networks we sit on. We want to represent your views, not just ours - so we want to tell you what's going on so you Can contribute to those discussions.
Lizzie Hawke, our Secretary, attends the Hastings Community Network as HRDF representative, with Theresa Hodge (our Chair) as her deputy.
Hastings Local Strategic Partnership
Theresa Hodge (Chair) attends the Local Strategic Partnership as one of six representatives of the Hastings Community Network.
Kevin Towner (our Vice Chair) attends this group.
Voluntary Organisations Supporting Disabled People
Theresa Hodge (Chair) attends this group. It is a sub-group of the Hastings Health and Social Care Forum, a network made up of voluntary organisations who work in the field of Health and Social Care providing services, or supporting users, carers and families. Part of the wider Community Network, The Forum exists to promote better links between groups and develop lines of communication and representation between the voluntary/community sector and statutory agencies on practical, policy and strategic issues. VOSDP meets bi-monthly to discuss issues affecting disabled people in relation to health and social care, and reports back to the Health & Social Care Forum steering group on the issues raised.
Hastings Borough Council Disability Equality Duty Working Group
Theresa Hodge (Chair) attends this group. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 includes new duties on public authorities to promote disability equality. These new duties come into force on 5 December 2006, and mean that public authorities have to produce a Disability Equality Scheme and Action Plan. Hastings Borough Council has set up this group to enable them to develop an understanding of the requirements of the Duty and to share this with directorate staff and management.
By engaging with disabled people, the group will produce a Disability Equality Scheme and action plan, advise managers on compliance with the Duty, and recommend actions the Council needs to take to improve access to employment, democratic processes and services. The group will regularly report back to the Council's Equalities sub-group on compliance.
We want to make sure that we are accurately representing the disabled people of Hastings and Rother on issues that affect them on a day-to-day basis. on this page we will tell you about things that are being discussed in the meetings we attend so that you can let us know your views on these subjects. If you would like to:- Feedback from disabled people