Covid-19: Disability-Inclusive Response

Andy Carter Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2020 Westminster Hall

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron) for securing this important debate. I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper), who spoke with such power about the hidden disabilities that so many of us face.

I quite often hear it said that covid-19 does not discriminate. It is a social virus that affects everyone. That is certainly true, but the risk of hospitalisation, ventilation and, sadly, death is much higher in someone who suffers from an underlying health condition or disability. I am afraid that the virus does discriminate in a cruel, unpleasant way. That is highlighted by stark covid mortality data from Warrington Hospital: 70% of those who died were male, 80% were over the age of 70, and 90% had underlying health conditions or a disability. There is a mass of evidence that covid-19 has a disproportionate impact on the lives of disabled people in the UK. It affects the quality of their lives dramatically. In a recent Office for National Statistics study, 55% reported an impact on their mental wellbeing as a result of isolation due to the requirement to shield. As we look across what I fear will be a challenging six months to come, and further to the recovery from the pandemic, it is essential not to leave behind anyone who is disabled.

I pay tribute to the work undertaken by my hon. Friend the Minister and his Department in recent weeks to break down the many social and structural barriers that have existed in the workplace, education and wider society. However, coronavirus has revealed that many disabled people are at a precipice, and at risk of experiencing severe effects on their financial security, their health, and their wellbeing, into the long term. I know that the Minister agrees with me about anyone with a disability being able to expect the same access to financial security and career satisfaction as those with none. It would be helpful if he could set out steps, in the Chancellor’s plan for jobs, to support disabled people and say how they can expect to find and retain high-quality jobs.

I want to pay particular tribute to Warrington Disability Partnership and its fantastic chief executive, Dave Thompson, with whom I had the pleasure of spending some time in the summer recess to talk about the work that the partnership has been doing through the pandemic. WDP is an internationally acclaimed charity. All through lockdown it was active, supporting anyone who needed practical assistance, and being a friend at the end of a phone for people to chat with, as support for those who were shielding. Next year it celebrates its 30th anniversary of delivering mobility and independent living services to people in my Warrington South constituency.

Disability Awareness Day is an annual highlight in my constituency. It is a fun community event held at Walton Hall. The event attracts around 200 exhibitors from across the UK’s disability sector. Remarkably, it now attracts 24,000 visitors each year and is acknowledged to be the world’s largest voluntary-led disability event. It is a bright highlight in my local constituency and has taken disability to the majority of people in Warrington.

Due to covid-19, this year’s event could not be held live outdoors, as originally planned. It would have taken place in July, but, as I have come to expect in Warrington, the organisers have innovated. Knowing about the need for information and advice, as so many Members have talked about, they have taken the entire event online into a virtual setting, to take place on Sunday 25 October. There are 200 exhibition stands online. They are already booked, and it is the talk of the mobility and independent living equipment sector.

I know the Minister is aware of the work of WPD, and I would be delighted if he would join me in wishing the event the success it deserves. When he is able to visit, I hope he can come to Warrington to meet the wonderful team at the partnership, to see how it has developed such a successful organisation.