Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) forum launches this month

21 Jul 2020 11:22 AM

The Disability Unit has established a new Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) Forum to strengthen its engagement with disabled people.

In a world where coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to affect usual ways of working, the Disability Unit is holding the first virtual Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) Forum this month, chaired by the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Justin Tomlinson MP. It is hoped future meetings will be held in person, when it is safe to do so.

Membership of the new forum will include national disabled people’s organisations, regional organisations and chairs of our Regional Stakeholder Networks. Forum members will be from DPOs, have lived experience of disability themselves, or represent others that do.

The Disability Unit will use the forum to enable a high level group of DPOs and influential disabled individuals to have regular conversations with the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work and government officials.

As well as providing forum members with a regular opportunity to meet with the Minister, it will play an important role in bringing the voices and expertise of disabled people into the heart of government policy making.

Justin Tomlinson MP recently said:

I am looking forward to working with this new DPO Forum as we develop the National Strategy for Disabled People, the DWP Green Paper, and beyond.

For more details, email disability-unit@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. You can also follow the Disability Unit on Twitter.