DISABLED people feel “forgotten and left behind” due to severe delays to reforms aimed at advancing their rights in Wales, the UK’s equality watchdog warned.

Ruth Coombs, head of Wales at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), gave evidence to a Senedd inquiry about disability and employment on Monday October 7.

She said: “By not giving disabled people access to employment, as a nation, we’re really missing out – on productivity, economic engagement and Wales moving forward.”

Ms Coombs warned of a policy implementation gap in response to the recommendations of the Locked out report about the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on disabled people.

She told the Senedd’s equality committee: “We’ve got some great ideas about what we should be doing, but there have been severe delays.”

She said the Welsh Government’s disability action plan has been delayed by 12 to 18 months, as she called for greater impetus, with disabled people feeling “forgotten and left behind”.

Ms Coombs told the inquiry that disability rights have taken a “bit of a backseat” because of a lack of resources from the Welsh Government to maintain focus.

She warned of “uneven” access to employment and educational opportunities across Wales.

The former headteacher raised the role of Medr – which replaced Hefcw in August and oversees all post-16 education – in encouraging disabled people into apprenticeships.

She said very few disabled learners start apprenticeships and even fewer complete them.

Official figures for 2022 showed the disability employment gap – the difference in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled people – in Wales was 32.3%.

This was higher than Scotland, 31.6%, and the UK average, 29.8%.

Martyn Jones, interim chair of the EHRC’s Wales committee, shared campaigners’ concerns that disability does not have the same status as other protected characteristics.

“We don’t see the same focus and drive,” he warned, drawing a parallel with Welsh Government action on domestic abuse and racism in recent years.

Mr Jones described disability as, unfortunately, the “poor relation” of the equalities world, urging ministers to enshrine the UN convention on disabled people’s rights into Welsh law.

He encouraged public bodies to be more proactive, praising the example of the GCHQ intelligence and security agency actively recruiting autistic people for their skills.

Ms Coombs raised concerns about nervousness and a lack of confidence among employers on recruiting disabled people as she pointed to EHRC guidance published in September.

Fflur Elin, head of public affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses Wales (FSB), told the committee about 25% of small business owners are disabled or have a health condition.

She said disabled people and businesses often do not know where to access support as she raised the recommendations of the FSB’s 2020 report, Business without barriers.

She called for devolution of the shared prosperity fund, which replaced EU structural funds, saying this would give Wales the “fiscal firepower” to strengthen business support.

Asked about businesses’ awareness of their duties under the 2010 Equality Act, Ms Elin echoed the EHRC’s comments on a “nervousness in saying or doing the wrong thing”.

On the UK Government’s Access to Work scheme, which provides grants for adjustments, she warned that a 26-week wait for a decision acts as a major barrier.

Pembroke Dock’s Anchorage day centre will close in less than a month, after a final decision was backed by senior councillors.

Last month, a successful ‘call-in’ by Independent Group leader Cllr Huw Murphy at an extraordinary meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s social care overview and scrutiny committee, was supported by fellow group members.

The county council is currently changing care provision for older adults and those with learning disabilities, with identified budget saving included in the 2024-’25 budget, and closure of Pembroke Dock’s Anchorage day care centre was agreed by senior councillors at the September 9 meeting of the council’s Cabinet, despite an earlier petition and impassioned pleas to keep it open.

At an earlier full council meeting a plea by local councillors Tony Wilcox and Brian Hall to give the Anchorage a breathing space ahead of a potential service move to an as-yet-unbuilt facility at Pembroke’s South Quay development, expected to open in 2026.

The November 1 Anchorage closure was backed along with wider changes in the service; establishing social enterprise models in Crymych’s Bro Preseli and Narberth’s Lee Davies Centre with effect from April 1 of next year.

The anchorage building is council owned while the other two are not.

After that Cabinet decision, the later ‘call-in’ asked for the decision to be referred back to Cabinet for further discussion on the social enterprise model, with a potential piloting in Bro Preseli, along with what bridging options could be considered for the Anchorage while awaiting the South Quay development.

A report at Thursday’s special Cabinet meeting of October 3, presented by Cllr Tessa Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding, said, in relation to the first part of the ‘call-in’: “The Day Centre provision in Crymych and Narberth will remain open under current SLAs until March 31, 2025. A social enterprise will be supported to engage with the local community, service users, their families, and other stakeholders to develop and pilot alternative models of delivery.”

In relation to the Anchorage, it said: “The South Quay development will open in 2026, providing a co-located and integrated health and care setting, with further day opportunities and supported employment options for local residents.

“The Anchorage is open four days a week, providing services from the base 3.5 days with people attending alternative settings on a Friday. With regards to bridging alterations, the Cabinet report on September 9 set out a number of alternatives to attendance at the Anchorage.

“All of these alternatives constitute bridging options for those that wish to attend South Quay from 2026 onwards.”

Those alternatives include day opportunities at the Meadow Park Centre, Community-based activities in the Pembroke Dock Community Hall, and community-based activities at the VC Gallery, Pembroke Dock, the report added.

Members heard the anchorage day centre needed a new ceiling, roof, fire doors and electrics, which would cost some £500,000 to completely refurbish, or £295,000 to bring it up to standard to remain open for two years before the South Quay development was ready, with fears that rate could be even higher.

The council will be exiting service level agreements with the Bro Preseli Day Centre in Crymych and the Lee Davies Day Centre in Narberth and as one of many alternatives, will be working in partnership to promote social enterprise alternatives. Work is now underway to establish a suitable pilot which will see further strengthening of links between PCC and the Third Sector.

THE WELSH GOVERNMENT have been urged to adopt a successful family court model to help cut down on the number of children taken into care.

Speaking to the Siambr on Tuesday, Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds called for the adoption of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court model, which is a therapeutic problem-solving court model that focuses on allowing children to remain with their families where possible while also stopping parental drug misuse.

The Welsh Government had previously run a pilot version of the court model last year in Cardiff, which saw a remarkable decline in substance misuse and a rise in the number of children staying in parental care.

Drug misuse amongst parents declined from 83% to 54%, with 29% of parents achieving sobriety.

Meanwhile, the number of children in parental care more than doubled from 14% to 32%, resulting in more families staying together.

Despite successful results, the scheme was ended last year due to budgeting constraints.

Jane Dodds MS has criticised the Welsh Government for scrapping the scheme, and has asked them to reverse their decision and provide future long-term funding for the scheme, stating that “this court model could prove to be transformative to family justice here in Wales”

I was disappointed to see that, despite successful results from the pilot model in Cardiff, this potentially life-changing model was scrapped due to a withdrawal of funding by the Welsh Labour Government.

We have a golden opportunity here to change our system for the better, ensuring that children are able to stay together with their families, giving them a brighter future in the long-term.”