Disability Action Plans - Staff training and awareness-raising
Disability Action Plans must describe a public authority’s arrangements for ensuring that those of its employees and officeholders who carry-out functions that are relevant to the Section 49A duty are aware of their obligations. Thus, the plan should set out arrangements for training those individuals, or for otherwise alerting them to their responsibilities.
The training and awareness-raising should focus on the aim of the Section 49A duty i.e. to oblige public authorities to think appropriately about taking positive action to improve the lives of disabled people. The training should also be practical in nature and include guidance on how to implement other aspects of the Section 49A duty; i.e. things like monitoring, consulting, reviewing and analysing data and information; considering and taking positive action.
In describing your arrangements in your plan, we recommend that you outline:
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Who is responsible for ensuring that the arrangements are established or, where they are already established, maintained and implemented
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Who will be trained on, or otherwise alerted to, the Section 49A duties
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What are the content and formats (e.g. training, written guides, newsletters)
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When will the arrangements be established, if they are not already in place, or if the arrangements are already in place, what are the timeframes for implementing them.
Examples of emerging good practice: