Disability History Month at the House of Lords
16 November 2022
Disability History Month is a chance to consider the issues facing disabled people, past and present. Find out what the House of Lords is doing to remove barriers and raise awareness to improve the equal rights of disabled people across the UK.
Raising awareness
Campaigning for the rights of disabled people
Baroness Grey-Thompson has packed getting things done into her life from the get-go. From studying for her degree while travelling the world to become a world-class athlete, to playing a key role in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and having 30 things she wants to achieve in the House of Lords to affect change. Inspired by her parents who battled to get her a place in mainstream education, she has never been afraid to take on arguments and uses her voice in the House of Lords to focus on rights for disabled people and sports policy. Learn more from Baroness Grey-Thompson about what drives her achievements in sports, campaigning and politics.
Diverse membership
The House of Lords is made up of a diverse group of people with different abilities, experiences and expertise. Discover House of Lords members and their roles, and find out what topics members are speaking about in the chamber on any sitting day.
Addressing current challenges
Members often use their knowledge and experience to speak on issues impacting the lives of disabled people through daily questions and debates. Catch up on recent government scrutiny from the Lords on:
- implementing the National Disability Strategy
- Personal Independence Payments
- support services for disabled children
- the reported shortage of disabled people’s personal assistants
- services for people with neurological conditions.
British Sign Language Act 2022
British sign language (BSL) is the most commonly used sign language in the UK and is considered culturally important by the Deaf community. Although it is recognised as a language by the government, this was not set out in law. Introduced by Lord Holmes of Richmond as a private members' bill in the Lords following its passage through the Commons, the British Sign Language Act became law in 2022 and gives BSL full legal recognition as a language in England, Wales and Scotland.
- Find out more about the bill
- Watch the first live BSL interpreted debate in the House of Lords: key debate on the BSL bill.
A history of fighting for disability rights at the House of Lords
The 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act was the first step towards equality for disabled people in the UK. Put forward by Lord Morris of Manchester, then an MP, the bill required councils to provide certain services to disabled people living in their communities. During the main debate of the bill in the House of Lords, several disabled members shared their experiences, raising issues such as the extra costs of living, segregation and mobility barriers for wheelchair bound people.
Lords scrutiny of the Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act became law in 2010 and brought together many pieces of disability and equality-related law. A House of Lords committee under the same name later investigated the Act and found that government inaction was failing disabled people, stressing that improvements to housing, public spaces, transport and more, needed to be addressed.
- Explore the work of the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Committee
- Watch the committee explain its findings
Since the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Committee report, improvements to meet accessibility standards have been made in areas such as transport, but in June 2021 a reinvestigation of the law by the House of Lords Liaison Committee found that the government had not carried out a number of provisions from the Act. In its September 2021 report, the committee asked the government to speak to the Equality and Human Rights Commission and disabled people’s organisations about the work they need to do, and to publish a timeline detailing how it plans to make provisions in the Act work.
- Learn more about the Liaison Committee report
- Read the government’s response.
Get involved
House of Lords podcast
Listen as Baroness Campbell of Surbiton and Baroness Grey-Thompson discuss disability rights and improving accessibility in the House of Lords Podcast.
Downloads
Read the stories of influential members of the Lords who have impacted disability related UK laws.
- Download the UK Parliament Disability History Month booklet
House of Lords online
Follow on Twitter
Visit @UKHouseofLords on Twitter for highlights of each day’s work in the House.
Follow the hashtag #HouseofLords for what’s happening, or #LordsQs for details of what topics members are pressing the government on at the start of each Monday to Thursday.
Other social media
Follow the House of Lords on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube for highlights, photos and videos from the UK Parliament’s second chamber.
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