‘On the postcode lottery: There has been some analysis done on socio-demographic areas and compared them to awards. And the horror of it was that some areas tended to get higher awards.   They also looked at educational standards and these tended to be areas where the educational standard was higher. Postcodes can say a lot about the demographic makeup of areas and was wondering if that’s what you’re referring to when you said postcode lottery.’ 

‘Yes, that’s it- it’s about blue badges in different areas, access to social care, access to transport and so on.’ 

‘I don’t know if the ONS has data around the numbers of disabled people within each constituency or local authority area. What I’m mindful of is that is we have national policy made by government around blue badges for example, and how that’s being applied at a local level. Particularly where councils may have the opportunity to interpret guidance in their own way. What we’ve seen as a result is the way in which people can apply for blue badges or- at the moment, for the household support fund around cost-of-living issues, or even around bus passes and what’s included within that. It’s different in different parts of the country. So, there was something about how to level up what disabled people can access so that we have equity across the country. Better guidance is probably needed to support local authorities to ensure that a standard approach is being taken.’ 

‘Regarding the postcode lottery, my personal perspective as a disabled person, I tend to find that professionals tend to apply for things on people’s behalf and they may have never used the service or providers. When they act for individuals, this is where I find the postcode lottery gets misinterpreted. Unless you’re using the services, how can you decide who has what or what you can apply for. I think that needs to be separated. It’s why I decided to do my social work, because I found that everything was being done for me but yet if you’ve never used that service, how can you be the person deciding who has what and what’s good.’ 

‘I’m a blue badge holder. In some areas of Birmingham they charge you for blue badges when it should be free. I think it should be included and they should be free no matter what area you go to. I was discharged from a rehab service because I live in the other side of Birmingham and my GP got in touch with them to say I do need that service. And it took me two years to get back to that rehab centre because of the area I live in.’ 

‘I’m registered blind and work for a sight loss charity so deal with lots of different people in the West Midlands with very different circumstances. The postcode lottery doesn’t only apply to finances, it comes into transport and the attitudes of staff and service providers as well. Some are on top of staff training and it is a high priority for them. In other regions or other departments within local authorities or NHS trusts, it can vary massively. It’s about how the finances are spent and what the priorities are. Communication is how we find things out and if that’s not given in an accessible format to people then it doesn’t matter how good the service is. The accessible information standards have been around for five years and we are still having to fight to get this thing that we are all entitled to have.’ 

‘I just want to talk about absurdity of postcode lottery. It can vary from one side of the road to another. I’m in Solihull, and services can be done a lot quicker than someone in Birmingham where there is a higher amount of disabled people. It comes down to the number of the house you live in and what side of the street you live on.’ 

‘It’s a difficult one. You want the government to set national policy stances and you want local authorities to be able to interpret it as they see fit, but they do need the finances available to do that. With the ONS, it would be really helpful for local authorities to actually know how many disabled people they may have living in their areas and what their needs are. It needs to start with good quality data. The funding should follow the data so there is more equity in the cascading of funding. It could be based on a kind of a formula which I’m not entirely sure it is at the moment. The other thing I would say is that ESF funding in the past has been very good at helping to level up inequalities in our communities. Certainly in the West Midlands I can think of a lot of ESF funded projects that have helped support disabled people in mainstream society or move towards employment for example. Something I’m concerned about is that funding is now falling away to make room for the UK shared prosperity fund, will some of that money be available to help level up these inequalities or not, I don’t know. I’d be keen to advocate that the funding that comes through that pot does find its way into the disability agenda.’ 

‘I’m glad you touched on that because in regards health inadequacies, I’m finding it hard with how people from ethnic minorities are being treated with regard to health. It’s appalling how someone from one nationality is treated compared to another. I’m basing this off is a recent experience is how one person on my mother’s road was treated compared to her and both had cancer. One was given little support and the other was given everything. My mum’s quality of life was appalling and she has since died. The treatment of the other person, well she was given everything yet my mum worked all her life.’ 

‘Blue badges- there’s two in our house. I have one and one for my son. I’ve recently been fined from a private car park, which I will fight, but surely we should be able to park for longer than three hours in car parks and on double yellow lines. Some car parks don’t recognise the blue badge and they expect a full charge.’ 

‘I echo what you say. It changes across the borough. For some car parks you can only use the disabled bays with a blue badge. I agree that it’s not the same across the board. Birmingham has more opportunities for parking than the smaller parts of the borough. With my work, I’ve seen that up in York, the city council has banned blue badge parking in the city- I’m worried that this will set a precedent across the board.’ 

 ‘The elephant in the room is how easy it is for people to actually get blue badges which dilutes the effectiveness of blue badge if everyone can have one. As somebody said, there are only so many spaces and they’re getting filled up with people that don’t have the mobility problems that someone like me has.’ 

‘I agree to a degree. I think the scheme should be colour coded. People could be assessed to see what their needs are. I use a wheelchair and need to be closer to a facility. There may be people without physical disabilities but need a space and that could be addressed with a scheme like this. I know that there are a lot of hidden disabilities out there and I don’t want to discriminate with them.’ 

‘I found it hard to get a blue badge I couldn’t get one for love nor money. Yet I’ve got arthritis in my hips. My son has special needs and he found it hard as well.’ 

‘There are inconsistencies here. My mother in law found it hard to get a blue badge. As another example of how unfair things can be, last year I was at an airport going away and I was waiting outside a disabled loo for half an hour. Lo and behold someone walked out brazen as anything so I said to him ‘really?’ now he may have valid reasons, but could he not have used the other toilet next door?’ 

‘I’m registered blind with a white cane and I find often that I have to have difficult conversations with people. I’ve had people say to me ‘you need a badge to park there’ because I don’t look disabled. But there have been white van men, and I don’t mean to stereotype, but they are sometimes the culprits. And I’m confident enough to say to them ‘excuse me do you need to park there?’ but some people don’t have that confidence. And you shouldn’t have to feel like you’ll get your face smashed in to challenge someone if they’re not leaving the van and they’re just eating their lunch. I think people don’t see it as a legal thing to be reprimanded for.’  

‘The population is ageing isn’t it; so some people become disabled in later years and there are now more things people can pick up on to identify that need. Availability isn’t growing with that demand however.’ 

‘One thing to address it is to actually fine people who park in those bays without a badge. Maybe that’s something to take back to the council, find out the numbers of people fined for parking in the bays and address it that way.’ 

‘I think the postcode lottery is very important as I got an award and the council didn’t recognise it. There aren’t enough blue badges given out where I live. There need to be more disabled bays and I think the statutory number is 17% but I might have made that up. There are several bays you need. If you ask for more, they could come back and say we’ll give out less badges. Making the point about the ageing population clear if we’re asking for an increase in numbers of bays.’ 

‘That’s a valid point, if the allocation of space is based on the need and demand it can be easier addressed. However, enforcement and who enforces who is using the bays is something that needs looking into.’ 

‘On education – my son has special needs, I wanted him to go to a special college for hoteliers. Because they promised me there was something out of area, I wasn’t allowed to apply to it for him.’ 

‘Regarding adaption of houses and specialist equipment, it’s very much a postcode lottery. Before I moved to Solihull, the council wouldn’t give me a wet room in my house and I waited for four years. When I moved, they sorted it within weeks, so it is very much a postcode lottery when it comes to this. You can add to that renewing your wheelchair. You can spend year trying to get it replaced because of long waiting lists in some places. 

To improve this, local disability organisations should have a greater impact and wider remit of communicating with people so we’re not fighting on an individual basis but fighting on a collective basis.’ 

‘Home Care postcode lottery – up to 80,000 residents could be receiving special care in their own homes. And it says how unequal it is. This is a report by the IPPR. It is highly critical, it’s a good synopsis of what’s going on. The proportion of care is as low as 46% in Barnsley compared to 84% on Hammersmith. The councils where I am in Cumbria are strapped and have an obligation to pay for care. To do that they’ve changed the criteria of accessing care. It has to be a threat to life before you can get it now. Some people are getting care that is having their adult diaper changed because there aren’t carers around at the right time to help them go to the toilet. That’s not care. And this is what the government cuts have done. When you’ve got 46% in the north and 84% in Hammersmith and Fulham, you realise the postcode lottery is literally a matter of life and death. What the tory government have done to northern towns and other areas it comes down to this and it’s really shocking. Receiving adequate access to care is nigh on impossible. 

‘Also on the issue of choice of places and schools in the education system- in rural areas you don’t get a choice. For people in cities, it’s the suggestion of choice, that rarely happens, and for anyone with additional needs, you go to the back of the queue for that choice because they’re performance and results based. It’s stealing money from people, organisations and schools that really need it. And this is to pay for private managers of academies and care organisations, when these things should have been kept in house without any competitive advantage. It leads to stealing form the poorest in society. 

‘The disparity between Hammersmith and Fulham and the northern places is due to a lack of resources. There’s so much on the agenda, that there’s little impact to be able to drive impact and get every disabled person mobilised. Disabled People cannot be loud enough when there are so many subjects. I think the overriding one is the cuts to local authorities and move to privatisation with in house services.’ 

‘The thing I find is that when I try to apply to a bus pass, I have to print off forms and pay for a photograph, when someone else can just use an app and a photo free of charge. Why are disabled people still using pen and paper- digital exclusion. I think it’s driven by ignorance.’ 

‘It’s all about options. If they’re doing it by pen and paper, they should move with the times, but they should send it out in the post and provide a voucher for the photograph if that’s how they want their office work to be done. I can’t fill out forms as I’m visually impaired, so I need someone to do it for me and it’s about having the options available to you.’ 

‘I don’t understand why if you’ve had adaptations in your house, that you can never buy the house. And as soon as that person moves out, they tear out the equipment and often it will be turned into a bedsit and the adaptations torn out.’ 

‘Conversely, I’ve heard feedback that disabled people feel trapped in a particular location because they can’t move due to their need for adaptations. Let’s say a young person with mobility issues wants to move for university but they can’t go and move in that part of the country because of barriers caused by adaptions in the accommodation.’ 

‘That’s true as well for care packages. People are scared to move in case they lose their care packages, so they can’t move to another part of the country for a new job. They would have to fight for all that again so it’s another way that disabled people are trapped in a certain location.’ 

‘I’m a carer for my son. Why do social services insist on putting our young disabled adults in homes that cost more than giving me the money to care for him properly. Unpaid carers have been located out of that £20 Universal credit uplift during the pandemic as well.’ 

‘The way the cost-of-living crisis has been dealt with is totally unfair. I personally have never received support over lockdown or after.’ 

‘I accessed the council tax rebate easily, yet my mother-in-law, as my husband did it for her, he needed their bank details to sort it for her. There isn’t a standard approach to this- it varies from council to council.’ 

‘I can’t get employed for love nor money because I’m an unpaid carer. I’d love to work. But because I’ve not worked in a certain amount of time, it feels discriminatory.’ 

‘You can earn more on ESA where they didn’t extend this to carers who works the 16 hours. It’s discriminations when they increased one but not carers allowance. They could have increased both but chose not to do that. It stinks, I’m angry for you.’ 

‘I slightly disagree to be honest. I was trying to find employment before lockdown. I sent letters to the benefits office saying I’d been offered a job can you let me know if this will fit into the criteria. I feel they’ve not offered me any support to getting this employment so I’ve been working voluntarily because the benefits office hasn’t given me any support or guidance. They’re supposed to help you back into employment- the employer has been very good but the benefits office haven’t helped at all.’ 

‘With disability confident employers, often you’ll get an interview but it feels like there will always be something down the line where it will fall down and you’ll be stigmatised. It’s about proving that it’s because of discrimination that is difficult. I don’t know whether they can do it now, but some jobs you have to have a disability to apply and more of that could be good’ 

 ‘t’s proving that and as a disabled people, you have to overprove your worth just to get through the door, the biggest this is very much a postcode lottery, is Access to Work. It’s meant to help disabled people get into work. I’m lucky in that I’ve always been in employment. You have to oversell yourself and overtry and confirm your place in society and the workplace. Access to Work has brought me to tears and I totally understand why some people don’t work because it’s more stressful to go through the process. It’s meant to provide help, equipment and reasonable adjustment and trying to get it is absolutely a postcode lottery- not the postcode you are in but in terms of what advisor you get or what workload they have or who assigns it to who. I’ve been in my current job for nearly 2 years. My support worker did not get paid a penny for 7 months. She still turned up and drove me to my appointments and read articles to me and access to work couldn’t pay her because of they backlog and covid and all these excuses. It’s not on. Access to Work has to be better handled and given more priority and employers need to know about it. We know at times that  we’re not given opportunities because of our disability and sometimes it’s because the employers don’t know it won’t cost them.’