Carrickfergus Borough Council - Disability

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Disability

Council is required by law (Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and Disability Discrimination Order NI 2006) to ensure that, when developing policy and conducting business generally, people who have a disability are in no way treated less favourably than people without disabilities. In this respect, the Council have conducted audits of Council-owned facilities which have resulted in major refurbishment programmes for both the Town Hall and the Leisure Centre. These improvement schemes will address many issues relating to access to the facilities which Council offers. For this work, Council has been awarded recognition from the William Keown Trust

Similarly, Council has an Equal Opportunities Statement, ensuring that Council extends its commitment to equality of opportunity for people with disabilities in the feild of recruitment and selection

Disability Action Plan

The Disability Action Plan for Carrickfergus Borough Council is also an important document which is now a requirement of all designated public authorities. Our adopted Plan requires Council, when carrying out our functions, to have regard to the need:

• to promote positive attitues towards people with a disability, and
• to encourage participation of disabled people in public life

To this end, Council has been involved in several initiatives to highlight the associated issues both with staff and Councillors and members of the public. In 2008, Council went into partnership with Belfast Lough Sailability in order to deliver Disability Awareness to Councillors, front line staff and senior management. This work has been built upon in 2009, with further mandatory training for all staff, Councillors and District Policing Partnership members being delivered.

In a more public arena, Council held its first Disability Involvement Day in June 2007. Following the success of this event, Council made the decision to focus on mental health issues and young people for the 2008 event. Compared by UTV's Paul Clark, the event was attended by young people from all post primary schools within the Borough and a range of professionals spoke on a number of themes. It is anticipated that another Involvement Day will be hosted in 2009 (details to follow).