Disability and Carers Service Equality Schemes
Foreword
I am pleased to introduce the Disability and Carers Service equality schemes, which set out how we will implement our duties under equality legislation and how we will measure our progress. We are committed to implementing the requirements of equality legislation and demonstrating our promotion of diversity issues across the organisation. Our aim is to treat both our customers and our staff with respect, welcoming diversity, valuing the ideas of others and responding to the needs of the individual.
I take a keen interest in the work of the diversity and equality team and the diversity staff network group. To demonstrate our commitment and support for diversity, each member of the executive management team has recently agreed to act as a diversity champion, supporting the excellent work already being undertaken on diversity and progressing it further up to and beyond 2009.
Terry Moran
Chief Executive Officer
About the Disability and Carers Service
The Disability and Carers Service was launched as an executive agency
of the Department for Work and Pensions in November 2004. We employ
over 7,000 people nationally and serve more than 5 million customers.
Every working day we pay in excess of £47 million in Disability
Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance
benefits.
Our vision
To enable independence by supporting the diverse needs of disabled people and carers.
Our mission
To treat customers and others with respect and provide an accessible, accurate and efficient service.
Our objectives
- To improve the experience of customers using our services, ensuring that they are at the heart of our business.
- To invest in the professionalism and improve the experience of the people who work for/with us.
- To improve the experience of partner organisations that deal with us.
- To be more efficient by reviewing our organisation and by investing in and improving our infrastructure.
Our strategy
We will transform our services by:
- knowing what our customers want;
- working with others to serve our shared customers;
- increasing the capability of our people;
- simplifying our business processes;
- investing in and improving our infrastructure;
- ensuring that customers receive their correct entitlement at the right time;
- increasing the share of our resources in customer-related activities; and
- measuring and reporting our progress honestly.
Our values
We operate within the values set out for all departmental staff. They build on the successes of the past and help us develop a sense of what kind of Department we are building over the next few years – one that’s focused on providing the best possible services to all our customers. We apply the departmental values to everything we do.
Our values help us to focus on our approach to our daily activities and contribute towards achieving our vision.
What we deliver
We deliver the following:
- Disability Living Allowance;
- Attendance Allowance;
- Carer’s Allowance; and
- Vaccine Damage Payments
to severely disabled people and carers.
Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are designed to help meet the extra costs in relation to care or mobility that a disabled person has as a consequence of their disability. Carer’s Allowance makes a contribution to the financial needs of people who are caring for a disabled person for 35 hours a week or more.
If you are severely disabled as a result of a vaccination against certain diseases, you may be able to get a Vaccine Damage Payment. This is a one-off tax-free payment of £100,000.
As a provider of these services, we play a key role in contributing to the departmental agenda of equality of opportunity for all by contributing to the Department for Work and Pensions Public Service Agreements, including:
- improving rights and opportunities for disabled people in a fair and inclusive society;
- modernising welfare delivery so as to improve the accessibility, accuracy and value for money of services to customers, including employers;
- combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners;
- promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age, while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and
- ensuring the best start for all children and assisting to end child poverty in 20 years.
Introduction
This document presents our disability equality scheme and our gender equality scheme. It also includes a progress report on our race equality scheme and the actions that we are taking in relation to other aspects of diversity.
Section One explains our commitment to equality and gives some examples of our achievements to date and ongoing good practice.
Section Two focuses on improving our service using the priorities that our customers and staff have told us about in relation to disability, gender, race and other aspects of diversity. Our action plans for the next three years (Annexes 2–5) display the actions that we will take to make improvements in these areas. These actions are linked to our customer promise and departmental values.
Section Three explains our approach to progress reporting and how we will gather evidence to review our action plans and report on the progress that we are making.