Reinstatement of the Access to Elected Office Fund

That this House notes with regret the underrepresentation of disabled people in Parliament, whilst one in five members of the working-age population identify as disabled, just five MPs disclosed they identify as disabled at the 2019 General Election; believes it is important that disabled people are enabled to contribute to the decisions which affect their lives; understands that financial barriers are a major factor in preventing many disabled people from pursuing elected office; acknowledges that disabled people face additional disability related costs such as paying for Personal Assistants, BSL Interpreters, transport, and assistive technology; commends the Centenary Action report entitled Overcoming the barriers to disabled women’s involvement in politics which found that financial support was the most commonly cited requirement by disabled women to contest an election; regrets that the government abolished the Access to Elected Office Fund in 2015 and the successor EnAble Fund by government in March 2020; notes that the government report Barriers to elected office for disabled people also identified the impact of financial barriers on the selection and election of disabled people; and supports the reinstatement of a fund on a permanent basis to enable disabled people to stand for election for public office, and bring a diversity of experience to our society and democracy.