History

Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living as it is today, formed in 2000 as the result of a merger of Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People and Derbyshire Centre for Integrated Living. Read more about:

About New Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living

About Old Derbyshire Centre for Integrated Living

About Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People

About New Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living

Between 1988 and 1993 new Government policies transformed relationships between central and local government and voluntary organisations. In cuts resulting from 'Poll Tax capping', DCDP lost funding half way through the 1990/91 year, and DCIL was cut 50% over 1990-1992. Both organisations had to restructure completely, with many fewer jobs. This was done with close trade union scrutiny and a minimum of compulsory redundancies.

Up to 1990 a clear distinction was made between:

a Coalition of members, committed to campaigning and raising awareness;
a CIL, developing practical applications of the Coalition's founding principles.

Various changes were going on, however, that led to DCDP and DCIL reviewing their roles:

Expectations of disabled people were turning more and more towards independent living arrangements and inclusive communities;
More local organisations run by disabled people were appearing all the time, such as Access Groups;
The NHS & Community Care Act created new opportunities but gave more control to public service managers, and its 'internal markets' tended to change disabled people from partners to consumers or even market commodities;
The Welfare State was breaking up, but with no guarantee that what replaced the old paternalism would support disabled people's goals any better;
Anti-discrimination law began to affect attitudes to disability.

Separate reviews were done in 1995, and in 1996 the whole range of activities of both organisations was reviewed together. The reviews concluded that the best way to safeguard the original wide-ranging objectives and community emphasis was to combine DCDP and DCIL. The decision to move towards this was taken by DCDP Council in August 1996.

The new organisation could be run entirely by its members, because the nature of partnership with public authorities was changing. Local authority representatives on DCIL's General Council could no longer represent both a 'purchaser' authority and a 'provider' organisation. It made sense for them to supervise their funding support in different ways, through service agreements and monitoring procedures. At the same time, the number of public authorities giving support was increasing as Derby City became unitary and some District Councils also made agreements with the organisation.

With all 'stakeholders' in broad agreement on the merger, detail could be worked out for a new Constitution, new working practices, increased focus on active member/user involvement, and new liaison and networking arrangements with other bodies. The new combined Constitution was formally adopted in March 2000, and a new ten-year strategy is taking shape.

About Old Derbyshire Centre for Integrated Living

Along with other newly forming organisations of disabled people in Britain and Europe, the Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People (DCDP) looked closely at theCenters for Independent Living (CILs) which developed during the 1970s in the United States. Influenced by experiences of segregated institutions, many people wanted CILs in the UK to develop on the US model, with the greatest possible independence from the statutory authorities.

In Derbyshire, debate was resolved in favour of a more collaborative relationship. The reasons were:

an opportunity was available to have real influence on Health and Social Services strategies for services to disabled people;
DCDP wanted not only to demolish barriers to independence, but also to change the practices and attitudes that created the barriers in the first place.

For these reasons, DCDP asked for a working party with the Social Services Department to discuss a joint project. A Centre for Integrated Living would be one side of a Disability Project, alongside a new Strategic Framework in which statutory authorities would 'move away from welfare paternalism . . towards a collaborative relationship between service users and providers'. In discussions and workshops the outline of this Framework came to be called the Seven Needs.

In a series of working papers the specification for a CIL took shape. The working group met for 2½ years, with a break in 1983 when a vote calling for closure of a residential hostel in the county provoked a crisis (and happened to be televised).

In September 1984 Coalition members sat in on a Social Services Committee meeting that approved the first substantial funding in the UK for a major development programme run by disabled people.

DCIL opened in March 1985, in premises that had once been a staff house and teaching workshops of a secure school. It began to appoint two Co-ordinators, a team of Research and Development workers under Seven Needs headings, and Community Link Workers at bases in all parts of the County.

By 1988 DCIL employed 35 workers, in a mixed work-force that was never less than half disabled people. Two joint Health and Social Services strategies for disabled people were in place (north and south of the County), with a social understanding of disability and a Seven Needs framework written in to them.

By the end of 1992, 78 people had been employed by DCIL, 37 of them disabled, and over 200 disabled people had been actively involved in its work; 52 people had trained as peer counsellors, 27 had delivered a wide range of training; 52 disabled people had found jobs through a DCIL Employment Agency.

About Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People

The Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People was the first organisation of its kind to emerge in Britain. It was set up in 1981 International Year of Disabled People (IYDP), and the same year as formation of the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People and Disabled People's International.

The IYDP slogan Full participation and Equality was made the theme of a Derbyshire IYDP Conference in February 1981. The conference formed a Steering Committee with a brief to:

form a democratic, representative body,
serve all people with physical, sensory and mental impairments,
support/encourage the self-help and activity of disabled people,
seek the fullest possible involvement of non-disabled supporters,
work from the basis of direct experience of disability,
secure services for independent and integrated living,
ensure disabled people have control in matters which concern them.

County Council funding was agreed; an accessible office was found in Clay Cross (in the former headquarters of the rebel Clay Cross councillors); the Coalition's Inaugural Meeting was held on 12th December 1981; and a Co-ordinator and Clerical Assistant were appointed. At the same time, the County Council issued a 'Statement of Intent' in relation to active involvement of disabled people, barrier free environments, integrated independent living arrangements, transport, education, and support for information, advocacy and counselling services.

In this way the Coalition was established at the cutting edge of a very broad programme of change. Early meetings of the new DCDP Council soon reflected this wide scope. They explored both the different and shared experiences of people with all kinds of impairment. They were an intense focus for personal growth, development of organisational skills, and awareness of disability politics. DCDP soon equipped itself for a sustained task of campaigning, education, and practical support, putting into practice the new social understanding of disability developed by bodies like the Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation and the Liberation Network of People with Disabilities.

DCDP also developed its links with the wider Disabled People's Movement, and carried forward a local debate on Centres for Independent Living (CILs) a completely new approach to the way services would be designed, delivered and controlled.

Source materials:

A 1984 Channel 4 documentary, 'Statement of Intent', is available on loan.
A 1993 publication, 'Ten Turbulent Years', is priced £5 (limited stocks).