Barcelona Declaration Project Monaghan County Council Presentation to

Barcelona Declaration Project Monaghan County Council Presentation to Closing Conference of Barcelona Declaration Project 19 th April 2004 by Siofra Kilcullen, Community and Enterprise Development Officer

Barcelona Declaration Project Establishing a baseline for Impact Assessment

County Monaghan

Barcelona Declaration in Monaghan • Endorsement of Barcelona Declaration by five Town Councils and County Council in July 2002 • Underlying objective ‘to promote more favourable conditions for the full development of persons, avoiding or removing all causes that prevent such development’

Monaghan Context • 8% pop. with disability (CSO 2002) • Strong community infrastructure - 62 voluntary disability groups • Network of Disability Groups established to address policy issues • Social Inclusion Measures Group • July 2003 – Pilot Action

Aims of Monaghan Pilot Action • Develop a consultative process using an audit of council’s projects and actions as a basis for this process • Develop a model of good practice for local authorities involving people with disabilities and disability advocates

Steps in process 1. Establish a multi-sectoral audit team 2. Train team 3. Agree thematic priorities that should be included in audit 4. Establish multi- sectoral sub-groups to examine each theme 5. Make recommendations based on output from audit i. e. action plan 6. Put in place on-going monitoring mechanism 7. Continually assess the implementation of action plan

Multi-sectoral audit team Elected Members (Town and County reps) Advocates PWD Network Local Authority Staff

Monaghan Team members • Officials Carmel Thornton, Corporate Affairs Joan Ryan, Workplace Partnership Maire Cullinan, Planning Roisin Nic An Iarla, Roads Ann Murray Housing Paul Clarke, Building Control Geraldine Murphy, Personnel Siofra Kilcullen, Community & Enterprise Lisa Mc Bride, IS Jonathon Kelly, Website • Advocates & PWD & Network Mary Mc Kenna, DFI Fiona Hoey, MS Joe Lynch, Disability Network Karon Edmondson, NEHB James Doorly DFI Malachy Marron, Steadfast House Ann Mc Farland, NTDI Cathriona Mc Kee, Service User Victoria Groom, SES Regina Tinnelly, Mon Partnership • Cllrs Patsy Treanor MCC Sheila Mc Kenna, MCC Sean Conlon, Monaghan TC Pat Treanor, Clones TC Rosaleen O Hanlon, MCC Matt Carty, Carrickmacross TC Gary Carville, Castleblayney TC

Role of group members • Officials – to ensure all information regarding policy and procedures are made available to team • Advocates and PWD – to highlight issues affecting PWD in Monaghan and to feedback to the Disability Network • Elected Members – maintain profile of issues in local media and at local council level and ensure ring fencing of budgets for accessibility etc • All – identify, collate and develop recommendations based on audit

Four stages in audit process • • Data identification Data Collection Analysis of results Recommendations/ action plan

Data Identification : Thematic priorities for audit • • Housing and Accommodation Roads Transport and Mobility Planning and the Physical Environment Employment and Recruitment Practices Building Control and Access to Buildings Communications and IT Corporate Policy

Data Identification: Audit questions under each thematic priority • What is the current position? • What measures are put in place to address access issues? • How are project/policies disability proofed? • Who is responsible for decision making? • What measures are in place to ensure participation of people with disabilities in decision making? • What awareness raising measures are being undertaken?

Data collection process • Multi-sectoral subgroups established involving PWD, Advocates, Cllrs and Staff • Desk Research – Directory of Services • Basic training in research methods • Interviews conducted with relevant personnel • Disability Network participated in focus group on ‘communications with Local Authority’

Data Collection Process • Existing Council policy presented to group e. g. Housing Strategy, Road Traffic Management Guidelines, County Development Plan • Interviews with builders and designers Website test group • Access surveys conducted by Disability Federation of Ireland in all towns in County

Data Analysis and Recommendations • Series of workshops on output from audit to decide actions • On-going process as new policies emerge • Action Plan currently being finalized • Many sections of local authority have already integrated recommendations into policies and procedures

Measures taken to date • Website is in process of being adapted • Consultative seminars on voluntary housing • Consultation in relation to County Development Plan • Roads section undertaking a number of actions (more details later) • Including requirement to demonstrate universal access in Design Briefs issued to contractors

Measures taken to date • Linkages established between human resource section of the local authority, NTDI and Supported Employment Service • Integration of a disability proofing template in assessment process for allocation of funding under PEACE II Taskforce • Customer care plan produced in braille, audiovisual and electronic formats

Roads Section prior to project • • • Lack of Awareness of PWD Needs Absence of complete Guidelines No emphasis placed on catering for PWDs Roads Engineers based in 6 different Offices, all with different experiences and background knowledge Lack of Co-Ordination

Prior to This…. . Dropped Kerbs Uncommon in Rural Villages

Prior to This…. . Pedestrian Facilities Often Inadequate -Unsuitable Width -Unsuitable Locations -Often completely overlooked

Roads Department Barcelona Project…. • Built on Publication of Traffic Management Guidelines • Increased Awareness of Issues affecting PWD • Raised Design Issues • Encouraged co-ordinated and consistent design standards

Roads Department are now… • • • Taking into account surveys conducted by Monaghan Barcelona Project Working Group Reviewing existing facilities Upgrading existing facilities where appropriate Considering facilities in new scheme design (eg – Monaghan Town Pay Parking Scheme) Receiving first-hand feedback from PWD about existing facilities

Roads Department One Example – Disabled Parking Space, Citizens Advice Bureau, Monaghan Town - Existing Parking Bay Enlarged to comply with Building For Everyone Guidelines - Dropped Kerb provided for entire length of Parking Bay: Above Guideline Specifications - High Visibility Signage provided

IS Department – Barcelona Declaration Project: OLD WEBSITE • The navagation system used picture/icons to convey hyperlinks. • High level links not available on every page. • Hyperlinks are not standard colour and are not descriptive. • Background is dark and text is not always easily legible.

Housing Section • Organisation of information sharing seminars • Improved identification of housing need for PWD • Interagency and intersectoral cooperation

IS Department – Barcelona Declaration Project: NEW WEBSITE Site Contrast • The new site has a standard white background and contrasting dark coloured text for general content.

Final Steps in development of Action Plan l Integration of Indicators l Present to the County Council and five Town Councils of draft Action Plan l Public Consultation l Approval of final plan

Added Value of conducting pilot action • Provides a cohesive policy framework for local authority to address universal access principles • It links real local needs to local policy • Has tangible results • Creates new linkages between officials, PWD, advocates and elected members • Highlights where real barriers to access are • More informed decision-making for all

Challenges • On-going commitment by all to implementation and monitoring • Need to acknowledge diversity within the disability sector • Need to ensure all disability sectors are included in policy development • Need to address blockages to access at a national level e. g. weakness in legislation • Need for more initiatives nationally to change public attitudes e. g. penalty points