Disability oversight panel

The Disability Oversight Panel is a Councillor-led panel held in public three times a year.  The panel addresses key issues for different groups of disabled residents on areas of council policy. 

Purpose of the disability oversight panel

The panel’s objectives are to:

• champion the needs of residents with a disability and ensure their voices are heard in key areas of council policy
• discuss key issues for different groups of disabled residents that the Equality Champion Leads have identified through their individual roles following engagement and networking across Camden during the preceding year.  See below for a list of who the Equality champion leads are.
• hear directly from service users as to their experiences and any recommendations. 
• hear from appropriate experts.

Additional roles of the panel are:

• support Councillor Champions to be effective in their role
• identify issues and areas of exploration to pass to the Joint Chairs of Scrutiny meeting.  This is so that key issues can be considered for regular inclusion on the agendas of the Council’s formal scrutiny committees and for consideration of such issues forming the basis for relevant panel work by the committees.
• consider further individual liaison with the Chairs of the relevant Scrutiny Committee to ensure that disabled residents are involved in the scrutiny of relevant issues on the agendas to the Council’s scrutiny committees.
• consider whether other recommendations should be made to other parts of the Council, in particular concerning decision-making which impacts disabled residents.
• review progress and work undertaken during the year.

Issues previously addressed by the panelPrevious issues have been on the themes of:

• employment support
• healthy and active lives
• growing up in Camden as a disabled child
• disabled residents’ experience when contacting Camden Council, and
• disabled residents’ experience of accessing public transport.

Equality champion leads

Disability Champion, Councillor Roger Robinson (Chair)

Carers and Learning Disabilities Champion, Councillor Larraine Revah, (Vice-Chair)

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Champion, Councillor Simon Pearson

Mental Health Champion, Councillor Nazma Rahman

Visually Impaired Champion, Councillor Flick Rea

Frequency of panel meetings

The Disability Oversight Panel holds three public meetings each year.  Due to COVID-19 the scheduled panel for June has been postponed.  A new date of the panel meeting will be published in advance.