New body set up to prioritise disability issues in government

The government has set up an Office for Disability Issues (ODI) to promote equality for disabled people.

With a vision "to ensure the government achieves substantive equality for disabled people by 2025", the ODI will co-ordinate policy and service delivery as well as ensuring that government departments work together to prioritise disability issues.

Secretary of state for work and pensions John Hutton described the ODI as "a huge step forward" which will demonstrate that "the government's welfare reform agenda is about achieving substantive equality for disabled people - promoting opportunity to work for those who can, together with increased support for those who cannot".

The ODI will support a ministerial steering group of representatives from six government departments: the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the departments of work and pensions, trade and industry, health, education and transport.

* Changes last month to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) mean that around 250,000 people have gained the legal right not to be discriminated against.

The Act now protects individuals with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis against discrimination from the point of diagnosis. They were not covered by the old DDA until they had symptoms of their condition.

And the changes have improved protection for people with mental health conditions, who no longer have to prove they have a "clinically well recognised" condition in order to be covered by the law.