Contemporary Disability Policies in Britain

Abstract

In the previous chapter, I argued that different kinds of motive and objective have been at play in the development of disability policies since the Victorian era. The task here is to provide an analysis of policies in Britain today. The four principal approaches towards disabled people that I outlined (containment, compensation, ‘welfare’ and civil rights) are all present to varying degrees in the contemporary policy montage. This chapter concentrates on evaluating a number of key policy areas: health and social services; voluntary organisations and charities; income maintenance and social security; housing; a education; employment; transport; law and access to justice; government and administration.