Agenda and minutes

To consider any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Lorna Greenwood.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Judy Dixey.

No declarations were made.

Order of items on the agenda

The Chair proposed that item 7: Update on Sport and Physical Activity Opportunities for Disabled Citizens in Camden be taken first, due to a number of external officers attending the meeting for that item. This was agreed.

There was no such business.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2024 be agreed.

Report of the Chief Experience and Information Officer.

The purpose of this report is to share the approach to making digital products accessible and the progress that has been made in the past twelve months.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Experience and Information Officer, the report was introduced by the Head of Digital Product.

In response to a request from the Panel around ensuring that letters sent by the council were accessible to people with visual impairments, the Director of Equalities and Community Strength agreed to speak with colleagues in the Communications team about how this could be achieved.

Action by: the Director of Equalities and Community Strength

The Panel discussed the accessibility features of the website, and the Head of Digital product agreed to look into ways of having larger font sizes on web pages for residents who needed it.

Action by: the Head of Digital Product

Members were interested in having more of an online presence for the Disability Oversight Panel and suggested expanding the section of the website around inclusion and equalities. The Director of Equalities and Community Strength agreed to look into this request and provide a response.

Action by: the Director of Equalities and Community Strength

The Head of Digital Product commented that accessibility was a core priority of digital work and improvement being carried out by the Council, including supporting staff with disabilities. They said that there were some people in the Technology Adoption team working specifically on adaptive technologies.

The Director of Equalities and Community Strength said that a review was happening on the interpreting and transcription offer and an update would be brought the Panel.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Recreation.

This report provides an update for the Disability Oversight Panel (DOP) Committee on the sport and physical activity provision for disabled citizens in Camden and the ongoing service developments and targeted initiatives.  

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Recreation. The report was introduced by the Active Living Manager, Strategy and Partnership Manager and officers from GLL.

In their discussion of the report, the Panel made the following comments:

Members were interested in the concessions and offers that had been negotiated into the contract with GLL, particularly those available for carers, noting that other boroughs had different concession offers.

The Partnerships Manager, GLL, said that they were happy to have discussions on Camden’s vision for concession provision, however, it was important to remember that, specifically with the free swimming, it was free to customers but not a free provision.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care commented that there could be scope to join the work for the Carers Action Plan.

The Active Living Manager spoke about the work to engage with the deaf and hard of hearing community and the ambition of future work to make services accessible for them. The Partnerships Manager, GLL, outlined a model of engagement used to engage with the visually impaired community.

Members were pleased with the ambition to engage with specific communities with disabilities and asked for Champions to be included in future conversations.

In response to a question from the Panel, The Partnerships Manager, GLL spoke about the work that done to follow up with the engagement session, actions and contact with those who attended.

The Panel asked about contact within the community, the forms of communication and whether there were easy read versions available. The Partnerships Manager, GLL, said that there was easy read versions of activity guides and work was being carried out to improve the accessibility of information.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.