The Government has launched a new Independent Disability Advisory Panel, bringing together ten people with lived experience of disability and long-term health conditions to help shape national health and disability policy. Among those appointed is Isaac Samuels OBE, Co-Chair of TLAP’s Board.
The Panel was first announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper and will work directly with Ministers on policies that affect disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including Access to Work, Disability Confident, and the recommendations from the Keep Britain Working Review.
Chaired by disability rights expert Zara Todd, the Panel has been created to ensure that disabled people’s voices and lived experience are at the heart of Government decision-making, as part of the Government’s wider ‘Plan for Change’.
TLAP welcomes the establishment of the Disability Advisory Panel and the Government’s commitment to involve disabled people directly in shaping policy that affects their lives. Too often, decisions about disabled people have been made without them. Co-production offers a different way forward, one rooted in shared power, lived experience, and meaningful involvement from the start.
Isaac Samuels OBE says:
“I’m really honoured to have been appointed to the Department for Work and Pensions Independent Disability Advisory Panel, and it’s exciting to see Clenton Farquharson appointed as co-chair of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
It feels like the co-production work we’ve been doing in social care is being recognised as a model for spaces where this hasn’t historically happened. This is a real signal that the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ is gaining traction. I’m looking forward to contributing my lived experience to help shape decisions that truly reflect the needs of disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.”
The Independent Disability Advisory Panel will run separately from the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), led by Sir Stephen Timms, but expertise and insight will be shared between the two. Together, they represent a significant opportunity to embed lived experience into national policy.
For TLAP, Isaac’s appointment reflects the growing recognition that co-production is not a ‘nice to have’, but essential to building care and support that genuinely work for people. It’s a positive step towards a future where people are equal partners in shaping the decisions that affect their lives.
