Category: Gov Press Releases

• Savings from closing seven courts to be reinvested into reform
• Systems will be modernised, improving access to justice for all
• Following careful consideration, Cambridge Magistrates’ Court will remain open

Services will be moved to alternative locations as close as possible to the closing court.

During 2016/17, 41% of court and tribunal buildings were used for less than half of their available time. This, coupled with an estate inherited from previous organisations before the advent of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), means there is some excess court capacity, with some of the estate in poor condition or in close proximity to another court building.

Following public consultations, decisions have been made to close:

• Banbury Magistrates’ and County Court
• Blackfriars Crown Court
• Chorley Magistrates’ Court
• Fleetwood Magistrates’ Court
• Maidenhead Magistrates’ Court
• Northallerton Magistrates’ Court
• Wandsworth County Court

All courts were assessed on the basis of ensuring access to justice, delivering value for money and the ability to offer efficiency in the long term. Cambridge Magistrates’ Court – on which the decision to consult was finely balanced – will remain open following consideration of a range of issues, including its location within a large and well-connected city and new evidence suggesting that closure would not provide sufficient value for money.

Unlike the other seven courts which are freeholds owned by HMCTS, Cambridge Magistrates’ Court is a long Finance Lease with restrictions on use. After further investigation of the likely costs, the Lord Chancellor has concluded that the value for money case has not been made. HMCTS will continue to explore further ways to manage under-utilisation of existing buildings in the region as part of its wider estates strategy.

Northallerton Magistrates’ Court serves an exceptionally rural community but during the course of the consultation public service transport timetables were altered. This may make it more difficult for some users in some areas to get to court, especially for early morning starts. As a result, the court will not be closed until video facilities are made available in Northallerton.

Lord Chancellor, David Gauke said:

All money raised from the sale of these buildings will be reinvested into the justice system, and we want to reassure communities that those affected by closures will have access to alternative courts.

We must ensure we use public money effectively and make decisions in the best interest of the wider justice system.

More than 700 responses were received following the consultations published in January. Travel times and distances to the nearest courts were thoroughly considered before final decisions were made.

The Government is investing £1 billion in reforming and modernising courts and tribunals, which has already delivered:

• An online system which enables court staff to prepare case files and access them digitally in a courtroom during a hearing – saving 68 million pages of paper.
• The ability for those convicted of minor motoring offences to make their initial plea online. Some 1500 pleas are dealt with online every week. Court staff and the police automatically receive the completed online plea form as soon as the defendant has submitted it, reducing delays.
• A fully paperless system in conjunction with Transport for London – which means thousands of cases involving fare evasion are dealt with more swiftly and effectively.

In the civil courts people can now:

• Make a small money claim online – with over 3,000 claims issued in the first month, cases moving through more quickly, and user satisfaction over 80% during the pre-launch pilot.
• Apply for a divorce online – which has cut errors in application forms from 40% to less than 1%, saving people time and trouble during a traumatic time.
• Apply for probate online – which has also cut errors, sped up the process, and has a satisfaction rate of more than 90%.

Court buildings are also being improved and as of March 2018 approximately £108m was spent on capital maintenance to improve the existing estate. Approximately £115m has been raised from the sales of surplus buildings to reinvest in the wider reform programme.

The tenth meeting of the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group took place in London on 19 July 2018, chaired by the Rt Hon. Alistair Burt MP, Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and HE Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.

Mr Burt and Shaikh Khalid, together with officials from Bahrain and the UK, discussed a wide range of areas of bilateral co-operation, including regional issues, defence, security, human rights, education, the environment, and trade and investment opportunities.

The UK remains fully supportive of Bahrain’s plans to deliver sustainable change in the Kingdom. The Ministers agreed that the UK would continue to share appropriate technical assistance, expertise and experience. Mr Burt also congratulated Bahrain on being the first country in the region to achieve Tier 1 status in the US 2018 Trafficking in Persons report.

Both governments will continue to work in partnership to achieve progress on the areas discussed ahead of the next meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Bahrain later this year.

Speaking at the end of the Joint Working Group, Alistair Burt said:

It was a pleasure to welcome Shaikh Khalid to London today, for a productive meeting of our Joint Working Group. The UK and Bahrain have always had a close and important relationship which continues to grow in strength across a wide range of areas of mutual interest.

The UK will continue to support Bahrain on the delivery of ongoing reform initiatives, and we will work together to underpin peace and security in the Gulf region.

More information

The UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group was established in March 2013. It is a forum for discussing issues of mutual interest across the bilateral relationship, including regional and trade issues, with a focus on reform and human rights.

96% of people who responded to the non-statutory consultation backed the need for the improvements to this junction, which will be redesigned under the plans to create dedicated free flow lanes which will allow drivers travelling between the M3 and the A34 to avoid using the junction roundabout.

The roundabout itself will be rebuilt to allow for the additional lanes to run through it, increasing capacity and making it easier for traffic to interchange between the M3 and the A34. This will reduce queuing and make journey times more reliable.

Highways England Project Manager Simon Hewett said:

More than 110,000 vehicles use this busy junction each day to interchange with the A34 and routes into Winchester, often more than 6,000 each hour during peak times. Regular road users know that often becomes congested, with queues backing up onto the main carriageway.

The upgrade to M3 junction 9 will create new dedicated link roads to separate out local and long distance traffic. Through traffic will not have to stop at the roundabout, freeing it up for local traffic and commuters. We are improving access for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians, with the upgrade including a new 4m side cycle path with a new footpath next to the cycleway to the River Itchen.

We are aware of people’s concerns about traffic merging between the A34 and A33; this was the most common point raised during the consultation period and we are reviewing a number of options to address this.

A public consultation on the upgrade was held from 9 January to 19 February. 854 responses were received during this consultation. Information events were held in the Winchester area for the public and stakeholders including local authorities, landowners and businesses, so people could look at the plans and speak to members of the project team.

96% of people who responded to the consultation questionnaire said they agree that improvements are needed at the junction. 98% of people were concerned about traffic congestion at the existing M3 junction 9, with 92% concerned both about road safety and reliability of journey time.

Today’s announcement paves the way for work on the upgrade to start in the 2021, subject to statutory processes. The upgraded junction is expected to be fully open to traffic in 2023.

A copy of the consultation report and announcement flyer can be found on the Highways England website where anyone interested in the scheme can also sign up to receive updates.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Foreign Office Minister for the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan said:

I am deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Nicaragua, particularly the excessive use of force by the authorities and pro-government armed groups against the people of Nicaragua. Reports of human rights abuses, including the use of live ammunition, are alarming and should be thoroughly investigated. For stability to return to the country the Nicaraguan Government must take responsibility for ending the violence and provide safe conditions for peaceful dialogue to resume.

The UK supports the work by the Organisation of American States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN, and we urge the Nicaraguan authorities to allow them to carry out their work without any interference. We also welcome the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference’s mediation role and encourage all parties to commit to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Further information

• Follow Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan on Twitter @AlanDuncanMP and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

The conference forms part of the CMA’s commitment to explore challenges for the vulnerable in the UK, particularly in response to the growth of digital markets.

Andrew Tyrie, Chair of the CMA, said:

Companies and traders across the UK need to know that if they’re ripping people off, and exploiting the vulnerable, the CMA may be round to see them.

It has already been accepted, in principle, that the CMA’s powers need to be bolstered, including giving us the power to fine firms if they break consumer protection law.

And if it turns out that we still don’t have all the powers we need, we will ask for them.

All options are on the table. That includes more vigorous enforcement, tough market wide intervention and legislative change. Staying where we are is not an option.

As part of a re-examination of the CMA’s legislative framework, I have asked for further work to be done on how the regime could be strengthened better to protect the vulnerable.

Helping vulnerable people is one of the CMA’s strategic priorities in its Annual Plan for 2018/19 and also a priority for the Government, as set out in its Modernising Consumers Markets Green Paper.

The CMA is undertaking a programme of work on supporting vulnerable people. It will publish a final report later this year, which will draw on findings from the conference, a series of roundtables and targeted research. This includes looking at the poverty premium – the extent to which those on low incomes may pay more for the same goods and services than those on higher incomes.

The work will help inform the CMA’s future case selection, its analysis of markets and the development of remedies to consumer problems.

Notes to editors

Media enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6460.

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Beverley Anne Mason, MA, Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, to the Suffragan See of Warrington, in the Diocese of Liverpool, in succession to the Right Reverend Richard Finn Blackburn, MA, who resigned on the 31st May 2018.

The Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, has today (24 July) announced that Max Hill QC has been appointed as the next Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Leading barrister Max Hill will leave his posts as Head of Red Lion Chambers and Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to lead the CPS. His tenure as DPP will begin on 1st November for a renewable term of 5 years.

Max Hill brings a unique combination of legal expertise and public service at the highest levels, demonstrated most recently through his role as Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. He is also the former Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2014-16) and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (2011-12). Whilst unable to advise or appear in terrorism related cases during his tenure as Independent Reviewer, Max maintains a heavyweight crime practice, defending and prosecuting in a number of complex cases of homicide, violent crime and high value fraud and corporate crime. He also has extensive advisory experience both nationally and internationally. Max has been instructed in many of the most significant and high-profile murder trials in recent years, including the second set of trials concerning the killing of Damilola Taylor and the London bombings of 2005.

Max Hill was appointed by the Attorney General after a rigorous and open competition, overseen by a Civil Service Commissioner.

Commenting on the appointment, the Attorney General said:

I am very pleased to announce that Max Hill will be the next Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr Hill is a distinguished and extremely experienced Queen’s Counsel who has demonstrated a profound commitment both to the criminal justice system and to public service. I am very grateful to him for taking on these onerous responsibilities.

I am confident that he will be a good and collaborative leader of the Crown Prosecution Service and a principled and strongly independent chief prosecutor. The public will rightly expect nothing less.

He will now build on the achievements of Alison Saunders to whom I am grateful for her 32 years of public service. The role of DPP is difficult and requires exceptional qualities of judgement and character. I am looking forward to working with the new Director.

Commenting on his appointment, Max Hill said:

I am honoured to be the next Director of Public Prosecutions. I am grateful to Alison Saunders for her service and look forward to building on her legacy. This is a challenging time for the CPS, with the rise in complex cases and negative publicity about its handling of disclosure in some cases. I have seen first-hand the sterling work of the CPS and I am determined to restore public trust in all of its work.

As set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1987, the Attorney General appoints the DPP.

The process to recruit the next DPP began under the previous Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC MP. It was completed and approved by the new Attorney General after his appointment on 9 July.
The current DPP will serve her full five year term, which is due to end in October 2018.

Max Hill QC Biography:

Max Hill QC is Head of Red Lion Chambers and, since March 2017, the current Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. He is also the former Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2014-16) and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (2011-12). Whilst unable to advise or appear in terrorism related cases during his tenure as Independent Reviewer, Max maintains a heavyweight crime practice, defending and prosecuting in a number of complex cases of homicide, violent crime and high value fraud and corporate crime. He also has extensive advisory experience both nationally and internationally. Max has been instructed in many of the most significant and high-profile murder trials in recent years, including the second set of trials concerning the killing of Damilola Taylor, and the London bombings of 2005. Murder cases include R v Long (2015), R v Campbell and others (2014-5) and R v O’Driscoll (2014).

Max defends in substantial fraud cases, including tax fraud. In fraud, he was instructed for the defence in the SFO Forex (Foreign Exchange) investigation and the long-running SFO pharmaceutical cartel case. His terrorism cases include R v Bourgass and others (the ricin conspiracy), R v Ibrahim and others (the 21/7 bombers), R v Ali and others and R v Girma and others (the 21/7 follow-on trials). He appeared for the Government in the Binyam Mohamed case in the Administrative Court. He acted for the Metropolitan Police in the Inquests into the 7th July London bombings. Most recently he prosecuted a London taxi driver and bomb-maker for the killing of a US soldier in R v Sardar (2015). He also prosecuted two men who gave sums of money to the Paris and Brussels terror suspect Abrini, engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism. Max appeared as lead prosecution counsel, alongside Michelle Nelson, in Channel 4’s The Trial (2017) in which real juries, together with actual barristers and judges, tried a fictional Murder case in order to explore the workings of the jury system.

• 50 specialists being recruited to help vulnerable victims and witnesses
• Recruits to support courts and police in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Thames Valley
• Government acts to meet increased regional demand for ‘Registered Intermediaries’

Registered Intermediaries (RIs) are used in criminal proceedings to help vulnerable witnesses communicate their evidence to the police and in court. RIs recently helped victims and witnesses ranging from a two-year old, to a dying man with motor neurone disease give courtroom evidence.

Around 50 RIs are being recruited in the South East, to provide support in the police force areas of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Thames Valley.

The Government is focussing on the South East, given the region had the highest number of unmatched requests for intermediary support for witnesses between October 2017 to March 2018.

A witness might need the help of a Registered Intermediary because of their age, or a learning, mental or physical disability or disorder. An effective RI can often be the difference between a witness being able to give their best evidence or not.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said:

It is vital that victims and witnesses, particularly those who are vulnerable, get the support they need to give their best evidence.

The vast majority of those who need help already receive it – with over 90% of requests for intermediaries met last year.

Our targeted recruitment drive will ensure access to justice for even more vulnerable people, through the help of trained professionals who understand their specific needs and well-being.

Applicants in the South East have until 27 July to apply and should visit – https://bit.ly/2O5Yx9I

Jennifer Beaumont, an occupational therapist who has been a registered intermediary since 2009, said:

I saw an advert to become a Registered Intermediary, I had no idea what one was, nor the vital role they play in the criminal justice system.

No two cases are the same, and knowing that you have helped a vulnerable person who would have found it difficult to gain fair access to justice, in terms of communicating their best evidence, is incredibly rewarding.

The role has taken me across England and Wales as well as on deployment to Kenya to facilitate a child to give evidence via video link to a British Court.

Our work cannot be underestimated, and I’m pleased more victims and witnesses will now be able to benefit from having an RI facilitate communication in the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice recently doubled the size of the registered intermediary scheme with more than 6,500 witnesses last year supported by an RI and over 90 per cent of requests being met.

Training has also been strengthened to ensure victims and witnesses have the best support possible to be involved in the court process.

Notes to editors

• RIs come from a wide background of professional backgrounds, including speech and language therapy, social work and mental health professions.
• The Ministry of Justice is looking to recruit around 50 RIs to their Registered Intermediary Scheme to provide support in the police force areas of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Thames Valley. You must live in or near this area (a neighbouring police force area) to be eligible, not meeting this requirement could result in your application being withdrawn.
• Successful recruitment has already taken place in the East Midlands, with 27 successful candidates being trained up this summer. Attention has now focussed to the South East to meet growing demand for RIs in the area, with further recruitment campaigns scheduled in other regions throughout the year.

Jawwad Ansar was the sole director of Cheap Flight House Limited (CFH). The company was incorporated on 8 November 2010 before being purchased by Jawwad Ansar on 15 February 2017, the same day he took over as sole director of the company.

However, the company went into liquidation on 10 March 2017, 23 days after Mr Ansar took over the company, having traded since 2010 with declared creditors of £5.5m and a declared book debt of £2m due from sub agents.

Jawwad Ansar told investigators from the Insolvency Service, who were looking into the affairs of the company following liquidation, that outstanding funds were due as a result of flights booked by sub agents of the company.

But further enquiries found that Jawwad Ansar had no business records to show:

• the full nature of the company’s trading activities during his appointment, and whether these were connected with bona fide trading purposes
• in the absence of any sales records, verification regarding air flight tickets in the sum of at least £2 million between 15 February and 10 March 2017 who they were booked for or on behalf of and who benefitted from these tickets
• whether book debts for the sum of £2 million declared by Mr Ansar to be owed by him were legitimately owed and if so, whether these funds were recoverable

Furthermore, Jawwad Ansar was unable to supply a list of flights booked, a list of customers, and did not provide any breakdown of the sums owed to the company.

As a result, in May 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Jawwad Ansar after he admitted failing to maintain or preserve, or in the alternative deliver up, adequate accounting records.

Effective from 14 June 2018, Jawwad Ansar is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for 9 years.

Martin Gitner of the Insolvency Service, said:

The company booked large numbers of flights, for which the company owes in excess of £2m, and has no evidence of these being purchased for bona fide business purposes

This ban should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to take an established company, incur large liabilities for goods for which no payment is made and then fail to provide evidence of the legitimacy of the purchases.

Notes to editors

Jawwad Ansar is of Ilford and his date of birth is January 1971.

Cheap Flight House Limited (Company number 07431812) was incorporated on 8 November 2010.

A disqualification undertaking has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

UK calls for ‘move from rhetoric to action’ to address ‘global injustice’ of discrimination against disabled people

· The Department for International Development will today host the UK Government’s first ever Global Disability Summit at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London
· The Summit will shine a light on the discrimination and stigma faced by up to 1 billion people globally who have a disability
· The UK will pledge to ambitious commitments to tackle the scale of the problem

The UK will today [Tuesday, 24 July] host its first ever Global Disability Summit and call on international partners to tackle the prejudice faced by disabled people.

The International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, will lead a global call to ‘move from rhetoric to action’ on improving the lives of disabled people, including some of the poorest and most vulnerable in the world.

As part of the UK’s commitment, Ms. Mordaunt will announce a new innovative UK Aid Connect programme which will work with different organisations within small communities to support disabled people into jobs in the developing world.

The landmark summit will be co-hosted alongside the Government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and will see the UK challenging established practices to ensure that equal rights of disabled people are upheld.

Participants will be expected to commit to real, transformative action, and the International Development Secretary will call on delegates to hold each other to account on delivering pledges made at the event.

The UK-led event will bring together government ministers, business leaders, and disabled people from all over the world to tackle what is a burning global issue. Governments and other organisations will commit to work in partnership with each other to put disabled people and their representative organisations at the front and centre of their work.

The Summit will feature a keynote speech from President Moreno of Ecuador; a world leader who has a disability himself. Participants will also have access to a marketplace of organisations showcasing new policy and technology for disabled people.
Over the two days there will be range of spotlight sessions exploring issues affecting disabled people and a screening of the Oscar winning short film Silent Child, alongside a Q&A.
In advance of today’s Summit, the Prime Minister has called for real and substantive change.

The Prime Minister, Theresa May, said:

“The path a person takes in life should not be dictated by their disability and yet people are forced, every day, to deal with prejudice and even violence.

“That is why the UK’s first ever Global Disability Summit is dedicated to bringing together our international partners and transforming the lives of the world’s most vulnerable and why we are committed to ending discrimination and stigma against disabled people.”

International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said:

“Discrimination and stigma against disabled people is a global injustice – one that has been ignored for too long – and one we need to fix urgently.

“Today I am calling for countries around the developing world to stand alongside disabled people in their countries and commit to end stigma and fully value the contribution disabled people can give to the success of those nations.

“This isn’t just the right thing to do for humanity – it is also the smart thing to do because it’s impossible to end extreme poverty if a significant part of your society is left out of the deal.

“Today we will learn from each other and will make commitments to enable disabled people to reach their full potential.”

Ms. Mordaunt, who referenced the importance of this Summit when she became the first Minister to use sign language at the despatch box of the House of Commons earlier this month, has committed the UK Government to a number of initiatives to demonstrate our commitment and leadership.

These include:

• a new global partnership – ‘AT Scale’, to transform access to and affordability of life-changing devices and basic technology, such as wheelchairs, prosthetics, hearing aids and glasses; this would be aimed at reaching 500 million people globally by 2030 by bringing organisations together to share data and consider how best to tackle issues of innovation, affordability and availability – work that would benefit disabled people in the UK and overseas;

• a new innovative UK Aid Connect programme, led by charities Sightsavers and Leonard Cheshire Disability, which will work with organisations within small communities to support disabled people into jobs in the developing world;

• a new six-year programme to design ways to help 100,000 disabled people to access health services, 10,000 disabled children to access education, and up to 45,000 disabled people to increase their incomes. This programme will also help to improve policy making in the UK;

• increasing DFID’s work with businesses around the globe, supporting disabled people as employers, employees and consumers.

The Department already pledged in April this year to support disabled girls into education as part of the flagship Education Challenge programme.

The Global Disability Summit has been designed to mobilise new global and national commitments on disability, and showcase good practice, innovation and evidence from across the world.

There will be four central themes for the Summit, around which the participants will build commitments and showcase best practice. These are:

•tackling stigma and discrimination

•inclusive education

•routes to economic empowerment

•harnessing technology and innovation

The Chair of the International Disability Alliance, Ana Lucia Arellano, said:

“IDA is welcoming this historic Global Disability Summit and commends the UK Government for this timely initiative. We, as a representative organisation of persons with disabilities, are committed to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and we see the Summit as a critical impetus into its implementation in every corner of the world.

“We believe that we can achieve the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society only through the meaningful and genuine stakeholder partnership between organisations of persons with disabilities, governments, the private and all actors involved. We are committed to supporting Governments and all participants of the Summit in the implementation of their commitments that they are expressing today.”

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Ukur Yatani, said:

The Global Disability Summit provides nations, together with civil society, a rare and welcome opportunity to act in tandem on this important issue of disability – an area which has been neglected for too long.

We need to delve into the causes of the existing and emerging gaps in the sector and provide realistic trackable actions that will immensely improve the situation for people with disabilities from the countries represented in this unique summit.

Notes to Editors

• An estimated one billion people – 15% of the world’s population – have some form of disability and an estimated 80% of these people live in developing countries – (World Disability Report, jointly published by the WHO and World Bank (2011)

• Disabled people are often the poorest and most excluded in their communities, and face significant barriers that can prevent them from realising their rights, living with dignity, and fully participating in social, economic and political life.

• Around the world, disabled people continue to face appalling levels of stigma, discrimination and abuse, and all too often miss out on the opportunities that are the right of every person.

For images and videos of the stories of people with disabilities around the world go to this link
link If used please credit DFID.