Government urged to restore fund for disabled election candidates

MPs from across the political spectrum have called on the government to reinstate a fund to help disabled people stand for elected office before May's local and regional elections.

The access to elected office (AEO) fund, established by the coalition government in 2012, was put on hold after last May's general election.

The fund offered grants of between £250 and £40,000 to disabled people to help with additional costs they may face in standing for election as a councillor or MP, such as extra transport or sign language interpreters.

In a letter to the equalities minister, Caroline Dinenage, organised by the Green party's only MP, Caroline Lucas, the MPs called on the government to follow a recommendation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and to reinstate the fund "as a matter of urgency", so that disabled people planning to stand for election could access financial support.

The letter was signed by the Conservative MP Ben Howlett, who was a leading rebel over government plans to cut working tax credits, Labour's shadow women and equalities minister, Kate Green, the former Lib Dem secretary of state for Scotland Alistair Carmichael, the SNP equalities spokesperson, Angela Crawley, and the Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts. A group of MPs has also tabled an early day motion in parliament repeating the call for the fund to be re-established.

In September, in its submission to an inquiry by the UN special rapporteur on disabilities, the EHRC concluded: "The UK government should reopen the AEO fund in England, and work with the Scottish and Welsh governments to explore options for making the scheme, or similar funds, available across Great Britain."

In June 2015, in response to written questions from Green, Dinenage said "no decision has been made on the future of the AEO fund pilot, pending an evaluation which is currently being undertaken", and that the evaluation report "will be completed this month, when final claims have been settled for candidates who stood in the May 2015 elections". However, a decision is yet to be announced.

Lucas said the cross-party letter made it clear that support for the fund was not a party political issue. "I hope and expect a swift response from the government," she said. "They must provide the funding needed to ensure that people with disabilities who want to stand in this year's elections have the support they need to do so."

Chris Holmes, the EHRC's disability commissioner, said he was pleased its call was being supported by MPs: "Twenty years on from the first Disability Discrimination Act, progress towards ensuring disabled people's equal participation in political life to date has been disappointingly slow and may even have gone backwards."

Lord Holmes added: "Efforts to support disabled people seeking a role in political life should be redoubled to ensure their voices are heard and they are not excluded from the political arena."

A government spokesperson said: "We are evaluating the access to elected office fund pilot, and this includes the views of disabled applicants on the effectiveness of the scheme. We also look to political parties themselves to help make further progress as they're best placed to drive opportunities for disabled people in political life.

"We spend £50bn each year on disabled people and their services to help ensure they can fulfil their potential, and are committed to halving the disability employment gap by helping 1 million more disabled people into work."