Disabled Town Hall staff face seats scramble

DISABLED staff had to race to work in an early morning “scramble” for seats after “hot-desking” was introduced at the Town Hall, a report seen by the Tribune reveals.
Islington Council management also threatened to cancel social events after one disabled employee complained that two staff barbecues were scheduled to be held in what he and the trade union Unison considered to be inaccessible venues.
The report, undertaken by Disability Action for Islington, on behalf of the council’s personnel department, tells how staff have complained of “institutional discrimination” after being forced to “hot-desk” (use whatever desk is free each day) following the multi-million pound sell-off of council buildings, .
It describes how some disabled staff felt they should rush in early to work, and struggled with hearing under the new open-plan arrangements.
Although so-called SMART working, which aims to make more efficient use of space and reduce the need for the council to retain so much property, has been in place since 2003, it has only become widespread in offices since the recent sale of buildings.
But the Disability Action for Islington report, published in August, reveals how some staff and managers feel it has been “bulldozed through”.

Other complaints included:
• a hard-to-access ground-level locker being given to someone with mobility problems;
• several staff being unable to take advantage of home-working as they were unable to carry laptops and adapted equipment back and forth to the office;
• ineffective policies on disabilities because “managers do not know how to, or do not want to, implement them”.
The report was leaked anonymously to Islington Conservatives. Their deputy chairman Richard Bunting said: “I was shocked at how the Liberal Democrat-run council treats some of its employees with disabilities.
“Although there are instances of good practice, many staff with disabilities struggle in isolation within the workplace, complain of a culture of ‘if you can walk or talk, you are not disabled’ and for staff to just ‘get on with it’. The very simple office items, which could improve productivity of the workforce and cost so little, need to be fought over. Islington Council staff deserve better than this.”
Liberal Democrat councillor John Gilbert said the council commissioned the report after a survey showed lower levels of satisfaction from disabled staff. He said the Town Hall is following up on the recommendations, including appointing a senior ­officer as “disability champion”.
RóISíN GADELRAB

Action ‘What’s changed?’

ADRIAN BERRILL-COX, the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Islington North, said it was important to focus on positive recommendations that came out of the Disability Action for Islington report.
Mr Berrill-Cox, who has congenital spinal muscular atrophy, relies on an electric wheelchair and has SMART working in his own office, said: “By commissioning the report the council showed a will to address the issues. The key thing is what’s been done since August?
“A number of recommendations have been made and it’s important to know what’s been followed up. If they haven’t, then commissioning this report could be window dressing. SMART working is a very disabled way of doing things. Not to use it imaginatively is to mess up a really useful tool.”