Penny Mordaunt MP

Minister for Women and Equalities

2nd May 2018

Dear Penny,

Access to Elected Office Fund

Congratulations on your appointment this week as Minister for Women and Equalities. I am writing to you in that capacity, to urge you to reach a positive decision on the future of the Access to Elected Office Fund. I understand that the Government has undertaken to reach a decision by 11 May – almost three years after concluding an as yet unpublished evaluation of the pilot Fund.

As one of your predecessors, Helen Grant MP, noted in 2014, “disabled people are still under-represented in politics. That is why we need to do more to encourage a diverse mix of candidates and role models to better reflect the society we live in.” I strongly agree, and believe it is essential to create a level playing field for candidate with a disability.

In September 2015, in its submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Disabilities’ inquiry into disabled people’s right to participate in decision-making, the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) identified “five key actions to smooth the pathway to politics for the disabled”, including:
 

“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.”

I find it astonishing that, 30 months on, the evaluation report completed in the summer of 2015 has still not been published, and no decision has been reached on that report’s conclusions, or on the EHRC’s clear recommendation. This is not an especially complex or financially challenging matter – the sum of awards made from the Fund between May 2010 and May 2015 was just £0.4m. Yet, as the EHRC says, the Fund is key to “smoothing the pathway to politics” for people with a disability.

Together with the 87 MPs from six parties who have signed my Early Day Motion 74 on this issue, I can see no good reason why the Government should not follow the EHRC’s recommendation. I hope very much that you will feel able to make this your first substantive decision as Minister for Women and Equalities.

Yours sincerely,