Mr. Peter Kearns:

A DPO is a disabled persons' organisation. Unlike disability service providers, it is led by and for disabled people.

DPOs work on a cross-impairment basis with disabled youth and adults. DPOs are about bringing disabled people collectively together to bring about a more inclusive, equal society through community development approaches. DPOs are social inclusion and collective spaces for disabled people, informed through an equality, a human rights and, especially, a social model and lens of disability. DPOs should be the voice of disabled people such that statutory, non-statutory, media, cultural, sporting, economic, employment and social inclusion dialogues will reach directly out to local DPOs as the voice of disabled people.

At their core, an autonomous collective space for disabled people is best placed to inform strategic decisions relating to the inclusion of disabled people. DPOs are also informed by the importance of social education through art and the need for disabled artists to be actively involved in developing local arts spaces.

This is consistent with Article 30 of the UNCRPD, as my colleague, Ms Soraghan, said. That article calls on state parties to take appropriate steps to ensure that disabled people "have the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society". In the development of a local and community arts programme, policy and funding decisions on disability arts need to be led by discussions with DPOs locally and nationally. ILMI, through our work, whether our Department of Rural and Community Development-funded virtual online inclusive community empowerment, VOICE, project or the work we are doing in the cross-Border region, is supporting the emergence of autonomous, collective spaces to develop organic DPOs to inform local policy and work to co-create with statutory bodies to build inclusive, equal systems of service delivery.

There is a lack of disabled people involved in all aspects of local and community arts. That is not just in respect of disabled artists but also as disabled people actively involved in the management and direction of community spaces that host art events and in the design and delivery of productions. Any discussion on community and local arts needs to work with DPOs locally and nationally to develop access routes for disabled people interested in arts production to ensure the involvement of disabled people in creating disability arts.

As regards policy development and best practice in community arts, ILMI feels that any disabled roles must be played by disabled actors, especially at a local level. That would lead to disabled people being more socially included in their communities through mainstream professional and community arts groups. There is now best practice as regards effective access for all to arts and cultural process and product with dialogue and artistic engagements with local and national DPOs.

The UNCRPD calls on state parties to take "all appropriate measures" to ensure that disabled people can enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats. It is imperative that local arts officers, the Arts Council and local community arts groups work with DPOs to avail of disability equality training. Disability equality training is led by disabled people and informed by the social model of disability. Disability equality training can inform the development of best practice as to how community arts groups can engage with disabled people and build processes to ensure disabled people can access arts locally in their communities as creators, participants and consumers.

Lessons on the provision of access for disabled people to attend local and community arts can be learnt from the production of No Magic Pillas a process for learning not only how to promote inclusion of disabled actors but also how best to make a drama performance accessible for disabled people attending their local community arts space.

Like Ms Soraghan, I thank the committee for listening. We look forward to members' follow-up questions.