Key information
Petition presented by: Hina Bokhari OBE Assembly Member
Date petition submitted: Thursday 3 July 2025
Petition presented at: London Assembly Plenary
Summary of petition
“There are 1.2 million Disabled people currently living in London.
All Londoners deserve to live in an inclusive, accessible city, free from discrimination and barriers that prevent them from fully participating in society.
Infrastructure from housing, transport and the built environment consistently fail to meet the needs of the various Disabled people living in London. We believe this is a result of a lack of meaningful engagement with the Disabled community during policy formulation and implementation across the Greater London Authority.
In September 2024 the London Assembly unanimously passed a cross-party motion, proposed by Hina Bokhari AM and seconded by Keith Prince AM.
This motion called for a number of actions for the Mayor to take, chief among them:
- The Appointment of a Disability Equality Champion to lead on making London a better place to live for Disabled Londoners, and ensure that disability equality and co-production is embedded into all plans and policies.
- This Champion would lead the strategic development of a London Disability Action Plan.
- Ensure a Disability Equality Champion has a role separate to the one undertaken by the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice in order to take a broad, cross-cutting and non-political role across the GLA group.
The Mayor has not taken these actions, citing the work the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice does with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO’s) as being sufficient.
Over 2,100 people have signed this petition, organised by Inclusion London. We call on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to create a salaried, accountable and permanent position of Disability Equality Champion.
This post will be filled by an experienced member of the disabled community, who will champion and embody the key values of disability equality and co-production.
The Disability Equality Champion should play a key role in ensuring that disabled peoples’ voices are heard at every level of policy formulation and implementation.
This is necessary to transform London into a truly accessible city that leads as an example to other cities around the world.”