The Gibraltar Disability Society says it is "pleased" that this year’s Disability Benefit will rise with the rate of inflation.

A statement from the Gibraltar Disability Society follows below:

The Gibraltar Disability Society listened with interest to today's budget during which  the Chief Minister announced the following with relation to disability issues: ‘Disability Benefit will rise with the rate of inflation which is expected to be 8%’; the  Disability Society is pleased that once again this year’s rise will be in line with  inflation. 

‘Government have started work on the extension of the UN Convention on the Rights  of Persons with Disabilities’; this is something that the Disability Society has been  pushing for over many years. The Society worked hard to bring in the Disability Act  2017 (Agnes Law), which was a major step towards putting legislation in place to  allow forward movement on the extension of the UN Convention into Gibraltar. ‘In 2019 a tax incentive was introduced to encourage businesses to facilitate access to  persons with disabilities in existing premises. This initiative has been extended for a  further 2 years’; the Disability Society understands that Government has taken into  consideration that Covid prevented many businesses from taking advantage of this  initiative hence extending this from the original 3 years. However, the Society is  disappointed that this, once again, delays the commencement of Sections 13 & 14 of  the Disability Act 2017.