ITV Amplify 2.0 meet the APPG for Disability
On Tuesday 21 May 2024, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team and our Amplify 2.0 cohort, a senior leadership programme for Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent colleagues at ITV, met with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Disability (APPG) led by Dr Lisa Cameron MP Health and Work, at Portcullis House. The meeting was arranged by Jane Luca, Director of Public Affairs, one of Comms' buddy on Amplify, to raise the profile of ITV's DEI work and the members heard from Callum Dziedzic, Peter Carter and Gillian Harrison from Amplify 2.0 cohort about experiences related to Access to Work, the BSL Act, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the implementation of related policy issues.
Jane Luca said “I was so pleased that Callum, Peter and Gillian had this opportunity to speak directly to the Minister who as part of her response invited them to contribute to the Government’s Green Paper. I’d promised Peter, as my Comms buddy in Amplify, that he would get this opportunity and was so pleased we did it in what turned out to be the last hours of this Parliament!”
During this meeting the APPG heard how ITV’s Amplify 2.0 programme was developed to increase the representation and profile of senior Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent talent at ITV. Launched last year, the month programme involved individual coaching sessions across the period, each participant being matched with a Sponsor from the Management Board as well as becoming a Sponsor themselves to an apprentice joining ITV. The programme is led by ITV Creative Diversity Partners, Nahrein Kemp and Sam Tatlow MBE and was facilitated by Executive Coach Sarah Pickthall.
Callum Dziedzic, Peter Carter and Gillian Harrison, spoke about their experiences and the challenges with Access to Work, how assessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could be improved particularly for those with non-visible disabilities, and discussed the work of Signpost Productions, who are based in the North East of England and produce over 1,500 hours of Deaf-led and accessible content every year.
Mims Davies and other MPs in the room listened to the points made, and acknowledged that their need for more work to be done on scaling up the personalisation and improving the speed of assessment of Access to Work, the importance of empathy and the language used in response to Personal Independence Payment applications, and ensuring announcements are fully accessible. Mims was delighted to see broadcasters doing more in British Sign Language and pushing for it to become the standard for everyone to expect.
The attendees were:
ITV Amplify 2.0 attendees
Sameer Modha (Client Strategy Data & Effectiveness Lead), Gillian Harrison (On-Screen Presenter - Signpost), Callum Dziedzic (Assistant Commissioner - Drama and Comedy), Jack Ivens-Gardiner (Assistant Floor Manager), Peter Carter (Enterprise Product Manager), Leah Grant (Product Designer - Streaming Product), Casey Shaw (Activation Manager - Business Development), Lucy Kapasi (On Screen Journalist - ITV News Central), Michelle De Leon (Producer, GMB)
ITV Public Affairs & ITV Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team attendees
Ade Rawcliffe (Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion), Sam Tatlow MBE (Creative Diversity Partner), Nahrein Kemp (Creative Diversity Partner), Kalaiyashni Puvanendran (Diversity and Inclusion Programme Delivery Partner), Rio Yukawa (Creative Diversity Coordinator), Asma Abdulrahman (Diversity and Inclusion Team Apprentice) and Jane Luca (Director of Public Affairs)
MPs attendees
Dr Lisa Cameron (Conservative, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow), Mims Davies MP (Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work at DWP), Marsha De Cordova (Labour MP for Battersea), Lord Sterling of Plaistow, Jacqueline Winstanley (Secretariat for the APPG for Disability)