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The Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 will be amended by the Disability Discrimination Bill
to place a duty on all public sector authorities to promote disability equality.
The duty on the public sector will have a significant impact on the way in
which all public services are run and on improving the lives of disabled people.
The draft Code
of Practice explains how the legislation seeks to improve equality for disabled
people by placing this new duty on the public sector. We would welcome your
views on this draft Code of Practice. We will revise the Code on the basis
of comments and aim to produce a final Code in December 2005.
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Please note: The draft Code
is based upon the Disability Discrimination Bill and upon regulations
relating to the specific duties neither of which have been approved
by Parliament, and thus may be subject to change. |
We would be most
grateful if you could complete this questionnaire. Please answer each question
by ticking the relevant box and writing any comments in the box provided.
Please send completed questionnaires and/or written responses in the Freepost
envelope provided to:
Post:
DRC Consultation
Chelmsford
Data Centre
NOP
World
FREEPOST
KE4466
CHELMSFORD
CM1
1ZZ
You can send responses
electronically by Email to: Consultation@NOPWORLD.com
Responses to
this consultation must be received by Friday 22 April 2005.
There are two Versions
of this draft Code of Practice – one for England and Wales and
one for Scotland.
Please tick the
box indicating which version you are responding to:
England and Wales….
R
Scotland
………………
The closing
date for this consultation is 22 April 2005. We need to receive your comments
on or before that date.
Please fill in
your name and address or that of your organisation if relevant.
Name: Sheila Blair
Position and Organisation
(where relevant): Co- Chairperson, Trade Union Disability Alliance.
Address:
Responses will
remain confidential unless respondents indicate by ticking this box R that they may be made available
to the public on request.
The questions in
this section will enable us to have a better understanding of who has responded
to this consultation.
Q1a If you are
responding as a private individual, please indicate where you are based.
Wales………
Scotland
……
England…….
Q1b If you are
responding on behalf of an organisation, please indicate which countries your
organisation covers.
Wales………
R
Scotland
……R
England…….R
Q2a In which
capacity are you responding to this questionnaire?
On behalf of:
A representative
organisation……………………... R
Central or devolved
governments……..…………..
A Local Authority…………………………………….
A health sector
organisation………………………..
An education body…………………………………..
A criminal justice
body………………………………
An employer, or,……………………………………..
As an individual……………………………………...
Other – please
tick box and describe below……...
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Q2b If responding
on behalf of a representative organisation are you a:
Voluntary organisation
of disabled people………..
Voluntary organisation
for disabled people……….
Trade union or
professional association…………..R
Other representative
organisation – please tick box and describe below………………………………….
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Q2c If responding
as an individual are you a:
Disabled person………………………………..
Parent or carer
of a disabled person…………
Practitioner –
lawyer etc……………………….
Other – please
tick box and describe below...
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Q3 If you are
responding as a representative of an organisation. How many people does it
employ?
None
R
Up to 50…………
51 to 100………..
101 to 500………
501 to 1,000…….
1,001 to 5,000…..
5,001 and over….
Don’t know………
This section of
the questionnaire covers the individual chapters within the Code of Practice.
Read all/most of
it………... R
Read about half…………...
Read less than
half……….
Not read any of
it………….
If you have not
read any of chapter 1, please go to Q8 of the questionnaire – all others
please continue with Q5.
Q5 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that Chapter 1 is clear and easy to understand?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree………………….. R
Neither agree nor
disagree……
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q6 Is there
sufficient explanation of the issues addressed in Chapter 1?
Too much……….
About right……… R
Too little…………
Q7 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about Chapter 1?
Where relevant
please mention paragraph numbers. We welcome both positive and negative comments.
Please write in the box below.
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1.2,1.3 It
would be helpful if it, early in the document, there could be clarification
as to the increasing trend for voluntary sectors and private companies
to provide “public services” and how, if they are, covered
by the Public Sector duties. 1.10- 1.11,1.12
– Agree wholeheartedly that there needs to be cross working across
Local Authority Departments/ Government Departments etc. to ensure that
“disability” thinking relates across all functions and not
looked at in isolation.
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Read all/most of
it………... R
Read about half…………...
Read less than
half……….
Not read any of
it………….
If you have not
read any of Chapter 2, please go to Q12 of the questionnaire – all others
please continue with Q9.
Q9 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that Chapter 2 is clear and easy to understand?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree………………….. R
Neither agree nor
disagree……
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q10 Is there
sufficient explanation of the issues addressed in Chapter 2?
Too much……….
About right……… R
Too little…………
Q11 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about Chapter 2?
Where relevant
please mention paragraph numbers. We welcome both positive and negative comments.
Please write in the box below.
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2.4 In order
to ensure that harassment does not occur when disability leave is introduced,
i.e. monitoring of absences due to disability rather than sickness monitoring,
then all staff and staff representatives and management need to be made
aware of the reasons why this policy is implemented.
2.6 -2.8
– the issue around prevention of discrimination i.e. active promotion
of equality of opportunity needs to be spelt out in a very positive
way to employers. i.e. the benefits of employing a varying diverse range
of employees. It is important
to note that sometimes in order to enable and engage all disabled people
there will need to be a re-thinking of processes, practices and support
mechanisms across all sectors to ensure that equality of opportunity
is made available to all disability sectors. 2.10-2.12
Again there will be a need to ensure that there is nothing from the
most fundamental documents i.e. the job advert which deters disabled
people from applying for positions. 2.13 In some
cases society itself prevents disabled people from full participation
in it. For example in order
to take part in jury service there needs to be plans put in place to
ensure that again all information is available in the appropriate format
for the disabled person. Participation in public office has become a bad experience
for many disabled people again due to the lack of understanding of the
diversity of need of disabled people.
Further participation is also hampered due to the lack of flexibility
in the benefit system. Regarding
freedom from fear and abuse is an issue that needs to be tackled through
community involvement and the proper enforcement of punishments against
people who carry out “disability hate crimes”. Collection of statistics by the Police
Authority is essential on this issue as is current practice with race
related hate crimes.
2.14
onwards – It again is important that public authorities will need
to take a broad approach to assessing relevance to disabled people. This process needs to be based on a
base line assessment of facilities currently being offered and a template
developed in consultation with organisations of disabled people to cover
the four principles of the duty.
2.16 Reference should be made to
RNIB's Housing Sight publication and the need for housing to meet the
standards suggested in this document not just Lifetime Homes standards
which don't cover VI access. It is difficult
as suggested in 2.17 to prioritise the relevant functions, after all
disability in itself is very diverse and it is vital to assess and support
the various impairments. That is why it is essential to think about producing guidance
based around the Social Model of Disability. 2.18 As discussed in the example given
public authorities should not look at easy options or “cherry
picking” policies to enable the employment of disabled people. The whole spectrum of impairments needs
to be looked out again as suggested in 2.19 involvement of disabled
people.
Referring
to 2.21 sadly areas such as school governance are vastly under-represented
by disabled people who are in some cases unable to attend due to inaccessibility
to the necessary services, transport for example, also many school governance
meetings take place at night which can prove to be a barrier to many
disabled people who due to points raised above are afraid to venture
out after dark.
2.32 , 2.33
re advisory bodies – we welcome the fact that these have now been
included in the public duties and that the DRC are suggesting the use
of disability advisers on specific subjects. 2.34
TUDA wish to raise the issue of adaptations to improve disabled access
in listed buildings. This is still a problem, but the DRC need to push
for the Public Sector Duty to be used to redress the balances between
preservation and access.
2.34 –
again very important that these have been included especially as there
are now preliminary discussions regarding citizenship where it is very
relevant to ensure disabled people are included in the community and
have the opportunity to be represented on issues that are of relevance
to them.
2.35 and
2.36 – with the development of the use of schools to reflect the
changes in SENDA. This also gives the opportunity to utilise the provision
of schools as community facilities, for example out of school courses,
playing bingo and having community activities. Out of school sports facilities being
made available to the community will also help when looking across authorities
at the development of policies relating to health and well being.
Many of the
other issues in Chapter two are covered in more detail under Chapter
3 and will be commented on later.
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Read all/most of
it………... R
Read about half…………...
Read less than
half……….
Not read any of
it………….
If you have not
read any of Chapter 3, please go to Q16 of the questionnaire – all others
please continue with Q13.
Q13 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that Chapter 3 is clear and easy to understand?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree………………….. R
Neither agree nor
disagree……
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q14 Is there
sufficient explanation of the issues addressed in Chapter 3?
Too much……….
About right……… R
Too little…………
Q15 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about Chapter 3?
Where relevant
please mention paragraph numbers or examples. We welcome both positive and
negative comments, as well as any examples which you may wish to provide.
Please write in the box below.
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3.17 best value performance plan could also indicate the % of economically active disabled people within the authority area and have it’s target reflecting that with it’s numbers of employees
3.18 also look at where the advertising of events is taking place to allow further participation
3.31 It would be helpful in the final example in this paragraph to see a commitment to provide Disability Equality Training to Audit Commission inspectors on matters relating to Disabled peoples’ barriers.
3.34 TUDA wishes to push for police forces to be advised that it should be part of the public sector duty for all police forces to record hate crimes against disabled people and use the statistics to inform policing strategies to combat disability hate crime. The law already requires the collection of statistics on disability hate crime in Northern Ireland. The measures suggested would also compliment Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 brought into force on April 4, 2005 and the part of the Public Sector duty which requires authorities to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people.
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Read all/most of
it………...
Read about half…………...
Read less than
half……….
Not read any of
it………….
If you have not
read any of Chapter 4, please go to Q20 of the questionnaire – all others
please continue with Q17.
Q17 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that Chapter 4 is clear and easy to understand?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree…………………..
Neither agree nor
disagree……
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q18 Is there
sufficient explanation of the issues addressed in Chapter 4?
Too much……….
About right………
Too little…………
Q19 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about Chapter 4?
Where relevant
please mention paragraph numbers or examples. We welcome both positive and
negative comments, as well as any examples which you may wish to provide.
Please write in the box below.
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Read all/most of
it………... R
Read about half…………...
Read less than
half……….
Not read any of
it………….
If you have not
read any of Chapter 5, please go to Q24 of the questionnaire – all others
please continue with Q21.
Q21 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that Chapter 5 is clear and easy to understand?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree………………….. R
Neither agree nor
disagree……
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q22 Is there
sufficient explanation of the issues addressed in Chapter 5?
Too much……….
About right……… R
Too little…………
Q23 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about Chapter 5?
Where relevant
please mention paragraph numbers or examples. We welcome both positive and
negative comments, as well as any examples which you may wish to provide.
Please write in the box below.
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More of a
question – will the proposed enforcement model which replicates
the Race Equality enforcement be strong enough to make bodies comply?
Especially bearing in mind that you still need to go over the first
hurdle that you have to prove you are disabled. We would also wish to point out that
with the change to a Single Equalities Commission the code will need
to be revisited once the Commission is established to ensure that the
enforcement is updated accordingly.
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Q24 Did you
read any of the Appendices to the Code of Practice?
Yes……
Go to Q25
No……..
R
Go to Q26
Q25 Are there
any comments that you would like to make about any of the Appendices?
Please write in
the Appendix number that your comment relates to. We welcome both positive
and negative comments.
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Appendix
Number |
Comments |
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Q26 How strongly
would you agree or disagree that the Code of Practice provides you with a
clear understanding of the duties that apply to public bodies and others with
obligations under the Act under the revised Disability Discrimination Act?
Agree strongly………………….
Tend to agree…………………..
Neither agree nor
disagree…… R
Tend to disagree……………….
Disagree strongly………………
Don’t know………………………
Q27 If you disagree
strongly or tend to disagree please tell us where the Code is unclear and/or
how it could be improved. Please write in the box below.
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Q28 Are there
any other comments you would like to make about the draft Code of Practice?
Can you suggest ways in which the draft Code of Practice could be improved?
We welcome both
positive and negative comments. Please write in the box below and continue
on a separate sheet if necessary.
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This is one
of the most complex issues we have had to respond to in a consultation
document and wish there had been more time to do more.
The essential
elements as far as we are concerned must be around consistency when
doing assessments, clarification of who is covered by the duty i.e.
the role of private and voluntary sectors.
Also the
need to emphasise anticipatory duties.
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Q29 The DRC
will be producing a range of guidance on the new duties.
Set out below are
some suggestions for guidance. Please tick boxes on the right to indicate
what you consider to be the top 5 and write in the box below suggestions for
further guidance.
1. General Overview
and Introduction………. R
2. Guidance for
Disabled People……………..
R
3. Involvement
of Disabled people…………...
4. Monitoring…………………………………… R
5. Local Authorities…………………………….
6. Health and Social
Care……………………..
7. Housing………………………………………
8. Local Transport
Plans………………………
9. Planning……………………………………...
10. Highways…………………………………...
11. Education –
FE and HE…………………...
12. Education –
Schools………………………
13. Procurement………………………………..
14. Employment
Practices……………………. R
15. Effective Impact
Assessments…………... R
16. Parish Councils…………………………….
17. Advisory Bodies……………………………
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Thank you very
much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Please return it
in the Freepost envelope provided. You do not have to put a stamp on the envelope.
For further copies
or copies in accessible formats (such as Braille, audio cassette, disk and
large print) please contact the DRC Helpline. There are 2 versions of this
Code – one for England and Wales and one for Scotland – please
specify which version you require.
Telephone:
08457 622 633
Textphone:
08457 622 644
For a link to the
online Questionnaire and the Questionnaire and Codes of Practice in downloadable
formats please use the DRC website: www.drc-gb.org
Responses to this
consultation must be received by Friday 22 April 2005.
If you require this publication in an alternative format and/or language please contact the helpline to discuss your needs. It is also available on the DRC website:
www.drc-gb.org
The DRC Language Line service offers an interpretation facility providing information in community languages and is available on the DRC Helpline telephone number.
You can email the DRC Helpline from our website:
www.drc-gb.org
Telephone: 08457 622 633
Textphone: 08457 622 644
Fax: 08457 778 878
Website: www.drc-gb.org
Post: DRC Helpline
FREEPOST
MID 02164
Stratford upon Avon
CV37 9BR
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