Great Britain Reviews Disability Discrimination Act
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
In its first comprehensive review of Great Britain's Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, the Disability Rights Commission has recommended a number of changes to the Act.
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), created by the British Parliament in 2000 to enforce the rights of people with disabilities, bases some of its recommended policy reforms on a series of proposals originally made by the Disability Rights Task Force in its 1999 report "From Exclusion to Inclusion." The Task Force was a government-created body that represented all the stakeholders, including disability groups, the Federation of Small Business, the Institute of Directors, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress, and health and social services. One of the recommendations - all of which were unanimously adopted by the task force - was to create the Disability Rights Commission. Many other Task Force proposals have not been adopted.
And therein lies the rub, according to the DRC. Aside from the creation of the DRC and the passage of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act of 2001 (which extends disability rights guarantees to education), the government has failed to respond to the Task Force's recommendations.
Recommendations not yet implemented
Some of the more important task force recommendations not yet implemented include:
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Strengthening the employment protections by extending the law to all employees and occupations; prohibiting disability-related inquiries before a job offer is made except in very limited circumstances; extending the DDA to bodies which set standards for professional practice; and giving tribunals the power to force reinstatement or re-engagement when there has been discriminatory conduct;
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Extending anti-discrimination provisions to transportation, housing, and public functions. This would involve, among other things, establishing a date by which all passenger rail vehicles would have to be accessible and removing the exemption of transport operators from the DDA "access to services" duty; and
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Placing a "positive duty" on the public sector to promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The DRC is suggesting that the public sector requirements be modeled after the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which required that public bodies assess whether their functions are "relevant to race equality"; "assess and consult" on policies they are planning; publish the results of consultations and monitoring; ensure that information and services are accessible to the public; and train staff on their new duties.
Reforms recommended
Having become familiar with how the law is affecting the lives of people with disabilities, the DRC concludes that the Disability Discrimination Act "does not give disabled people full civil rights" because of its shortcomings. In response, the DRC is proposing significant new reforms, including:
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Changing European Union law to require public service contractors to practice nondiscrimination;
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Passing a European Union Directive regarding disability equality that would cover social security, health care, cultural activities, education, and goods, facilities and services;
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Requiring employers to meet the same access standards as service providers; and
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Providing tax write-offs for architectural adaptations made by businesses.
Disability definition
The DRC also discusses the definition of disability used in the DDA, which both the Commission and the Task Force agree has "significant flaws." The DRC report notes that, in 16% of the cases of disability discrimination claims, claimants lost because tribunals ruled that they were not disabled under the law. The Commission is not proposing a wholesale change to the definition, though, because of concerns that making the change would divert attention from other reform objectives.
Instead, the Commission proposes strengthening the law to clarify its coverage for persons with mental illness and progressive conditions such as multiple sclerosis, as well as clarifying the DDA implementation guidance issued by the Secretary of State.
The Disability Rights Commission is asking for input regarding the policy reforms they are proposing. A questionnaire can be found on their website, as can the full report and other relevant materials. The DRC website is at www.drc-gb.org.
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