The
Act also allows the government to set minimum standards
so that disabled people can use public transport
easily.
The
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 aims to
end the discrimination that many disabled people
face. This Act gives disabled people rights in the
areas of:
Definition
of 'disability' under the Disability Discrimination
Act (DDA)
The
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled
person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment
that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect
on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day
activities
The
definition
For
the purposes of the Act:
Substantial
means neither minor nor trivial
Long
term means that the effect of the impairment has
lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months
(there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating
conditions)
normal
day-to-day activities include everyday things like
eating, washing, walking and going shopping
a
normal day-to-day activity must affect one of the
'capacities' listed in the Act which include mobility,
manual dexterity, speech, hearing, seeing and memory
Some
conditions such as a tendency to set fires and hay
fever, are specifically excluded.
Provisions
allow for people with a past disability to be covered
by the scope of the Act. There are also additional
provisions relating to people with progressive conditions.
The DDA 2005 amends the definiton of disability,
removing the requirement that a mental illness should
be 'clinically well-recognised'.
People with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis will
be deemed to be covered by the DDA effectively from
the point of diagnosis, rather than from the point
when the condition has some adverse effect on their
ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Getting
hold of a copy of the Disability Discrimination
Act 2005 The Act can be viewed from the website
below:
Disability
Discrimination Act 2005 (opens new window)
©
Crown Copyright 1995 - jml
Property Services hold a Core Licence C02W00008738**
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Rental
Properties in the private sector - Disability Discrimination
Act 2005 - Legislation
will come into force on the 6th December 2006 aimed
specifically at the services connected to the provision
of housing in the private rented sector as well
as issues relating to the property itself. The relevent
clauses of the Act are in Chapter 13, section 13,
clauses 24(a) to 24(k).
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New
Code of Practice on Disability Discrimination -
A new code of practise from the Disability Rights
Commission has been put before Parliament
for consideration. The Code will give practical
guidance on the application of the provisions of
the Disability Discrimination act that comes into
force in December 2006. The Disability Rights Commission
has revised the existing guidance on the Disability
Discrimination Act for providers of goods, services
and facilities to include the new duties on public
authorities, landlords and private members clubs.
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Fact
Files
PainSmith
Solicitors Legal Update - 07
October 2005
The
Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The
Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005) changes
the way that landlords and their agents will be
required to react to disabled tenants. While much
of these changes do little to alter the fundamental
requirement for the landlord to respond positively
to “reasonable” requests they do shift the burden
somewhat in both evidence and monetary terms. For
full article
Click Here. This article appears
as a PDF - The
free Adobe Acrobat Reader is available to download
direct from Adobe by following the link.
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Implementation of The Disability
Discrimination Act 2005 The Statutory Instruments
implementing the Disability Discrimination Act 2005(DDA)
in respect of rented accommodation have now been
laid before Parliament.The Disability Discrimination
(Premises) Regulations 2006 confirm that these provisions
will come into force as from 4 December 2006 and
provide further clarification of how the Act will
be implemented in respect of residential premises.
For full article Click
Here
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Provisions
of The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 The
Disability Act 2005 builds on and extends earlier
disability discrimination legislation, principally
the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The Acts
aim to end discrimination against disabled people
in a range of circumstances, including in employment,
education and the provision of goods and services.
For instance if a student with a personality disorder
was refused entry to college on the grounds that
her disability may make her disruptive, then this
may amount to unlawful disability discrimination,
unless it can be justified. For full article
Click
Here
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Disability
Discrimination Act and Stairs - 23 May 2007 A
recent case before the court of Appeal has clarified
the position regarding the Disability Discrimination
Act (DDA) and it application to residential premises.For
full article Click
Here
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Implementation
of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) (England
& wales) Order 2005 The Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) (England & Wales) Order 2005 came
into force on the 1st October 2006. This order brings
together a large amount of legislation relating
to obligations to make premises fire safe For
full article Click
Here
Dr
David Smith is a trainee solicitor with PainSmith
Solicitors, a niche practice specialising in residential
landlord and tenant law. He can be contacted on
01420 565310 or by email at david@painsmith.co.uk.
If you wish to subscribe to the free legal updates
service then you should email update@painsmith.co.uk
with the phrase "subscribe updates" in the subject
of the email.
PainSmith
Solicitors Legal Updates are provided
for information only and are not legal advice. If
you do have a legal problem, you should talk to
a lawyer or adviser before making a decision about
what to do. You may wish to use the CLS/CDS Directory
(www.justask.org.uk/public/en/directory)
to locate an adviser. The information provided here
is written for people resident in, or affected by,
the laws of England and Wales only. You should note
that date given in the update and be aware that
the information given may become inaccurate due
to changes in the law or its implementation.
©PainSmith
Solicitors
Information
supplied by PainSmith
Solicitors who are a niche practice specialising
in Landlord and Tenant Law. Based in Medstead in
Hampshire, they are ideally situated to provide
an efficient service to clients nationwide as well
as those based in Central London and the Home Counties.
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New
legislation to transform public services for disabled
people - December 2006 News Release
from Alyson Rose in the DRC Press Office
Approximately
45,000 public bodies will be affected by new legislation
introduced on 4 December that is set to transform
the lives of one in five Britons.
The
new Disability Equality Duty (the DED) will affect
the way public authorities run and plan their services
for the 10 million people who have rights under
the Disability Discrimination Act. The DED is similar
to the race equality duty introduced by the Race
Relations (Amendment) Act.
The
Disability Rights Commission (DRC) had been urging
the government to introduce the new duty since 2000.
The DRC’s Chairman Bert Massie said today: “The
Disability Equality Duty will have a major impact
on the lives of disabled people and will radically
shift the way public authorities deliver their services.
“Public bodies – from the local library to the NHS
– will have to consider what disabled people need
when planning their services. This is a step-change
away from individual disabled people having to complain
about discrimination after an incident has taken
place.”
The
new duty has been introduced to tackle the endemic
discrimination faced by disabled people and those
with long-term health conditions. For example, disabled
people are less likely to receive a full education,
less likely to get a job, more likely to be discriminated
against in the health service and to be a victim
of crime than non-disabled people.
DRC
Chairman Bert Massie continued: “The DED will help
public bodies become more efficient and save money
because it involves providing services that disabled
people need. Those who fail to meet their new legal
duties risk facing us in court.
“Ensuring that disabled people’s needs are thought
of at the beginning of policy and service development
will help enhance the service that many disabled
people receive. Next February, the DRC is unveiling
a new agenda aimed at breaking the cycle of persistent
exclusion and discrimination that still blights
many disabled people’s lives.”
Publicly
funded organisations with specific duties under
the DED need to publish a Disability Equality Scheme
that shows how they intend to fulfil the new duty.
The scheme – which has to be published by 4 December
– needs to show how a public body intends to eliminate
unlawful discrimination and promote equality of
opportunity. The DRC will be scrutinising these
schemes from 5 December 2006.
The
Disability Equality Duty is contained in the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995, as amended by the Disability
Discrimination Act 2005. Alyson Rose in the DRC
Press Office
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Public
sector professions fall foul of anti-discrimination
laws says DRC - 18-12-06 News Release from Will
Dingli in the DRC Press Office
Current
guidelines used to determine whether people can
train and practise as teachers, nurses and social
workers are likely to fall foul of anti-discrimination
laws, an independent legal review reveals today.
The
review forms part of the Disability Rights Commission’s
(DRC’s) investigation into the legal framework governing
entry and progress in nursing, teaching and social
work. The review also found significant variations
in the criteria used for entry in the three professions
in Scotland, England and Wales.
In the first assessment of its kind to examine the
criteria used to determine entry to the professions
against the requirements of the Disability Discrimination
Act (DDA), the review found that there was no recognition
of the DDA in some sectors’ statutory documents.
This is despite the fact that the regulations governing
training and entry were compiled after 1995 – the
year the DDA was passed by Parliament.
The
review also found that ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ are
defined in a confusing variety of ways across countries
and sectors. In some cases, such as the teaching
profession in Scotland, the focus is on competence
and conduct and not on attempting to define and
assess health.
Bert
Massie, Chairman of the DRC, said: “Our investigation
has uncovered over 70 separate regulations and pieces
of guidance across these three sectors, yet the
overwhelming majority of them take no account of
the DDA. This means that despite the minefield of
regulations governing teaching, nursing and social
work, disabled people are in severe danger of experiencing
discrimination, both at the point of entry when
they undertake training and also later on, once
they start working.”
Direct
discrimination under the DDA occurs when a disabled
person is discriminated against purely on the grounds
of their disability. As much of the regulations
and guidance is very general (e.g. the Nursing and
Midwifery Council rules call for someone to merely
be in ‘good health’) stereotypical assumptions can
be made about a persons’ fitness to perform a role
and this can result in direct discrimination.
As
part of its investigation, the DRC has uncovered
case studies that highlight problems of discrimination
against disabled people. For example:
Philip
Stott, aged 40, from Warrington, Cheshire, said
he experienced considerable discrimination when
he attempted to change profession and re-train as
a teacher. This was despite a positive occupational
health assessment that said he was perfectly safe
to teach. Stott was injured in a motorbike accident
when he was aged 18 which left his shoulder at risk
of dislocation.
Philip
said: “I told the college about my condition from
the beginning, yet after the first time my shoulder
dislocated and I had to go to hospital to get it
fixed, they started saying ‘you can’t do this’ and
‘you can’t do that’. In the end they prevented me
from continuing on the course.”
Joanne
Harrison, aged 25, from Colchester, Essex, had always
dreamed of becoming a social worker, but was told
she must drop her degree after being diagnosed with
ME. Joanne said she was devastated at the news:
“They told me I was off the course just like that.
There was no warning, nothing. I tried to stand
up for myself, my health has greatly improved, but
they disregarded all of that. The senior occupational
therapist wrote a really good letter saying how
capable I was but they just disregarded it completely.”
Stuart
Nixon, aged 42 and an NHS manager from Newport,
Gwent, was diagnosed with MS aged 14 and went on
to train as a nurse. Stuart was offered no support
to manage his condition while training and no support
once he started work. Instead he was encouraged
to look at other areas of NHS employment. Stuart
eventually decided to give up nursing and re-train
in general management. Stuart said: “I was asked
to consider whether nursing was an appropriate career
for someone with MS simply because people couldn’t
see beyond my diagnosis. On the ward they only looked
at five per cent of my role which I couldn’t do,
they didn’t see the 95 per cent that I could do.”
Bert
Massie concluded: "Disabled people want to make
a contribution to Britain’s public services, which
employ millions of people and have an impact on
all our lives. These vital services benefit from
diverse experiences and perspectives. We would not
accept any of these professions being all white,
all male or all female. They should not be no-go
areas for disabled people either. Yet people who
are disabled or have long-term health conditions,
as the cases we have come across illustrate, are
being denied opportunities to progress and these
professions are all the poorer for it.”
The
DRC’s year-long investigation is the most wide-ranging
analysis of disability-related fitness standards
in the public sector that has been undertaken. The
investigation will conduct a legal review, two research
projects, a call for evidence and run an Inquiry
Panel which will take oral evidence from organisations.
The final report is due in the summer of 2007.
1.
The definition of disability in the DDA covers people
with physical, sensory and mental impairments. It
includes people with a range of health conditions
such as diabetes, epilepsy and long-term depression.
Since December 2005, it has included people with
cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis from the point
of diagnosis. The DDA calls for employers and training
providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled
people such as wheelchair access, grab rails, induction
loops and sign language interpreters.
2. The legal review, commissioned by the DRC and
conducted by the legal firm Levenes, is entitled
‘An analysis of the statutory and regulatory frameworks
and cases relating to fitness standards in nursing,
teaching and social work’. It can downloaded from
the DRC’s website (see link below).
3.
‘Fitness Standards’ is the umbrella term used in
the investigation to cover the wide range of formal
regulations along with the operation of policies,
practices and procedures that affect a persons’
ability to qualify, register and work in a number
of public sector professional occupations.
4.
A DRC study (Michael Hirst et al 2004) ‘The Employment
of Disabled People in the Public Sector: A Review
of Data and Literature’ found that only 11% of working
age disabled people had public sector jobs compared
with 18% of non-disabled people. It also showed
that in the public sector, disabled employees are
less likely than non-disabled employees to occupy
higher-skilled professions such as nursing, teaching
and social work.
5.
Further details on the Fitness Standards Formal
Investigation can be found at www.drc-gb.org/fitness
6.
The DRC is an independent statutory body responsible
for tackling disability discrimination. We aim to
bring about equality of opportunity and increased
participation for the 10 million people in Britain
who have rights under the Disability Discrimination
Act.
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DRC
launches the Disability Agenda
- 14th February 2007
The
Disability Rights Commission launched the Disability
Agenda on the 14th February 2007, which sets out
the major challenges for public policy in respect
of disabled people and their families and recommendations
for how to meet them.
Speaking
at the launch of the Agenda, Sir Bert Massie, DRC's
Chairman said: "The positive developments of the
last decade have undoubtedly helped to create a
more open road for disabled people to be and do
the things they want to in life.
But at the same time the public services, resources
and support many require to take up these new opportunities
have either not materialised, remain at odds with
these goals or have gone into decline.
Many
disabled people have been invited to look up to
the stars, only to find the ground opening up beneath
them. And this is why, just as the DRC has offered
leadership during the last decade, so with the launch
of today's Disability Agenda we are seeking to offer
leadership for the next.
It
proposes reform and investment in our public services
founded upon the principles of dignity and respect
and delivering the means for people to participate
and achieve their potential and to secure a healthy
and prosperous life.
And
importantly it is also about refreshing our approach
to disability equality fit for a new era of leadership
from the Commission for Equality and Human Rights".
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Please
see also
Courses
Fact
Files
Disability
Rights Commission and Commission for Equality and
Human Rights
What
is Workplace Bullying?
Commission
for Racial Equality new Statutory Code of Practice
on Racial Equality in Housing
Framework
for a Fairer Future – The Equality Bill Press Releases
June 2008
Provisions
of The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The
Racial and Religious Diversity that is Defining
a Nation
The
Equal Opportunities Commission - Press Release
March 2007
Useful
Websites
