Joint Committee on the Draft Disability Discrimination Bill Written Evidence


DDB 124 Royal Consultation Position Paper

Disability Discrimination Bill - A note to the Scrutiny Committee on the outcome of the Department for Transport's consultation on proposals to amend the Rail provisions in Part 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Background

1. The consultation contained the Government's proposals to implement the Disability Rights Task Force recommendations to set an 'end date' by which time all rail vehicles must comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR), and to regulate for RVAR to apply to the refurbishment of rail vehicles. In addition, other proposals to change the regulatory framework were also included.

2. The consultation suggested an 'end date' of 2025 and the 'menu approach' to refurbishment but promised further consultation on draft regulations at a later date. The other proposals included: decriminalisation of offences, simplification of the exemption regime, introducing a formal compliance certification procedure and the application of RVAR to systems where no fares are charged.

Executive Summary of the Responses

3. We received 63 responses to the consultation. They are summarised on a table which has already been sent to the Committee.

Industry

4. Most industry concerns were around the costs included in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), which they did not think were realistic. Their response to the main proposals was lukewarm. Predictably, the rolling stock leasing companies did not agree that an 'end date' should be set or it should be much later than 2025.

5. The other proposals, particularly decriminalisation and changes to the exemption process, were very strongly supported.

Disability Groups

6. Disability groups as well as the major organisations in the disability field, for example, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) felt our proposals did not go far enough. Most argued that the 'end date' should be brought forward to 2020 or 2017 in line with the date we have set for buses. The 'menu approach' for refurbishment was widely supported although some respondents felt it did not go far enough. This was because it would not require features such as passenger information systems and wheelchair accessible toilets to be fitted to rail vehicles that did not have these facilities in the first place.

7. The other proposals were widely supported but there were concerns that the exemption process should not be watered down and the Department should deploy adequate resources to proactively enforce RVAR after decriminalisation.

8. The Disabled Persons Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the Department's statutory advisors on disability, have already given evidence to the Scrutiny Committee which included a copy of their response to the consultation.

Strategic Rail Authority (SRA)

9. The SRA agreed that an 'end date' of 2025 should be set but pointed out that the costs did not consider additional leasing charges for new vehicles, as it may not be economic to refurbish some existing vehicles whose life expiry is only a few years after the 'end date'.

10. Whilst recognising that the proposals for refurbishment regulations were similar to current requirements in the SRA's own code of practice, again, they raised concerns about the costs in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). The SRA also thought that exemptions should be given where costs are disproportionate to the benefits.

11. Other proposals relating to decriminalisation and exemptions were supported. Although they pointed out that the proposed certification scheme should consider handling of subjective areas of the RVAR such as colour contrast.

Next Steps

12. When the draft Disability Discrimination Bill was published, the Government announced that rail would be included in the final Bill when it was introduced. The Department would expect to consult on draft regulations to set an 'end date' and detail our refurbishment proposals during the passage of the Bill.

13. In response to the concerns expressed about the RIA, the Department is currently working closely with the SRA to finalise a financial model which can accurately estimate the increased annualised costs of the options for an end date and refurbishment regulations. Once this work is complete it will enable Ministers to make a final decision on how to proceed.


Department for Transport

March 2004





 
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