DDB 6 British Council
BRITISH COUNCIL OF DISABLED PEOPLE
OFFICIAL SUBMISSION
ON DRAFT DISABILITY BILL
JANUARY 2004
Author : Andy Rickell,
Director, British Council of Disabled People (BCODP)
Summary
BCODP believes the draft
Bill is too weak, in particular because :-
1. The definition of "disability"
in the original Act is not based on the Social Model of Disability;
2. The Bill continues
to allow discrimination against disabled people in many areas
of life;
3. Disabled People's human
rights are not protected;
4. The ability of disabled
people to enforce their own rights continues to remain very limited.
Main evidence
1. BCODP is the one UK
national organisation which is entirely run and controlled by
disabled people and whose voting membership is entirely made up
of organisations run and controlled by disabled people. Our over
120 member groups have about 300,000 disabled members. We are
the national voice of the disabled people's movement and led the
campaign for anti-discrimination legislation in the eighties and
nineties.
2. BCODP regards the current Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 as so seriously flawed a piece of law
that it should be repealed and replaced by legislation which offers
comprehensive and enforceable civil rights for disabled people.
It is particularly weak in the areas of :-
- the definition of
"disability" and hence who is covered - the definition
is not based on the Social Model of Disability;
- the weak and inaccessible
means of legal redress for disabled people;
- the Act's low precedence.
3. Our comments on the draft Disability
Bill should therefore be viewed in the light of the above. In
general we support the measures insofar as they extend the scope
of anti-discrimination law. However we have problems with the
following issues :-
4. The proposed specific
extension to the meaning of "disability" is a further
proof that the general definition is unhelpful and excludes many
disabled people who clearly suffer discrimination. The current
definition requires proof of a minimum level of impairment, whereas
this law should be about tackling discrimination (based on the
Social Model) arising from any impairment associated with the
individual. One suggestion is therefore that the definition of
"disability" should be changed to remove any requirement
as regards extent of impairment, and by doing so it will also
automatically cover the specific impairments mentioned in this
Bill.
5. The right to free movement
should be a basic right. The accessibility of all transport vehicles
and associated services should cease to be exempt from the Part
3 provisions forthwith, apart from the accessibility of existing
transport vehicles for which definite and early end-dates should
be given (no longer than 10 years).
6. The proposed justifications
for discrimination based on "reasonable" assumptions
about disabled people and health and safety issues and consent
grounds will prolong and embed discrimination. On health and
safety, it should be a balance between the rights of the disabled
person to equality and the rights of others to health and safety,
not a complete derogation. On consent, allowing a reasonable
assumption of inability to consent is unfair, because current
discriminatory attitudes in society include negative assumptions
about the competence of all disabled people. Instead the law
should state what would be acceptable as regards enabling the
consent of a disabled person (which requires the least effort
on the disabled person's behalf).
7. Prison issues - Disabled
prisoners should have their rights met in a dignified manner,
which may have implications for the accommodation provided as
well as reasonable adjustments in other areas.
8. Letting of premises
- The landlord should be obliged to normally give consent to adjustments
to premises and the cost of such adjustments should be borne by
the taxpayer in order to improve the housing stock. A register
should be kept of all such adjusted premises for the purpose of
re-letting adjusted premises to future tenants for whom the adjustments
enable accessibility. Extra costs borne by a landlord or manager
in respect of a tenant/occupier's impairment in excess of reasonable
adjustment costs should be spread over all rental/service charges
and not specifically chargeable to the tenant on whose account
they arise. A definite end-date should be given for the removal
of the small dwellings exemption.
9. Disabled councillors
- This proposal should be extended to include all elected or appointed
public offices eg Parliament, NDPBs, magistrates, school governors
etc. in order to enable the full and fair participation of disabled
people in public and civic life.
10. To show what disabled
people really want to see in new legislation, the national disabled
people's movement (including the UK Disabled People's Parliament)
have produced the Disabled People's Rights and Freedoms "Bill".
The full text of this can be obtained from our website - www.bcodp.org.uk.
11. Particular proposals
contained within this "Bill" which go beyond existing
legislation and which have not been already mentioned above include
:-
- Indirect discrimination
is covered throughout
- All goods and services
provision is included without exception
- All employment is
included without exception, including voluntary work
- All forms of educational
provision is included, and segregated provision is automatically
discriminatory
- All qualifications,
exam bodies and standard setting agencies are included
- All public physical
environments, built and natural, are to be accessible
- All health care is
included
- All housing is included,
including new private housing
- The right to communicate
is fully supported by whatever means is appropriate
- Basic rights are specifically
emphasised in disabled people's terms including those of life,
freedom of movement (including an end to institutionalised forms
of provision for disabled people), social and political participation
including self-organisation, independent living, sexuality, choice
and control over our own lives, bringing up our own children,
privacy and freedom from media intrusion, to express an opinion
and to be heard, independent advocacy (including legal representation),
and freedom from disablist humour and behaviour
- That the taxpayer
has a responsibility to meet the costs of "reasonable adjustments"
to the extent that they are judged "unreasonable" on
cost grounds
- A disabled person
should have access to affordable and appropriate legal representation
to assert or defend their rights under anti-discrimination legislation,
and that the remedy should match the discrimination suffered
- An end to pre-birth
actions which discriminate on the grounds of disability or impairment.
12. Finally, we want to see the
Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act
1986 fully implemented. The outstanding sections, particularly
1, 2, 3, 4(b) and 8(except(1)) are a necessary part of improving
disabled people's rights.
13. We have seen the National Centre
for Independent Living (NCIL)'s written submission, and support
its comments around the right to independent living.
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