DDB 137 Trades Union Congress
Committee Office date: 02
April 2004
House of Lords contact: Peter
Purton
Westminster direct line: 020
7467 1271
London SWiA OPW email: ppurton@tuc.org.uk
Dear Colleague,
Scrutiny Committee - draft
Disability Discrimination bill
Following the presentation of our submission to the
Scrutiny Committee on 23 March, I am writing to deliver the additional
material promised at the hearing.
1. Definition of Social Model.
The TUC generally support the Social as opposed to
the Medical model of disability. The intention is not to deny
that individuals who have a physical or mental impairment may
have different abilities to other people without those impairments.
However, we believe that disability is brought about by the way
in which external barriers prevent individuals with particular
impairments from participating properly in society. The objective
of law and practice, therefore, should be to seek to remove or
modify these barriers to involvement or inclusion. The target
for social action, in other words, should be the removal of the
barriers, not changing the individual. The significance of the
distinction lies as much in the underlying difference in approach
that the definition implies, as it does in the practical consequences
for any individual situation. The critical effect of the model
is that the priority is shifted to focus on the removal of the
barriers and obstacles.
2. Perception and Association.
There are numerous examples of individuals losing
their jobs, or finding themselves unable to continue working as
a result of employers' attitudes, as a result of their association
with a disabled person, quite often as a result of their responsibilities
as carer. The fact that European legislation refers to protection
against discrimination "on grounds of..." would in fact
cover this large group of people but is not reflected in the draft
bill, hence our view that this change could readily be incorporated,
with significant consequences. Detailed evidence has been produced
by Carers UK and the case has also been strongly made by the Disability
Rights Commission, and the TUC is happy to associate itself with
these voices, and some of this detail has been submitted to the
Committee in their written evidence.
W:\Erd\PP\DISAB\DDB cttee additional -
4-04 draft.doc
Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B
3LS
telephone: 020 7636 4030 fax: 020 7636 0632 ~ ~
General Secretary: Brendan Barber Deputy General
Secretary: Frances O'Grady
Assistant General Secretary: Kay Garberry INVESTOR
IN PEOPLE
TUC
Yours sincerely
Peter Purton,
Policy Officer
EERD
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