DDB 5 British Paralympic Association
The Draft Disability Discrimination Bill
2003
Response of British Paralympic Association
1. The
British Paralympic Association welcomes the Draft Disability Discrimination
Bill 2003 and thanks the Department for Work and Pensions for
this opportunity to comment on it.
2. The
BPA particularly welcomes the amendments (Part 5) to the 1995
Disability Discrimination Act that extend the scope of the 1995
Act to include private clubs. The BPA hopes this will result in
more people with disabilities, especially British Paralympic Athletes,
becoming members of "mainstream" sports clubs and enjoy
the benefits of training alongside their "able-bodied"
counterparts. The BPA will watch the implementation and impact
of this extension with great interest.
3. The
BPA also welcomes the amendments (Part 3) to the 1995 that enable
the exemption for transport vehicles of the1995 Act to be lifted.
If enacted correctly this may see in the future a fully accessible
public transport system designed with the needs of the population
as a whole in mind.
4. We
envisage this will include trains that do not require a step up
or down when transferring to or from platforms, with adequate
space inside for the storage of mobility equipment required by
people with disabilities and with public announcements in written
and oral form, all as standard. We also envisage regulations requiring
"kneeling" buses as standard that again do not require
a step up or down to and from pavements, adequate space inside
for people with disabilities and their equipment and public announcements
in written and oral form.
5. The BPA foresees
the removal of barriers to public transport that people with disabilities
currently experience as an opportunity to increase access to sports
participation and an extremely positive contribution to the long
term participation of people with disabilities in sport.
6. The
BPA also welcomes the amendments (Part 4) that extend the 1995
Act to cover the functions of most public authorities. This is
likely to see an increase in the needs of disabled people being
taken into accounts by public authorities when carrying out all
their functions.
7. Similarly,
the provision (Part 1) to bring third party publishers within
the scope of the 1995 Act is also welcomed by the BPA as its impact
is likely to see a decrease in the discrimination against disabled
people.
8. However,
the BPA hopes that some, if not all, of the actions of the Houses
of Parliament (Part 4, Section 21B(3)(a)) might be considered
to come under the scope of the 1995 Act. To make each and every
function and action of the chief legislator exempt from this Bill
allows the Government to continually discriminate against people
with disabilities unchecked.
9. The
BPA is also concerned that certain institutions may allow themselves
to be exempt for the 1995 Act as they continue to discriminate
against people with disabilities in the interests of their health
and safety. (Part 4, Section 21D(4)(b); Part 5, Section 21F(3)(a)).
The BPA would see it as imperative that the disabled person should
have an input, if not the final say, on matters affecting their
own health and safety.
10. Finally,
on the definition of disability itself, the BPA feels the impact
that society has on people with disabilities should not only be
acknowledged by the 1995 Act and any subsequent amendments, but
also that society can often be the source of a person's disability
and that this should be recognised.
11. The
World Health Organisation defines Disability as:
12. "an
umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations or participation
restrictions" (WHO, 2001:3).
13. It
also recognizes disability as:
14. "a
multidimensional phenomenon resulting from the interaction between
people and their physical and social environment." (Ibid.,
2001:242)
15. By following
the World Health Organisation's lead and recognising society's
role in disabling individuals and by no longer placing the cause
of disability solely in people's bodies, the Government's ultimate
aim of inclusion of disabled people would be far more achievable.
16. The
recognition that society has historically created its environment
to meet its needs, regularly excluding people with a physical
or mental impairment, and the acknowledgement that the majority
of barriers that people with physical or mental impairments face
are socially constructed rather than naturally occurring, are
crucial components in any attempt to end discrimination against
people with disabilities. It is also a component that is missing
from the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act and the 2003 Draft
Disability Discrimination Bill.
Philip Lane
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
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