DDB 13 CONFEDERATION OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT
UK
MEMORANDUM OF EVIDENCE FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY
JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE DRAFT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION BILL
CONFEDERATION OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT UK
CPT is the trade organisation representing the bus,
coach and light rail industries in the UK. Our members range
from large PLCs to single entrepreneurs. They engage in the local
public transport, group hire, long distance regular service and
holiday markets. In addition, our members transport over a million
schoolchildren under contract to local authorities.
Our evidence falls into two distinct areas; we make
some general remarks on the approach of the Draft Bill and attempt
to assess its effect on the different market sectors our members
serve.
Our evidence relates entirely to Clause 3 of the
Draft Bill.
THE APPROACH OF THE BILL
The bus, coach and light rail industries support
the principle of giving disabled people the same general rights
that enjoyed when they use other services. However, we believe
that it is important that the Government's powers to make Regulations
and to issue guidance are used to help disabled people to understand
what they can reasonably expect from transport providers and to
delimit providers' duties so that meeting the needs of disabled
people remains compatible with business success.
The 1995 Act, with the changes foreseen in the Draft
Bill, gives a workable framework, we believe. We support the
distinction in the Draft Bill between adjustments to vehicles
and adjustments to service delivery in the broader sense. We
note that the Bill gives the Government total discretion over
the extent of special rules for vehicles and the timing of their
replacement by general duties. The future balance between specific
and general duties will be a matter for major debate. However,
we do not propose to rehearse these arguments now.
The exclusion in new section 21ZA(1) may not give
operators as much protection as intended, for reasons we explain
below in our comments on the affect of the Draft Bill on the coach
holiday market.
ASPECTS COMMON TO ALL MARKET SECTORS
Buses, coaches and light rail systems enable people
to move around in a way which is relatively sustainable and which
causes minimal congestion. Many of our users can choose to make
the journey by other means. Most of the alternatives to our industry
(walking, cycling, going by car) have a high "self-service"
element. Walkers, cyclists, car drivers and car passengers do
not have to bear the cost of making adaptations for the needs
of disabled people. Although the provisions of the Draft Bill
should not, in themselves, create major new costs for the industry,
there is a risk that actions by the Government in the framework
that the Draft Bill establishes will not only bring new costs,
but cause our industry's services to be delivered in a way that
makes them less attractive for some users.
The reasonableness of any adjustment will partly
depend on the amount of notice that the operator is given. For
example, it is easier to cater for specific dietary requirements
on a coach holiday if the people concerned make them known in
advance. Agreed guidance and codes of practice would be helpful
in this area.
THE IMPACT ON SPECIFIC MARKET SECTORS
Local public transport
This section of the industry recognises the need
for disability awareness as part of the core skills of its customer-facing
staff. We do not anticipate that our customer-handling practices
will need to change significantly as a result of the measures
in the Draft Bill.
We are concerned that a particular assumption of
the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) that accompanies the Draft
Bill may not be consistent with the wording of the 1995 Act, as
amended by the Draft Bill. An almost universal feature of local
public transport is that transport is offered between fixed stops.
We are concerned that a request from a person with a visual impairment
to be collected from their home, taken to the bus or tram stop,
accompanied on their journey and taken on to their ultimate destination
might be seen as a reasonable adjustment (albeit and expensive
one) rather than a fundamental change in the nature of the service
provided. We are also conscious that for many people, disability
takes the form of a mental impairment which makes it difficult
for them to use public transport alone. The RIA makes no allowance
for these kinds of additional cost, so we would hope to see guidance
that clarifies that operators have no new duties to provide service
other than between normal stops.
Similarly, no allowance has been made for the costs
of introducing auxiliary aids for disabled people using public
transport services.
Our members are concerned that they may have to take
on the task for giving information on the presence of public facilities,
such as toilets, which travellers may need to use in conjunction
with a public transport journey, and be held responsible for the
accuracy of this information.
Long distance coach services
On these services, a higher proportion of passengers
tend to be in unfamiliar surroundings. A requirement to provide
personal assistance to disabled people at interchanges and refreshment
stops could amount to a significant new burden. Once again,
the RIA is silent on this aspect. We do not believe that it is
ever reasonable for transport operators to provide toilet assistance
to disabled people. Anybody who needs this help will continue
to need to bring a carer.
Group hire
Given that aspects relating to vehicles are being
dealt with separately, for the time being, the industry has no
particular difficulty with the Draft Bill's likely effects in
the area.
Coach holidays
Appealing particularly to older people, the coach
holiday industry already takes significant steps to meet the needs
of disabled people, despite the absence of formal duties under
the 1995 Act. It is in this sector, we believe, that there is
the greatest need for a shared understanding of the adjustments
that the industry should make in future.
We would like to cite some hypothetical examples
of requests from disabled people:-
"I am being brought to the departure point by
my son but I cannot carry my own case. I will need assistance
whenever I have to move the case."
"I have a case which I cannot carry. Please
arrange to collect it from my home and deliver it back after the
holiday."
"I need assistance at meal times."
"I may need to call on assistance at any time
of the day or night."
"I would like a sign language interpreter on
the tour to relay the commentary and instructions that the coach
driver is giving."
"I would like to bring a powered "scooter"
on the holiday. I recognise that your staff will need special
expertise in handling it and it will take two people to load and
unload it."
"I would like to bring a carer with me, without
paying for her coach seat, food or accommodation."
Each of these requests can be met by adjusting the
service that the coach holiday operator is providing. Some of
the adjustments, however, are very costly. It is far from clear,
at the moment, where the boundary of reasonableness will lie.
Is it reasonable for a large and profitable firm to make adjustments
while a struggling family business need not do so?
There is also an industry custom, enshrined in legislation,
that holiday companies must accept responsibility for the whole
package that they sell. Our members are concerned that they will
face significant claims from customers with allegations of discriminatory
acts or practices by hotels, visitor attractions and motorway
service areas.
The wording of the Draft Bill would absolve and operator
from the requirement to provide a coach capable of carrying a
passenger in a wheelchair (for as long as the Government sees
fit) but not from the requirement to provide a trailer or a separate
van capable of carrying a passenger's motorised scooter. This
anomaly could be addressed by amending the proposed new section
21ZA(4) as follows:-
"vehicle" means a vehicle for transporting
people by land, air or water, and includes (in particular)-
(a) a vehicle not having wheels
(b) a vehicle constructed or adapted to carry
passengers on a system using a mode of guided transport
(c) a trailer attached to such a vehicle
and
(d) a goods vehicle provided in conjunction
with such a vehicle
CPT UK
18 February 2004
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