Memorandum from the British Council of
Disabled People (DDB 6)
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that it should be repealed and replaced by legislation which offers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; and
— 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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