Memorandum from the British Paralympic
Association (DDB 5)
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 recognises 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.
February 2004
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