INTRODUCTION

Discrimination against disabled people was entirely legal in the UK until 1995 when the Disability Discrimination Act was brought in...

Called the DDA for short the Act is a fairly far reaching piece of legislation, although many disabled people say it doesn’t go nearly far enough. The DDA does provide some useful protection against unfair discrimination in areas such as employment, and access to goods and services – that’s things like shopping and going out. One point to note straight away is that some parts of the law don't come into effect until 2004. The Act applies to Northern Ireland as well as Great Britain.

To have any legal protection at all under the DDA you’ve got to be disabled under the precise definition contained in the Act. This means you’ve got to be someone "with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect upon your ability to carry out normal day to day activities." Like all laws the devil is in the detail, and it really is worth reading the small print because in law as well as in life disability can be a complicated business.

N.B The DDA is not applicable to those in The Isle of Man and Channel Islands as they are not part of the United Kingdom.

EXAMPLES OF DISABILITIES COVERED IN THE ACT

Examples of disabilities covered in the Act are...

• Physical disabilities that affect movement and the senses such as sight and hearing

• Medically recognised mental illnesses and mental impairments such as learning disabilities – what used to be called mental handicap.

• Severe disfigurements such as scars birthmarks and skin diseases – but degree of severity is important as is where the disfigurement is.

• Progressive conditions where disability is likely to become more substantial over time – things like cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy. The Act covers these things from the moment there is a noticeable effect on normal day to day activities. This definition may change at some point in the future with a wider definition of disability accepted so, as they say, watch this space.

DISABILITIES NOT COVERED IN THE ACT

Some examples of things not covered by the Act include...

• Being addicted or dependent on alcohol, nicotine or other drugs unless this is as a result of the drug being medically prescribed. Addiction isn't covered but illnesses resulting from addiction are. So lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver could be covered even though being dependent on nicotine and alcohol aren't.

• Hayfever – except where it aggravates the effect of another condition

If you're in any doubt about whether you're covered by the Act, read the small print. You'll find the fine detail in a government publication with the snappy title "Guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining questions relating to the definition of disability." It's priced £7.50 from the Stationery Office – what used to be called HMSO. Online the Stationary Office is at www.thestationeryoffice.com The Disability Discrimination Act is also obtainable from the Stationery Office, price £9.55. It's also online at: www.disability.gov.uk There's also a very readable overview at the same web address.

Assuming that you've checked and you are covered, the Act gives you valuable legal protection in a number of areas such as employment, (part 2 of the Act), public transport. (part 4) and Goods, Facilities and Services (part 3). Part three of the Act is a hugely important section and covers a whole range of things such as shopping, entertainment, eating out, trips to the cinema, the theatre and holidays. It is probably the one that consumers will find most useful.

HOLIDAYS

Holidays are covered in part 3 -The Goods and Services section.

What this section says in very broad terms is that people who provide goods and services - like a holiday company - can't treat a disabled person "less favourably" unless they have a very good reason ie they can justify it on specific grounds. So the blanket refusal to book a holiday for a disabled person, without any attempt to justify it would be outlawed. The Act also says that service providers – hotels, tour operators - also have to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can use their facilities. Once again unless they can justify this. These two legal terms are really worth committing to memory:

• less favourable treatment - they shouldn’t be doing this unless they can justify it.

• reasonable adjustment - they have to do this, unless they can justify not doing so.

LESS FAVOURABLE TREATMENT

Let's start off with "less favourable treatment". To re-cap they shouldn't be doing this unless there's a genuine reason...

So, a hotel would probably be breaking the law if it refused to let a person with a facial disfigurement book in because it thought this would upset other guests. It would also be unlawful for a holiday company to ask for a bigger deposit from a deaf person booking a holiday just because the company thinks, for no good reason, that the deaf person is more likely to cancel their holiday. There would be no good reason for these things.

So what is a justifiable reason? There are sometimes legitimate grounds for refusing a service - health and safety reasons are one of these. A holiday camp would probably be justified in refusing to allow someone with muscular dystrophy who couldn't walk unaided onto a high speed ride if the ride required people to brace themselves using their legs. That would be a genuine health and safety concern, and so the holiday camp would probably be acting lawfully. However the law says spurious health and safety reasons shouldn't be used as an excuse to place unnecessary restrictions on disabled people. In other words safety shouldn't be used as an excuse for stereotyping or making generalisations or assumptions about disabled people.

As well as legitimate health and safety grounds there are a few other areas where less favourable treatment is allowed in certain circumstances. It's worth knowing the main one here. If providing a service to a disabled person means that the service wouldn't then be available to the general public then discrimination is allowed. A tour guide would probably be justified in refusing to take a wheelchair user on a guided tour of historic city walls if they had genuine reasons for believing that the extra help the wheelchair user required would prevent the rest of the party from completing the tour.

The other reasons for less favourable treatment are set out on pages 17 and 18 of the Act (That's section 20) Interestingly there's nothing in law preventing a service provider from offering more favourable treatment to disabled people.

The second key legal term in the Goods and Services part relating to holidays is "reasonable adjustment." The Act says that service providers like hotels have to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can use their facilities.. A reasonable adjustment would be a guesthouse allowing guide dogs and their owners to use the premises even though there's a no dogs rule for other guests. That would be a reasonable adjustment to the hotel's policy.

From October 2004 the idea of reasonable adjustments - will be extended to cover the physical structure of buildings like hotels. Hotels and travel agents will have to consider how physical barriers to access can be overcome. What does this mean in practice? How accessible will your local travel agents have to become? A Code of Practice issued early in 2002 on rights of access said the following:

"It is important that service providers do not assume that the only way to make services accessible to disabled people is to make a physical alteration to their premises (such as installing a ramp or widening a doorway). Often minor measures such as allowing more time to serve a disabled customer, will help disabled people to use a service. Disability awareness training for staff is also likely to be appropriate. However, adjustments in the form of physical alterations may

be the only answer if other measures are not sufficient to overcome barriers to access." The question of what reasonable adjustment means in practice will probably require testing in the courts so watch this space as they say.

On "reasonable adjustments" it's also worth noting that a service provider is not allowed to pass the cost of these on to disabled customers. If a deaf person booked into a guesthouse which had installed a visual fire alarm system to alert deaf guests it would be unlawful for them to charge that person extra to cover the cost of this. It's classified as a "reasonable adjustment".

Finally it's important to remember when booking your holiday that the DDA only applies to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This means that although the brochure and the booking services offered in the UK are covered the actual holiday itself may not be, if outside the UK.

TRANSPORT

Transport vehicles are covered by Part 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Transport

But only "land based" transport is covered so we're talking here about taxis, buses, coaches, trains and trams, not planes or ferries. There are however voluntary codes for the airlines and ferry industries.

All single deck buses will have to be accessible to disabled people by 2016 - wheelchair users included. Double deck buses will all become accessible by 2017. At present accessibility regulations apply only to new vehicles coming into service. At the time of writing it is estimated that around 15% of the national fleet are accessible to the standards set in the regulations.

The situation is the same on the trains. Accessibility regulations introduced in 1998 currently apply only to new trains. Since then over 1000 new trains have been built to these standards and over 500 are in service. No date has been set by which all trains must comply.

This means that discrimination on trains and buses isn't yet entirely against the law. A bus or train may have been designed to meet some of the requirements of disabled people if it was introduced before 1998 in the case of trains and 2000 in the case of buses, but it doesn’t have to by law.

Although buses and trains themselves aren't covered under Part 3 of the Act - that’s the all important Goods and Services section - transport buildings ie stations and infrastructure are. This means train and bus companies must consider what "reasonable adjustments" might be made in order to ensure that disabled people may use their services without unreasonable difficulty. This covers things like buying tickets.

In 2004 bus and train stations may also have to make further reasonable adjustments – that term again - so that disabled people can use their premises. This would include a duty to provide a reasonable alternative method of making their services available to disabled people if a physical feature at the station makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for them. What this could mean in practice is, for example, assisting a wheelchair-user to cross the tracks between platforms if the pedestrian footbridge has no lifts (safety constraints permitting.) or providing them with alternative accessible transport to a station nearby where they can use the station.

Taxis

Part 5 of the DDA (that’s the transport section) gives powers to the Secretary of State to make similar accessibility regulations for taxis but these have not yet gone beyond an initial consultation period. So watch this space as they say. However, refusal to carry guide dogs has been against the law since 2000. Private hire vehicles - ie mini-cabs- are currently the subject of research study regarding accessibility.

FOOD AND EATING OUT

Eating Out is also covered in the all important part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act - The Goods and Services part.

What this part says, in very broad terms, is that people who provide goods and service to members of the public - like a restaurant - can't treat a disabled person less favourably unless they can justify it. This could happen on grounds of health and safety, but remember less favourable treatment has to be justified. For example a restaurant asking a person with a severe facial disfigurement to sit out of view of other diners would probably be breaking the law as would a café refusing to admit a guide dog and owner. There's no justification for these.

The other consumer right for disabled people eating out is that restaurants have to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can use their facilities. A restaurant which has a "collar and tie only policy" couldn't refuse entry to a disabled man with psoriasis - a skin condition - who couldn't wear a collar and tie because of his disability. Like providers of other goods and services restaurants will have to consider making reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises from 2004 to overcome physical barriers to access.

ENTERTAINMENT

Once again it's the good old part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act - Goods and Services part - and the principles are exactly the same.

People who provide entertainment - like a cinema or a sporting venue - can't treat a disabled person less favourably, without justification, and they also have to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can use their facilities unless they can justify not doing so.

If a football club, for example, admits a group of visiting supporters but refuses entry to a fan with cerebral palsy who has difficulty controlling his or her movements then this could amount to less favourable treatment for a reason related to disability and that would be against the law unless the club could justify it for example on grounds of health and safety.

However the DDA does not say that service providers have to change the fundamental nature of the service they're providing to cater to the needs of disabled people. For example it's extremely unlikely that a nightclub would have to turn down its music because it's uncomfortable to some people with hearing aids. Playing music is what a nightclub is all about i.e part of its fundamental service.

The law says that while there are still grounds for refusing a service, once again things like fire regulations shouldn't be used as an excuse to place unnecessary restrictions on disabled people. If a cinema has adequate means of escape for disabled people but the manager turns away a wheelchair user because he assumes, without checking, that person is in danger in the event of a fire then that is probably against the law. One small point in all this, and it's really worth noting, is that private clubs are a bit of a grey area. They're not covered by part 3 of the Act unless they're hiring out their facilities to the public. Once again it really is worth reading the small print. Finally in 2004 entertainment venues like theatres and cinemas will have to consider making reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

WORK

Employment is covered in Part 2 of the Disability Discrimination Act which has been in force since 1996.

The law says there are two ways that employers can unlawfully discriminate against a disabled employee or job applicant. These are:

• by treating them less favourably – without justification - because of their disability

• or by not making reasonable adjustments because of their disability, once again without justification

It's worth noting that the employment provisions of the Act only apply to employers with 15 or more employees. (originally it was 20) Also it’s worth noting that the law doesn't cover all jobs. Police constables, employees on ships, hovercrafts and aircraft are just some of the groups not covered, so are the armed forces, so once again it’s worth reading the small print.

But there is an important change to the above which will soon come into force. A new EC directive soon to be implemented (Equal Treatment in Employment directive) will mean that all employers – except for the armed forces – will come under the DDA by 2004 including those smaller employers with 15 or fewer staff who are currently exempt.

On the subject of work It's also worth knowing that disabled people can receive help under the government's Access to Work scheme. This provides practical advice and support to disabled people and their employers to help overcome work related obstacles resulting from disability. As well as giving advice and information to disabled people and their employers Access to Work pays a grant through the Employment Service towards any extra employment costs resulting from disability. For further information check out the Employment Service website at:
www.employmentservice.gov.uk

INSURANCE AND MOTABILITY

Insurance is classed as a service and covered in section 3 of the DDA...

Insurance
Insurance is classed as a service and covered in section 3 of the DDA.(The Goods and Services section). As all insurance is based on risk there is justification for discrimination in providing insurance where there is evidence of greater risk, but the key word here is evidence - there must be some. For example, an insurance company may be able to justify increasing the premiums for a blind person if they had reliable figures to show that person was more of a risk and the blind person could not produce evidence to prove otherwise.

Motability
Motability is a national charity set up to help disabled people become mobile by offering contract hire or hire purchase on cars, electric wheelchairs and scooters. Basically you have to be in receipt of one of the following benefits to qualify - the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. There's also a qualifying period. There are two schemes available - contract hire and hire purchase. You don't have to be able to drive to apply, a relative, friend or carer can drive for you.

The Motability website is at:
www.motability.co.uk

Customer Services Tel No: 01279 635666
Minicom: 01279 632273

FURTHER INFORMATION

Your first port of call if you think you've been discriminated against, or you want help or advice about your rights, is probably the Disability Rights Commission...

This was set up under another Act of Parliament - the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) Act in 1999. The commission works towards the elimination of discrimination against disabled people; it also promotes equal opportunities for disabled people; and encourages good practice in the treatment of disabled people. It has offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

There's also a helpline open 8am to 8pm on: 08457 622633, with textphone at 08457 622644.

Finally There's simple and accessible information on the internet about the law at www.disability.gov.uk