Welcome to our regular disability news update…remember to keep coming back each month for a regular review of all things Inclusion, OT, DDA and disability related!!

We have mainly continued closely working with the KCC Occupational Therapy Adult and Paediatric Departments for the past few months but we have also been fortunate enough to work with the following other clients on both private Occupational Therapy & DDA audit related work:

• Anthony Gold solicitors
• Clifden House Dementia Care Centre
• The Elms CareHomes
• Brentwood Council
• Killick
• Kynixa Case Management
• AIG Medical
• Numerous Private OT clients

General news:

Plans for Single Equality Bill

Harriet Harman, Secretary of State for Equalities, has outlined some of the topics the impending Single Equality Bill is expected to address. She spoke at a joint conference between the Trades Union Congress and the Equality and Diversity Forum on 9 June 2008.

The main points of focus will be as follows:

• Extending public sector duties: currently public bodies have three separate duties to promote equality on the grounds of race, disability and gender. The new Bill may extend this to cover all of the equality strands, to include equalityof age, sexual orientation and religion/belief.
• Procurement: the public sector duty could be extended to how public bodies spend their money. This would result in private sector companies having to demonstrate their equality standards during the tender process.
• Enforcement: the new Bill might look at changing the enforcement process. Currently, people who face discrimination have to instigate change by bringing a case themselves.
• Explanation of legal language: the Bill is expected to have a plain English translation to help people who are not legally trained to understand it.

Visit Workplace Law Network’s website for more information
www.workplacelaw.net/news/display/id/15172

New group to advise on Single Equalities Bill

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has created a new senior stakeholder group that will support the delivery of the Single Equalities Bill. The group, which includes representatives from all of the equalities strands, will advise the GEO on aspects of the impending Bill, and will also offer their expertise on relevant non-legislative matters. Members of the group are senior figures in a wide range of organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the Trades Union Congress. The group will meet
on a monthly basis from September 2008 until March 2009.

Visit the News Distribution Service website for a full list of group members
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=377336&NewsAreaID=2

Summary of changes to Disabled Facilities Grant

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has sent a letter to all local authorities in England, detailing recent changes that have been made to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). These were set out in the Government’s strategy Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods  a National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society, which was launched in February 2008, but the
changes only came into force on 22 May 2008. The letter provides a useful summary of how the DFG has changed.

The letter can be viewed on DCLG’s website: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/dfgregulations

New organisation to support London’s disability and deaf groups

London Councils has announced that it is setting up an umbrella organisation to represent disability and deaf groups in London. When Greater London Action on Disability closed in 2006, it left many groups without the support they need. This support should now be offered by this new initiative, which will be called London Community Interest Company of Deaf and Disability Organisations (otherwise known as London CIC). Research has shown that black and minority ethnic, refugee and migrant disability organisations are currently in particular need of support.

The new organisation will be funded by Capacity builders Improving Reach programme, and will receive additional funding of £285,000 per year from London Councils between 2008 and 2012. As well as supporting selected disability and deaf groups in London, funding will go towards:

• research into barriers that prevent access to services
• building on good practice and developing tools and training for user-led deaf and disability borough organisations

Find out more about the new organisation on the Charity Finance website:
www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2111&pg=15&cat=58

Protest about lack of cinema access

A teenager with spina bifida has organised a protest outside a cinema to complain about the poor access to facilities there. Amy Clements, who is a wheelchair user, had visited Hereford’s Odeon to watch a film with her friends, but was unable to reach her seat using her wheelchair; she finally crawled up a flight of stairs to get to it.

Jim Lawes, president of Hereford’s Access for All scheme, said his group had been campaigning for a number of years for improved access to the cinema, but to no avail. A spokesperson for Odeon cinemas responded in a statement:

“Unfortunately, after the review Odeon regrets that it is not feasible at present to include the facilities to provide access for people in wheelchairs at this particular cinema. As a result of this, Odeon is looking at an alternative site in Hereford and is currently in active dialogue with developers and further information and timings will be issued in due course.”

Read more on the BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7561571.stm

Council employee wins discrimination case

A woman with a severe back injury has won a disability discrimination case against her employer, Aberdeen City Council. Ruth Hickling took seven weeks off work in 2003 because of a back injury; she was then diagnosed with sciatica in 2005, and signed off work. When she attempted to return to work 12 months later, she had to go back on sick leave after just a few days, by which point her half pay entitlement had ended. Medical professionals had recommended that the council support her in her return to work by purchasing a special chair, which would enable her to sit for longer periods, but it did not do as advised. She subsequently resigned from her job.

Ms Hickling took the council to an employment tribunal, accusing them of not making reasonable workplace adjustments for her. The employment tribunal ruled that the council had indeed discriminated against her, and ordered it to pay over £90,000 in compensation.

The Herald website covers this case in more detail: www.theherald.co.uk/news/other/display.var.2430880.0.Unfair_dismissal_case_costs_council_90_000.php

Planning for a Better London

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has published a report entitled Planning for a Better London. The report outlines the areas that will be addressed in revising the London Plan and other related strategies and guidance.

In the report’s introduction, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, summarises the report’s key conclusions:

• all Londoners should have the homes, opportunities and services they need
• London’s businesses should have the opportunities they need to grow, to have access to markets and to attract the skilled workers they require
• London’s environment must improve and we must step up our efforts to tackle climate change
• London’s distinctive character, its diverse neighbourhoods and unique heritage must be cherished and protected
• all Londoners should be able to share in their city’s success, feel safe in their neighbourhoods, and enjoy an improving quality of life

The report highlights the particular challenges faced by disabled people, including access to suitable housing, transport, work, leisure, health and social care, as well as many buildings in London. Readers are invited to submit their responses to the issues raised in the report by November 2008.

Download the report from the Mayor of London’s website: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning/plan-better-london.jsp

Lewisham Council appeal upheld

In a landmark disability discrimination case  Lewisham London Borough Council v Malcolm  the House of Lords has upheld the appeal from the local authority.

Courtney Malcolm, a council flat tenant with schizophrenia, sublet his premises shortly after he stopped taking his medication. This action of subletting the flat breached his tenancy agreement. When Lewisham Council started proceedings for possession, Mr Malcolm claimed that it was discriminating against him for reasons pertaining to his disability. Therefore, a court prohibited the council from making the possession order.

Lewisham Council appealed the decision, and the appeal was subsequently upheld. There are two main issues that have surfaced as a result of this ruling. First is how to decide on the correct comparator for the case. In other words, to whom should the person with the disability be compared? The House of Lords decided that the comparison in this case was with someone without a disability renting a similar flat. It ruled that the council’s decision was not based on Mr Malcolm’s disability, and that it would have treated anybody in the same situation in a similar fashion.

The second issue is whether the council’s apparent lack of knowledge about Mr Malcolm’s disability can be used in its defence. The House of Lords ruled that the council would have needed to know about his disability in order to have discriminated, therefore as it had no prior knowledge of his schizophrenia, it did not discriminate.

Details of the full ruling are available on the About Parliament website: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080625/lewish-1.htm

The Times Higher Education website explains how the decision was reached: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402799&c=1

Judgement on discrimination by association

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has made a judgement that is likely to significantly broaden the scope of future disability discrimination claims. Sharon Coleman, who was an employee at Attridge Law, has a disabled son. When she asked her employer for a more flexible working arrangement so that she could care for him, she alleges that she was treated in a hostile manner, and was eventually forced to resign. This is despite the fact that her colleagues were often allowed flexible working hours to enable them to cope with childcare.

Although UK disability legislation only covers people who are themselves disabled, Ms Coleman claimed disability discrimination by association with a disabled person. The Employment Tribunal referred the case to the ECJ to determine whether discrimination by association is unlawful. The Advocate-General gave his opinion earlier this year, which was that Ms Coleman had indeed been subjected to discrimination. He said that although she is not disabled herself, the treatment she faced was related to her son’s disability. The ECJ considered the Advocate General’s opinion when looking into the case, and agreed that the law firm had unfairly discriminated against Ms Coleman because of her association with a disabled person. The case will now return to the Employment Tribunal for a hearing later on this year.

This case could open the floodgates to a wave of new disability discrimination claims. It is the first UK case that looks likely to rule that disability discrimination by association is unlawful. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Legal Director, John Wadham, said: “This is a very significant case, which has led to new rights for Britain’s millions of carers, sixty per cent of whom are women. In this day and age people increasingly have to balance caring responsibilities with work and it is vitally important that they are able to do so without being discriminated against or even forced out of the workforce.”

Visit Workplace Law Network’s website for a summary of the case and an assessment of the potential impacts of this ruling: www.workplacelaw.net/news/display/id/15703

Bond Pearce’s Employment Team gives a more in-depth legal angle on the case, which is also on Workplace Law Network’s website: www.workplacelaw.net/news/display/id/15743

Workers penalised for toilet breaks

Brown Brothers, a company that supplies the food industry, has been advised by Unite the union to discontinue its policy of asking employees to clock off when they take a toilet break. There is pressure on companies such as Tesco, to whom the company supplies meat, to insist that they amend their practices. When questioned, Brown Brothers’ Managing Director, Martin Godfrey, defended the company’s policy, saying that this was part of a special pay deal agreed with employees.

The company will only excuse workers from the system if they provide medical evidence of why they need to use the toilet more often. Lorna Cowie, a solicitor at Macroberts LLP, said that “employers need to bear in mind that pregnancy or medical conditions can result in certain individuals spending more time at the toilet and the potential sex or disability discrimination implications of disciplining such individuals.”

Visit the BBC News website for further information about this situation: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7474769.stm

New anti-discrimination EU directive proposed

On 2 July 2008, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a directive that would provide protection against discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief. This would cover a range of social areas, including:

• social security and healthcare
• education
• access to and supply of goods and services
• housing

There is a great deal of disparity between different European Union (EU) member states in terms of anti-discrimination legislation. The proposed new directive would aim to remedy this, bringing improved equality to many EU countries. There is currently EU legislation relating to age and sex discrimination in the workplace, but the new directive would provide much greater coverage, extending the protection to services and across more equality strands.

The new laws would be very similar to the UK’s disability discrimination legislation, as they are expected to cover physical accessibility of environments, and be based on the principal of reasonable accommodation. To tie in with the proposed legislation, a new European design standard on accessibility is also being produced.

However, Keith Bright, an Access Consultant, said that we should be wary about lowering the UK standards: “The European Standard is nowhere near the same standard that we have. We have to watch very carefully that we don’t get swamped by countries that have no access standards, and who couldn’t support something like BS 8300 in their own country.

We are very advanced and we are very mature in our inclusion and disability issues. We have reasonableness, which is a great British thing, and allows the courts to decide that as society’s views change, reasonableness changes. The problem with the European Union guidance is that they tend to want to be more specific and we are going to have to be careful that we don’t get sucked into accepting standards that are lower than our own.”

To listen to Keith Bright’s interview, visit Workplace Law Network’s website: www.workplacelaw.net/topic/show/list/Disability

Air travel legislation expected to prompt major change

New European Union air travel laws that could have a substantial impact on disability discrimination come into force on 26 July 2008. The legislation will apply to any disabled people flying from or to countries within the European Union, and will cover:

• assisted travel for a disabled person from when they arrive at an airport to when they board a plane, and then departure from the plane and out of the airport the other side
• compensation for wheelchairs or specialist disability equipment that is damaged by airport staff
• disability equality training for airport and airline staff

The positive effects of the legislation have been overshadowed somewhat by the first stage of the legislation, which was introduced in July 2007. Although this made it unlawful for an airline to refuse a disabled person entry to an aircraft, it also gave captains the right to bar a disabled person from a flight if the decision was on the grounds of safety. There have been several reported cases of this happening since this law was introduced.

Nevertheless, the new duty concerning disability equality training is expected to have a strong impact; currently, the majority of complaints received from disabled people about airport staff relate to negative attitudes.

Visit Disability Now’s website for a more in-depth discussion of the legislation:
www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/campaigns/air-laws-welcome-despite-flaws/

Foundations wins HIA contract

Foundations has won a contract to run the national body for Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs). HIAs give advice and support to older and disabled people to enable them to stay in their homes for longer. By supporting people as they repair or adapt their homes, these people are able to remain in their home in greater comfort and security, as well as more independently. Foundations was selected as the successful bidder following a European Journal competition for the contract, and will support the HIA sector for the next three years.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Baroness Andrews, said: “There is an important job to be done in helping to support the delivery of Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods, our national strategy for housing in an ageing society, as well as in providing support to the sector in the vital work they do to enable older and disabled people to live independently in their own homes.”

Further details are available from the News Distribution Service website: https://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=374787&NewsAreaID=2HUserID=878,793,889,851,772,866,868,845,786,674,677,767,684,762,718,674,708,683,706,718,674

Guidance on employing disabled workers

Employers Forum on Disability (EFD) has produced some guidance entitled What about disability? that aims to help employers in small businesses understand and act on their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act. The booklet provides advice on disability awareness, and emphasises the value of embracing workforce diversity.

Order copies from EFD’s website: www.efd.org.uk/publications/what-about-disability

Housing and disabled children

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a report entitled Housing and disabled children, examining the current living conditions of disabled children and their families, and the impact that different standards of living may have on their lives. Amongst the findings are the following points:

• Families with a disabled child are less likely to be living in a decent home compared to families with a child who is not disabled.
• Compared with older groups of disabled people, disabled children requiring specifically adapted homes are the least likely to be living in suitable accommodation.
• All disabled children and their families  not just children with mobility impairments  are likely to experience difficulties with their housing.
• Moving, as opposed to adapting the current home, is the preferred option for dealing with unsuitable housing for around half of families.
• Improvements in a family’s housing situation can lead to increased independence, more confidence and greater self-reliance among disabled children.

For a more in-depth overview, visit the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website: www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/2208.asp

Inclusion are based around London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and cover the whole of the south of the UK. We also cover up to the midlands and over towards the south west of the country – please contact us for further details or for free support and advice around any DDA or Occupational Therapy issues.