The Disability Discrimination Act 2005

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA) received Royal Assent on 7th April 2005.

From December 2005 new laws placed a duty on public bodies to promote disability
equality. This affects all public bodies – from local councils to government
departments, from universities to hospitals.

The disability equality duty requires the public sector to actively promote disability
equality, and is similar to the duty to promote race equality under the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act. This is a positive duty, which builds in disability equality at the
beginning of the process, rather than make adjustments at the end. It brings about a
shift from a legal framework which relies on individual disabled people complaining
about discrimination to one in which the public sector becomes a proactive agent of
change.

Key public bodies are required to produce Disability Equality Schemes and action
plans and to report annually on the outcomes and improvements they have achieved
through these actions.

The Act’s main provisions, which amend the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA 1995),
are listed below with the intended commencement dates:

From 5th December 2005 the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) will:

• Extend the DDA 1995 to cover, effectively from the point of diagnosis, people with HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
• End the requirement that a mental illness must be “clinically well-recognised” before it can be regarded as an impairment under the DDA 1995.
• Make third party publishers (e.g. newspapers) liable for publishing discriminatory advertisements.
• Amend the way that the DDA 1995 applies to group insurance to clarify the responsibilities of those concerned with its provisions.
• Introduce for Part 3 of the DDA 1995 (i.e. access to goods and services, public authorities, private clubs and premises) a Questions Procedure similar to that, which already exists in Part 2 (i.e. employment and occupation).
• Make it unlawful for private clubs with 25 or more members to treat disabled people less favourably.
• Make it unlawful for local authorities and the Greater London Authority to treat their disabled members less favourably.
• Clarify where liability falls if police officers discriminate under Part 3 of the DDA 1995.

From 4th December 2006 the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) will:

• Place a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.
• Bring functions of public authorities not already covered by the DDA 1995 within its scope.
• Provide for land based public transport vehicles to be brought within scope of the DDA 1995.
• Provide for all rail vehicles to comply with rail vehicle accessibility regulations by 1 January 2020, apply accessibility regulations to refurbishment of rail vehicles and introduce certification and enforcement provisions.
• Subject to consultation, formalise recognition of disabled persons’ parking badges issued by other countries.
• Extend the duty of reasonable adjustment, other than in respect of physical features, to those who let or manage rented premises, and to commonhold premises.
• Ensure landlords cannot unreasonably withhold consent for a disability-related improvement to certain rented dwelling houses.
• Extend duties of reasonable adjustment to private clubs with 25 or more members.
• Extend duties of reasonable adjustment to local authorities and the Greater London Authority in respect of their disabled members.

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) have issued a Code of Practice which provides further guidance on the duties placed upon public bodies includinq local authorities.

Education 

Thousands of disabled students also now have new rights to better access on university
and further education campuses under new laws in force from Thursday 1st September 2005.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), universities and colleges must make -
reasonable’ changes to their premises to make them more user-friendly for Britain’s
disabled students A failure to do so could result in disabled students taking court action.
Campuses will have to ensure that lecture halls, libraries, ICT suites and halls of
residence are more user-friendly. This includes altering steps, providing lifts, dropping
kerbs, and making sure better lighting and clear signage are provided where it is
reasonable to do so.

Public Sector duties

The Act places a duty on the public sector to promote equality of opportunity for
disabled people and to eliminate discrimination. This duty is anticipatory, meaning that
public authorities will have to review all their policies, practices, procedures and
services to make sure they do not discriminate against disabled people and ensure that
all their services are planned with disabled people’s needs fully considered in advance.
Public bodies will have to produce Action Plans on how they intend to meet their duties
and review their progress annually.

Private clubs

These are not covered under the DDA at present, meaning that a disabled person
wishing to join a private members’ club would not be able to challenge a refusal of their
membership request or less favourable treatment because of their disability. The Act
proposes to include all private clubs that have proper membership application
procedures, with 25 or more members.

Councillors

Disabled councillors will now be covered by the DDA in the execution of their main
duties. This means, for example, that a blind councillor will have a right to receive
papers, agendas and minutes in an accessible format. It also means that other
reasonable adjustments will have to be made to make council premises accessible to
Councillors.

Volunteers

The government has asked the Disability Rights Commission to produce a voluntary
Code of Practice for employers on meeting the access needs of disabled volunteers.
The voluntary Code will be reviewed within two years of being released and
recommendations made on whether legislation may be necessary to give disabled
volunteers greater protection.

Discriminatory advertisements

The Act makes it an offence for a third party, such as a newspaper, to publish an
advert (such as a job advert) that is discriminatory against disabled people. If the third
party has not secured a statement from the person placing the advert that the text is
lawful, and it turns out to be unlawful then they are liable for a fine up to £5,000 on
conviction.

For further information on the DDA / Disability discrimination act 1995 & 2005 please see our other news items, our FAQ’s section or contact Inclusion for further details. We  also now have our free DDA resources section for further guidance.