General awareness among decision-makers of equality matters "not enough": LGO

The Local Government Ombudsman has recommended that Eastleigh Borough Council ensure it has due regard in future to its duties under the Disability Discrimination Act rather than rely on its decision-makers’ general awareness of equality matters.

The recommendation came after the Ombudsman, Jane Martin, found the council’s decision to stop issuing travel tokens to eligible disabled people and those over the age of 70 was flawed.

Until September 2008, Eastleigh ran a concessionary travel scheme allowing people over the age of 70 and eligible disabled people to choose annually between a bus pass, a train pass or travel tokens.

The council decided to stop issuing the tokens following the introduction of the National Bus Pass Scheme, and offered enhancements to the bus pass scheme and some other transport services.

This prompted complaints from Mr and Mrs Wilson (not their real names) and the Eastleigh Southern Parishes Older People’s Forum that there had been neither proper consultation nor a proper equality impact assessment prior to withdrawal of the scheme.

The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice, on the basis that the council had taken its decision without adequate information on its impact on disabled people, failed to consult voluntary groups contrary to its public commitment to do so, and mishandled the Wilsons’ and the Forum’s complaints.

Martin added that there was genuine uncertainty about what the outcome would have been had the council reached its decision properly.

The LGO said a statement in a Cabinet report that any alternative to the national bus pass was “purely discretionary” overlooked the need for the council properly to consider its own duty towards disabled people when making changes to its arrangements.

“While the council had no choice about participating in the national bus pass scheme, it had a choice regarding its own provision,” she added. “Decisions about that provision must be properly reached.”

As well as recommending a change in approach to its DDA duties, the LGO said the council should:

• Revisit the decision regarding the discontinuation of travel tokens as soon as possible following appropriate consultation, explanation of the council’s responsibilities under the DDA and a proper equality impact assessment
• Apologise to the complainants and pay them £100 for their avoidable uncertainty and the confusion, time and trouble resulting from the poor complaints handling, and
• Apologise to the Eastleigh Southern Parishes Older People’s Forum for the lost opportunity to be consulted and the time and trouble that the poor complaints handling caused.

A spokeswoman for Eastleigh said it was disappointed with the findings.

She said: “The council provides one of the widest range of travel options for disabled people across the country, including Hospital Transport, Shopmobility together with a disabled persons railcard or a concessionary travel pass that can be used on One Community services such as Dial-a-Ride and Parish link. Unlike many other councils, we also provide many enhancements to the National Free Bus Pass.”

However, the spokeswoman added that the authority would consider the Ombudsman’s recommendations in detail and take an appropriate course of action.