Public sector equality duty must be beefed up, say peers

The wording of the Public Sector Equality Duty must be strengthened so that the discriminatory consequences of decisions by the Government and public authorities can no longer be ignored, peers have said.

In a report, the Lords' Select Committee on the Equality Act 2010 and Disability said the current wording – where bodies are under a duty to “have due regard” to the need to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity – allowed public authorities “to consider all the evidence, but still to pursue plainly discriminatory policies”.

The report, The Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people, suggested that the Government was failing in its duty of care to disabled people. The committee said:

• The Government’s Red Tape Challenge was a pretext for removing protection. “Many of the laws and practices which help disabled people require action from public authorities, employers and others. All too often the Government has characterised this as red tape, and made changes under the Red Tape Challenge which increase the problems of disabled people. These must be reversed. The Government, instead of concentrating on the burden on businesses, should be looking at the burden on disabled people.”
• There had been 20 years of inertia when it came to transport. “Provisions on the carriage of wheelchair users in taxis have been on the statute book for 20 years, and still the Government refuses to bring them into force. Its reasons for not doing so do not stand up. It should now bring into force these and other provisions of the Act which have been ineffective for so long.” The peers added that it was “scarcely credible” that the first plans for Crossrail included seven stations without step-free access; and some would still not have step-free access when Crossrail opens.
• Leisure facilities and housing were too often inaccessible. Access was difficult to a range of locations such as sports grounds, restaurants, pubs and clubs. “A one-line amendment to the Licensing Act 2003 would allow local authorities to refuse to grant or renew their licences until they make the necessary changes. The design of new dwellings is another area where local authorities could, simply by revising their planning policies, require new buildings to be wheelchair accessible or adaptable. London has done so; others should follow.”
• Increasing restrictions on access to justice must be eased. “Where there is discrimination, it should not be for disabled people alone to seek to assert their rights through the courts. Here the Government, by imposing tribunal fees, withdrawing legal aid and changing the costs rules, has hindered, not helped. There are improvements that can be made, some of them cost free. We have called for changes so that disabled people are not prevented from starting litigation by the fear of becoming liable for excessive costs of the other party. We also believe that charities representing disabled people should be allowed to litigate on their behalf.”
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission helpline and conciliation should be restored.
• Communication was a perennial problem. “There is too little awareness of the needs of disabled people, especially among the Government departments and public bodies on whom we all rely, and whose websites and documents often ignore those with particular access needs.”

The select committee argued that many of its recommendations were for changes which were simple, and cost-free to the taxpayer.

Baroness Deech, chairman of the select committee, said: “Over the course of our inquiry we have been struck by how disabled people are let down across the whole spectrum of life.

"Access to public buildings remains an unnecessary challenge to disabled people. Public authorities can easily side-step their legal obligations to disabled people, and recent changes in the courts have led to disabled people finding it harder to fight discrimination.

"When it comes to the law requiring reasonable adjustments to prevent discrimination, we found that there are problems in almost every part of society, from disabled toilets in restaurants being used for storage, to schools refusing interpreters for deaf parents, to reasonable adjustments simply not being made.

"In the field of transport alone, we heard of an urgent need to meet disabled people’s requirements – whether it’s training for staff or implementing improvements to trains and buses - and we’re calling for all new rail infrastructure to incorporate step-free access in its design from the outset.”

Baroness Deech said the Government bore the ultimate responsibility for enabling disabled people to participate in society on equal terms, and the committee believed it was “simply not discharging that responsibility”.

She added: “Not only has the Government dragged its heels in bringing long-standing provisions of the Act into force, such as those requiring taxi drivers to take passengers in wheelchairs, but has in fact repealed some provisions which had protected disabled people. Intended to reduce the regulatory burden on business, the reality has been an increase in the burden on disabled people.

"The Committee would like to see changes right at the top of Government and is calling for the Minister for Disabled People to be given a place on the Cabinet’s Social Justice Committee.”