As part of our 1997 election manifesto we made a commitment to ‘support comprehensive, enforceable civil rights for disabled people against discrimination in society or at work, developed in partnership with all interested parties’.
A key element in our approach was to establish the Disability Rights Task Force, which reported in December 1999 with 156 recommendations involving departments across Whitehall. Its first task was to advise on setting up the Disability Rights Commission and we moved quickly to implement that advice.
The introduction of the DRC remedied one of the major flaws in the Disability Discrimination Act and ensures that disabled people now have an effective independent body, with teeth, to enforce their rights. The DRC opened for business in April 2000 and has set itself the goal of ‘a society where all disabled people can participate fully as equal citizens’, which is a challenge for all of us.
The government’s final response to the Towards Inclusion task force was published in March 2001. Proposals include ending the Disability Discrimination Act’s small employer exemption by 2004. This will bring a further seven million jobs into the scope of disability discrimination legislation. We will include, for the first time, the police, fire-fighters, prison officers, and the legal profession. A new duty on public bodies to promote equalisation of opportunities for disabled people will also be introduced.
We inherited the Disability Discrimination Act but we have significantly strengthened it. In October 1999 we introduced new rights relating to access to goods, facilities and services, requiring service-providers to consider reasonable adjustments to improve access for disabled customers. An example might be providing information in alternative formats, such as audio tapes for customers with visual impairments. In October 2004 service providers will also have to take reasonable steps to remove, alter or avoid any physical feature which continues to make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to access services.
This year has seen the SEN and Disability Rights in Education Act passed to protect the rights of disabled people to access education and improve the standard of education for all children with special educational needs. This make it unlawful for schools, local education authorities and post-sixteen education providers to discriminate against disabled pupils and students because of their disability. We are extending choices and opportunities to disabled children and adults that have long been taken for granted by others.
We are also making work pay for disabled people through a combination of disability benefit reform, the national minimum wage and the Disabled Persons Tax Credit. For disabled people who want to work, the New Deal for Disabled People pilots have helped over 6,500 people on incapacity benefits into work. Since July 2001 the New Deal has been extended nationally. We are also committed to helping severely disabled people in supported employment, and up to 30,000 disabled people will be able to progress into mainstream employment.
We continue to believe that the most effective way to tackle discrimination is for legislation to go hand-in-hand with initiatives aimed at raising awareness and understanding, which is why we launched the national disability awareness campaigns ‘See the person’ and ‘What have you got to offer?’.These aimed to raise awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act and the rights of disabled people, challenge stereotypical thinking and encourage businesses to make their services accessible. Prior to its re-election, the Labour government achieved some real breakthroughs to deliver full civil rights for disabled people. Now we’ve got to finish the job.