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23 March 2005 - DDA Bill to Receive Second
Reading in House of Commons Today
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The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) will receive it's second
reading in the House Of Commons this afternoon, fulfilling the next stage of the
Governments promise to the 10 million disabled people in Great Britain.
A draft version of the Bill was scrutinised in Spring 2004,
amended in Autumn 2004 and followed up by a debate in the House of Lords.
It had it's third reading in February 2005, with further amendments being made
prior to it's introduction in the House of Commons on 1 March 2005.
Some of the proposals set out in the Bill and amending the
current Disability Discrimination Act are as follows:
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Introduce a new positive duty on public bodies to promote
equality of opportunity for disabled people.
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Provide protection for more people diagnosed with the
progressive conditions of HIV, MS and cancer.
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Remove the requirement that mental illnesses must be "clinically
well-recognised".
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Ensure that all functions of public authorities (e.g. issuing
licences) are covered by the DDA and not just services as now.
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Provide a power to apply the DDA duties on other service
providers to the provision of transport vehicles.
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Allow an "end date", no later than 2020, by which all rail
vehicles will have to comply with accessibility regulations, and apply those
regulations to vehicles which are being refurbished.
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Include provisions enabling disabled people to get reasonable
adjustments, other than to physical features, when dealing with landlords and
managers of rented premises.
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Ensure that a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse his consent
where a disabled tenant wishes to make an adaptation to rented accommodation.
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Provide new rights for disabled local Councillors not to be
discriminated against by their local authority including rights to reasonable
adjustments.
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Cover bodies that award general qualifications (like GCSEs and A
Levels).
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Cover larger private members' clubs (i.e. those with 25 or more
members).
Lead Minister for the Bill Maria Eagle said:
"This is a landmark moment for Britain's 10 million disabled
people and for society overall as the Bill helps bring an end to the
discrimination that disabled people have faced for far too long.
"Disabled people have every right to participate fully in society - but are all
too often marginalized, excluded and sometimes even segregated. Society too is a
loser; missing out on the wealth of skills and experience of disabled people. As
promised, the Disability Discrimination Bill aims to tackle some of these
barriers and extend enforceable rights like never before.
"The Bill will have a real impact on the lives of disabled people and has been
widely welcomed in the Lords, by disabled individuals and by their
representative groups. I am committed to ensuring swift progress so that we
begin translating this legislation into reality as early as this year."
Bert Massie, Chair of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
also commented:
"I commend the Government's commitment to the Bill and hope that it will have
the effect of seeing it onto the statute book before the end of the present
Parliamentary session. It would need to if the ambition for disabled people to
access these rights by this year is to be realised. Disabled people have waited
a long time for this new legalisation that will pave the way for substantial
civil rights for Britain's 10 million disabled people by 2006. It represents a
major step towards ending the discrimination still experienced by disabled
people every day."
A good source of information for disabled people and their
families can be accessed by clicking the following:
Disability information and questions and answers
Article by Alexandra Johnston
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