Baroness Deech: The Equality Act is six years
old. For the first time
the rights of what we call the protected groups, for example ethnic minorities
disabled people, women, were all put together in one act.
And the feeling began to grow that disabled people were not getting their fair share of
attention under the Equality Act and so we were asked to look at how disabled
people have fared by the application of the Equality Act and we found, I'm afraid,
that the Act has failed disabled people.
[Baroness Campbell] You must realise that disability discrimination
legislation has been on the statute books for twenty years, and throughout the period of the committee,
over nine months, we began hearing from disabled people that it simply wasn't working in practice.
[Baroness Deech] If I can sum up it is that government, indeed all of us, have to be more
proactive in recognising the needs of disabled people.
For example, employers need to realise that they have to make reasonable adjustments
for their disabled employees. Sports grounds and other places where the public gather
to enjoy themselves or to watch games need to make adequate accommodation for disabled people.
Taxis must stop to pick up disabled people.
The statutory provision requiring them to do so has been on the books for
twenty years, and yet the government has failed to bring that into force.
It is a disgrace.
[Baroness Campbell] Well, for a start,
we wanted the Equality and Human Rights Commission to communicate and promote
disability equality so that disabled people really knew their rights
because that has definitely slowed down.
But most importantly, within the public sector equality duty,
it was felt that disabled people's voices had become very silent
whereas before, when it used to be the disability equality duty,
disabled people were very much involved in
public services, access, planning
within their local authorities.
But the red tape challenge seems to have squashed that.
Now, if you want to get something right, it's so much better
to involve disabled people for they are the experts
in their own situation.
We call it "nothing about us without us"
and then normally things get put right.
[Baroness Deech] Disabled people
have legal rights, like we all do,
and yet changes by the government have made it much harder for
disabled people to enforce those rights.
For example, rises in tribunal fees, cuts in legal aid,
the removal of a conciliation service, the ending of a very tailored
telephone advice service.
Disabled people have been left wondering how they can enforce the rights which are written down
in the statute book and yet have been made almost unenforceable.