lords report on disability

8/18/2019 Lords Report on Disability

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Equality Act committee

The Equality Act 2010

The effect on disabled people

EasyRead version of:

The Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people

House of Lords Select Committeeon the Equality Act 2010 and DisabilityReport of Session 2015–16


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What is in this report? Page

1. About this report 1

2. Why things need to change 5

3. What we looked at 6

4. What people said 9

5. What we think needs to change 22

6. How to find out more 28

7. What the words mean 29

Some difficult words are in bold.

There is a list at the end of this reportto explain what they mean.


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1. About this report

Who wrote this report?

The House of Lords Select Committee onthe Equality Act 2010 and Disabilitywrote this report.

The House of Lords is part of Parliamentand a select committee is a group thatfind out about something.

We found out if a law called the EqualityAct makes things fairer for everyone.

What is the Equality Act?

The Equality Act is the law about treating

everyone equally and fairly.


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There used to be different laws fordifferent groups.

The Disability Discrimination Act saidemployers, shops and services must nottreat disabled people worse than otherpeople. It also said that employers, shopsand people who run services, might needto do things differently if disabled peopleneed them to.

In 2010 the government brought all theselaws together into the Equality Act. Thislaw is about different reasons people aretreated unfairly, including:

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disability

race


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sex

religion

age.

Now the Equality and Human RightsCommission (EHRC) speaks up for all thesedifferent groups.

The Equality Act protects people inEngland, Wales and Scotland. NorthernIreland has a different law that protects

disabled people.


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What is this report about?

This report is about if the Equality Act hasmade things more equal and fair fordisabled people.

Most people said it was better when therewas a law just for disabled people.

We thought that it was important to makesure the Equality Act works for everyone.

This report looks at how the government,employers and services can make thingsbetter for disabled people.


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2. Why things need to change

There are over 11 million disabled peoplein the United Kingdom. There will be moredisabled people in the future.

Some people are born with a disability.Other people become disabled followingan accident, illness or getting older.

They all have the same right as everyoneelse to get involved and do the things they

want to.

But sometimes they are not treated fairly

because the government, employers orservices do not do things they should.


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3. What we looked at

We asked disabled people if the EqualityAct helps them get treated fairly.

We sent out information. We also askedpeople in British Sign Language andEasyRead.

144 people and organisations wrote to us.We asked some of them to come and talkto us.

This included people with:

physical disabilities●


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We also thought about the UnitedNations agreement on the rights of people

with disabilities.

The United Nations is a group of differentcountries that work together to try tomake the world a better and safer placefor everyone.

Governments like the UK that sign theagreement must work to stop disabledpeople being treated unfairly.


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4. What people said

Most people said The Equality Act makesthings harder for disabled people.

The government tried to cut down onpaperwork but this made it difficult forsome people to get their rights.

Making sure the law works

The Equality and Human RightCommission (EHRC) checks how the law isworking.

A lot of people think the EHRC has toomuch to do.


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It does not use its powers to speak up fordisabled people as much as it could. It

doesn’t talk to disabled people oftenenough.

The EHRC can write codes of practice.These are rules that say what peopleshould do.

The EHRC has waited a long time for thegovernment to agree codes of practicethat would make the law clearer fordisabled people.

Communication – talking andlistening to disabled people

People said the government should use

more EasyRead information, British SignLanguage (BSL) and information for blindpeople.


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It is difficult for disabled people to usesome websites to apply for jobs or get

things cheaper by shopping online.

Deaf people said BSL is an importantlanguage and more people should learn it.

There are guides about information butlots of services do not use them. Everyoneshould understand the Equality Actbetter.

Changes to help disabled people

The law says employers, buildings andservices must make changes to helpdisabled people do things other people

can.


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This could be:

putting in ramps so people can get intoa building

changing the way a service is run sodisabled people can use it

making sure there is EasyReadinformation or someone who can useBSL.

But often services do not understand thelaw or the types of changes they canmake.

People said it is unfair that they have to goto court to change things.

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Carers

Carers can be treated unfairly becausethey look after someone who is disabled.

Many carers are also disabled themselves.

The law says employers should thinkabout changing the hours carers work tomake it easier for them. But someemployers would not do this and carershad to leave their job.

Other people said they were shouted at orbullied because they care for someone

who is disabled.


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They said no one checks what ishappening or uses the law to change

things. For example, to make sure taxidrivers take people with wheelchairs orguide dogs, and do not make them paymore.

London is better than most other parts of the UK. Most big towns and cities arebetter than the country.

Public services

The law says public services must thinkabout whether plans or changes will treat

everyone fairly.

They must make sure they:

do not treat anyone worse than otherpeople●


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give everyone the same chance to usetheir services

help people who are protected by thelaw to get on with other people.

Many people told us the law is not clearand it is easy for public services to getround it.

But when public services use the lawproperly it can help them make fairerdecisions and run better services.


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Many disabled people said thegovernment did not think about how

cutting services to save money wouldaffect them.

Using the courts

Most disabled people want to sort thingsout quickly and easily. They do not want togo to court to prove they were treatedunfairly.

It can be difficult to go to court because:

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you have to pay a fee

you get less money and support


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it costs a lot of money if you lose

it is complicated and takes a long time.

Tribunals are special courts that deal withcomplaints about work. They used to befree, but now you have to pay for them.Disabled people said this stopped themusing them.

Some changes that cut down onpaperwork make it more difficult fordisabled people to go to tribunals.


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Only the courts can tell people to changethe services they provide. But people saidtribunals should also be able to tellemployers to change things.

Other ways to make sure peoplestick to the law

There are other ways to make sureservices treat disabled people fairly.

The EHRC used to bring people together totry to sort things out. They cannot do thisnow.

An organisation called ACAS can help you

complain if you think you are treatedunfairly at work.

Local councils give people permission tobuild, drive taxis or run clubs and pubs.

They should be able to stop them doingthis if they treat disabled people unfairly.


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Children with disabilities

Many children with disabilities do worse inschool than other children.

It is also harder for them to go touniversity or college or get a job whenthey leave school.

They are more likely to be bullied or told tostay home from school.


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Getting involved in public life

Disabled people have the right to beinvolved in public life. This includes theright to be elected (voted for) to speak forother people.

There are not enough disabled people inlocal government or in Parliament.


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5. What we think needs tochange

We think the government should:

make sure the Equality Act worksbetter for disabled people

think about how it will affect disabledpeople before they make plans orchanges

agree to the codes of practice to helpthe EHRC make the law work

look at the way it gives informationand think about what disabled people

need

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find out what is happening aboutmaking football grounds easy fordisabled people to use

change the law about public servicesso they have to involve disabled peoplewhen they make plans or changes

find out how cuts to services affectdisabled people

look at things that make it moredifficult for disabled people to usetribunals or the courts


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● think about whether charities can goto court to complain about somethingthat will be unfair for lots of disabledpeople.

We think the EHRC should:

work with disabled people and theirorganisations to write a plan abouthow to use its powers

bring people together to try to sortthings out

set up the Disability Committee again.This is a group that can make decisionsabout disability and the law

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run the advice and support service

work with organisations of disabledpeople to tell people about rights andthe Equality Act

write a code of practice about makingchanges to help disabled people useservices

work with disabled people to write a

guide about making changes

work with carers to write a guide about

their rights and the Equality Act.


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We think the government and the EHRCshould ask employers to think about howto help carers work hours that fit round

the things they do as a carer.

We think local councils should have morepowers to make sure taxis, buildings, pubsand clubs treat disabled people fairly.

We think schools should:

understand and keep to the EqualityAct

look at changes to support children tobehave in school before they tell themto stay at home.

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● organisations that check schools andcolleges should look at plans forsupporting children who are disabled.

We think travel companies should spendmore money on:

training staff about disability

making it easier for people inwheelchairs to use their services

giving information to people who areblind or deaf

making sure disabled people can usetaxis.

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6. How to find out more

Write to:

Committee on the Equality Act 2010 andDisability, Committee OfficeHouse of LordsLondon SW1A 0PW.

Telephone:020 7219 4384

Email:[email protected]

You can find out more about the House of Lords and its committees on our website:

www.parliament.uk/equality-act-committee


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7. What the words mean

British Sign Language (BSL) - A sign language that deaf peopleuse.

Codes of practice - Rules that explain what people should do.

The Disability Discrimination Act - The law about treatingdisabled people equally and fairly.

The Equality Act - The law about treating everyone equally andfairly.

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - Thisorganisation speaks up for all the different groups that theEquality Act protects.

Tribunals - are special courts that deal with complaints aboutwork.

United Nations - This is a group of different countries that worktogether to try to make the world a better and safer place foreveryone.


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This paper has been designed and

produced for the House of Lords SelectCommittee on the Equality Act 2010and Disability by the EasyRead serviceat Inspired Services Publishing Ltd.Ref ISL 114/15. March 2016.

www.inspiredservices.org.uk

Credits

It meets the European EasyReadStandard.

The Making it Easier Group,making it easy with LeadingLives.

Artwork includes material from theInspired EasyRead Collectionand cannot be used anywhere elsewithout written permission fromInspired Services.

www.inspired.pics

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