Disability
Recent Developments in Equality and Diversity legislation
The original Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was introduced in 1995, it had an explicit exclusion for education. The SEN and Disability Act (SENDA 2001) – later known as DDA Part IV - introduced duties specifically for education providers.
The DDA (2005) which will become DDA Part V, amended the definition of disability so that intermittent conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV-related disease are included from their point of diagnosis. It also removed the requirement that a condition must be "clinically well-recognised" which may broaden the range of mental health issues included, in particular. Some lawyers have suggested that under the new definition "stress" could be classed as a disability.
The 2005 bill also introduced a new Disability Equality Duty [DED] for all public bodies. This DED:
- requires that public bodies (including HEIs) take action to eliminate discrimination and harassment.
- imposes a duty to actively promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.
- requires public bodies (HEIs) to take account of the needs of disabled people, even where that means treating them more favourably than other people (NB: this is the only equality legislation which routinely permits such positive discrimination).
- requires public bodies to produce a Disability Equality Scheme [DES] and associated action plan every three years, with annual reporting of progress. The School’s first DES had to be published by 4th December 2006. One requirement was that we involve disabled staff and students in developing our Disability Equality Scheme and action plans, rather than just producing drafts for consultation.
There has been a review of the Code of Practice on Disability Discrimination and this has been laid before parliament, assuming that it is approved unchanged, which replaced the old CoP from 4th December 2006.
The Disability Rights Commission has also announced (22.05.06) its first formal review for compliance with the DDA, which will address "fitness to practice" standards governing entry to, and work in, teaching, nursing and social work. The DRC's review will form part of a 12-month Formal Investigation into how training, qualifying and working practices within these professions may be posing challenges to the entry and progress of disabled people. The Formal Investigation by the DRC will have three elements:
- an analysis of the legislative and regulatory frameworks and associated legal cases;
- an investigation of how decisions are made about whether people are considered fit to train and work in teaching, nursing and social work;
- research on the issue of non-disclosure of impairments and long-term health conditions. For example, do people regularly refrain from telling their employer, college or regulatory body about their impairment or long-term health condition? If so, why, and what effect does this have on their career?
The DRC recently ran a consultation exercise on the new Code of Practice for Post-16 Education. The revised Code reflected changes to DDA Part IV, which gave rights to disabled students in further and higher education and the new CoP was implemented from 1st September 2006.
Finally the ECU has published guidance for HEIs to help them to structure their Disability Equality Schemes Disability Guidance: ECU
