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Issue 4 October 2007 ____________________________________________________ DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMISSION – RIP? By the time this Newsletter is produced the Disability Rights Commission will have been quietly buried. From October 1st all the individual ‘equality’ strands – race, disability, equal opportunities, gender, sexual orientation, Welsh language etc – will be gathered together into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights [CEHR]. In a recent speech the Director of the CEHR in Wales made it quite clear that the new body will not specialise in these separate areas of discrimination, but take a broad approach to ‘human rights’ and ‘multiple discrimination’. In other words their staff will no longer require expertise in disability or race issues but be expected to deal with all areas of discrimination equally. So, no more DRC means no one body will be a champion for the disabled. When the Access Group was asked, last year, for its views on the creation of the CEHR we predicted that disability issues would be downgraded, with disabled people and their organisations being relegated to the least important area of discrimination. This view is now confirmed, both by the CEHR Director’s speech and the Government’s proposed SINGLE EQUALITY BILL. As well as diluting our particular problems into an amorphous ‘rights’ body this Bill aims to downgrade the 2005 DDA disability equality duty on public bodies to little more than a recommendation to consider all equality issues in their policies and procedures. We already see this happening at local level with the police straining at the leash to detect and prosecute race hate crime, while ignoring reported hate crime against disabled people.
In a recent response to the proposed Single Equality Bill, Vin West, Secretary of the Arfon Access Group, summed up the problems we now face. “We had some hopes that the 2005 public sector duty would tie off some loopholes and make a real difference. After a flurry of tokenistic activity public bodies have now realised that no-one is coming after them with a big stick – or in fact any stick at all, and the one body in Wales that had started to make an impact – the DRC – has now been consigned to the dustbin by the Government.” “This decision to abandon the concept of disability discrimination (and the DRC along with it) and try to pretend that all forms of discrimination have parity flies in the face of the daily experience of disabled people and carers. People are no longer excluded from buildings on the grounds of race, gender or age but wheelchair users are constantly excluded by stairs, narrow doorways etc, and are powerless to fight the situation with any of the existing legislation. By lumping all of the equality strands together there is an implication that to end discrimination we must treat everyone the same, but the whole thrust of anti disability discrimination law is based on the simple fact that in order to overcome disability discrimination it is necessary to treat people differently! Perhaps in another twenty or thirty years the built environment will have become accessible to all and attitudes to disabled people will have shifted and it may then be appropriate to have an across-the-board approach to equality – but not now!” “The one positive thing to have come out of the 2005 public sector duty is simply that it has been a solid legal duty. If that is downgraded to an expectation and spread thinly across all equality strands then disabled people know only too well that disability equality will slip even further down the agenda.” We agree entirely with Vin West’s criticisms and see the creation of the CEHR and the Single Equality Bill wiping away any advances the disability movement has made over the past few years. The struggle to be taken seriously by politicians and officials has to begin all over again. We should regret the DRC’s demise – but rather than letting it rest in peace resolve to intensify our efforts to shove disability issues up as many noses as possible. THEY CALL IT PLANNING ??? Since July 1st we have been working overtime with Powys Council and National Park planning staff to sort out the chaos resulting from the Welsh Assembly’s lack of clear guidance and direction in respect of the new legislation requiring an access statement to be submitted with most planning applications. What a cock-up this was! On day one hardly anyone knew what type of development needed an access statement, what an access statement should contain, or what constituted a valid statement. No advice had been given to PCC planners on how the new procedures should work, nor to applicants, architects or agents, with the consequence they also had no idea what they had to do. We say that the blame for this confusion and ineptitude – which, as we write, is still not properly resolved – lies squarely with the Welsh Assembly and the County Council in ignoring their disability equality DUTY. If we, and other access groups throughout We are happy to say that the National Park Authority has been a significant exception in this sorry saga. More on this in the next Newsletter Travel News Veolia Bus Company has taken over a number of routes between towns in Powys and provides 3 fixed wheelchair spaces, which should make travel easier. Powys County Council has informed us that they will be installing raised kerbs in the new bus changeover point in Brecon to make buses accessible for wheelchair users.
Belle Vue Coaches provide coaches for day trips, weekend breaks and holidays and sightseeing tours in all areas of the www.bellevue-mcr.com. Belle Vue is based in Manchester and we would like to hear of coach companies offering these services closer to home. Polling Stations Polling stations are now under review in Brecon & Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire. The stations need to ensure facilities for voting are practical. Please let us know if you have experienced difficulties at your local polling station so we can pass the information to Electoral Services. Brecon Streets We continue to monitor the consequences of the “Brecon street improvements”. It has not turned out as well as we hoped; the traffic is still too much and often too big:
What do you think? Ystradgynlais News The Ystradgynlais and District Access Group meet in the Welfare Hall on the first Wednesday of the month at 11 am, and everyone is welcome. The Meetings are usually well attended. Since the last newsletter, we have been given a donation of £50 from Margaret Thomas’ Charities Fund, and a grant of £150 from the Glantawe Lions. This money will be used to pay for the use of the Hall for our meetings. After persistent requests, Powys County Council has at last started an audit of all its properties with regard to access – the Maesycwm flats for the elderly have been our particular concern. Many residents in upstairs flats are unable to use the stairs, and are virtually prisoners in their own flat. A Brecon and Radnor Express reporter has recently visited the flats and interviewed residents. We await his report with interest. Our County Council members are also busy, plugging away on our behalf. They have been informed that the audit is underway, but is behind schedule. Investigations are ongoing with a view to installing an external lift to the flats in question. We will have to keep up the pressure!
The extra disabled parking bay at the Welfare Hall has not yet been painted by Powys County Council, although the order has been made by the Town Council. On 5th September the Brecknock Access Group Chairman, John Phillips gave an interesting talk to the Town Council and this was much appreciated by Councillors. Perhaps it would be a good idea for all Councils to ask John to one of their meetings. The next meeting will be on 5th November. Friends of Terry Ottewell Our May Newsletter carried an item about the fund-raising efforts to help Terry Ottewell achieve selection to represent the Partly as a result of the atrocious weather on the day of the selection ‘shoot-out’ Terry was not successful in making the trip to On behalf of the ‘Friends of Terry Ottewell’ we would like to thank all those who donated a draw prize, the concert performers and organisers, and everybody who helped to raise this magnificent sum in support of our local champion. Llangoed Hall Following the ‘Gold’ Award for accommodation given to Llangoed Hall Hotel by ‘Visit Wales’ (formerly the Wales Tourist Board) the Access Group protested to the Welsh Assembly Government (and Visit Wales which is a WAG subsidiary) that the award was inappropriate because we believe the hotel has not made reasonable adjustments, as required by the Disability Discrimination Act, for disabled visitors, and also because WAG had not followed its own disability equality policy.
Our offer to carry out an access survey for the hotel has not been accepted. However, as a result of our intervention WAG has agreed that the accessibility or otherwise of hotels etc will now be taken into account in future ‘Gold’ awards, and also the inclusion of accessibility criteria will shortly be considered for future quality grading of tourism facilities. MAIN MEETINGS: Wednesdays 17th October & 21st November at 11 am at the Subud Centre, The Watton, Brecon. Andrea Gordon of Guide Dogs for the Blind will be the speaker at the October meeting SUB GROUPS: BRECON – the 2nd Wednesday in every month, Brecon Leisure Centre at 10am – NEXT MEETING: 14th November HAY-ON-WYE – next meeting – Friday 9th November at the Parish Hall in Lion Street at 11am. YSTRADGYNLAIS – the 1st Wednesday in each month at the Miners Welfare Hall at 11am – NEXT MEETING – Wednesday 7th November Brecknock Access Group Office, New Wing, Brecon War Memorial Hospital, Cerrigcochion Road, Brecon, Powys LD3 7NS 01874 611401, brecknock.access@virgin.net, http://www.brecknockaccess.org.uk. We are sad to report the death of our President Mrs Joyce Williams on October 1: A long time friend and campaigner for the disabled. |
