The Institute of Directors yesterday published a policy paper on the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, which included the results of a survey of 183 IoD members. The policy paper points out that on the Government's own figures, the cost to service providers of making adjustments to the physical features of their premises so that disabled people can access their services could amount to over £1.1 billion. Accordingly, either public or National Lottery money should be used to help the private sector meet its legal obligations towards disabled people.
The survey showed that:
- 79% of respondents had not made any 'reasonable adjustments' to their employment practices, policies or procedures to ensure that disabled people are not treated any less favourably than non-disabled people. Businesses employing 15 or more people have a duty to take such action under the employment provisions of the DDA.
- 71% of respondents opposed the suggestion that the employment provisions of the DDA should be extended to all firms with more than 2 employees.
- 72% of respondents rejected the proposal that all firms should be covered by the employment provisions of the DDA.
- 71% of respondents have not made any adjustments to their policies, practices or procedures to enable disabled customers to use their services. Since 1 October 1999, businesses that provide a service to the public have been obliged to take such action.
- 45% of respondents opposed having to make 'reasonable adjustments' to the physical features of their premises if access to their service continues to be unreasonably difficult for disabled people. This move was favoured by 44%.
- Almost two-fifths of respondents were not aware of the two principal sources of help and advice concerning the DDA available to business
Richard Wilson, Business Policy Executive, said, "Discrimination against disabled people is wrong and businesses have a legal duty to comply with the DDA. However, the Government must help small firms adapt to the legislation. Many small businesses operate on tight profit margins and they cannot easily absorb the costs resulting from complying with the DDA. On the Government's own figures, the cost to service providers of making adjustments to the physical features of their premises so that disabled people can access their services could amount to over £1.1 billion."
"If the Government proceeds to extend the employment provisions of the DDA, resources should be made available to the affected SMEs to help them meet the new legal requirements. Similarly, either public money or National Lottery money should be used to help service providers who need to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their operations in order to ameliorate the difficulties that they face in complying with this aspect of the legislation."
"Finally, the Small Business Service (SBS) and the Disability Rights Commission should aim to provide a diagnostic service to businesses, informing them what action they need to take in order to comply with the DDA. The DDA is a particularly complex piece of legislation and business needs good advice in order to comply with it."
