Briefing Note - The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 UK

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 received Royal Assent on 7 April 2005 and is likely to be brought into force in stages, commencing later this year. For the most part, the new Act implements non-employment law related measures, such as introducing a new positive duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. It also ensures that:

• all functions of public authorities (for example the issuing of licences) are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, not just the services they provide;
• duties under the Disability Discrimination Act are applied to the provision of transport services;
• all rail vehicles will have to comply with accessibility regulations by 2020;
• private clubs with 25 or more members will be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act;
• disabled people will have an improved right to have reasonable adjustments made, other than to physical features, when dealing with landlords and managers of rented premises; and
• a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse consent where a disabled tenant wishes to adapt rented accommodation to properly accommodate a disability.

Under the Act, landlords and letting agents will be required to provide blind and partially sighted people with contracts in a format they can understand.

Working Group

The Government has agreed to establish a working group to look at how the issue of communal areas in rented accommodation can be dealt with and has also agreed that the current legal protection under the Landlord and Tenant Act is not clear and requires updating so that the Disability Rights Commission can issue Codes of Practice on standards expected of landlords.

The 2005 Act also contains provisions relevant to the field of employment. These include:

• a widening of the definition of disability to include people diagnosed with progressive forms of cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis;
• protection for people with mental illness by removing the requirement that the condition is a clinically well-recognised illness; and
• changes in the rules so that publishers (e.g. newspapers) can be liable for discriminatory advertising.

In particular, employers are advised to review stress management and long-term absence policies and procedures in the light of the forthcoming changes.