Tag: Baroness Thomas of Winchester

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training is provided on disability awareness to staff in Jobcentre Plus offices as part of the public sector equality duty; and what steps are being taken to ensure that awareness by staff of obligations under the duty is improving.

Lord Freud

DWP, in partnership with Civil Service Learning, provides a wide range of diversity and disability learning opportunities for staff.

The ‘Equality and Diversity Essentials’ package provides an overview of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty and covers disability for customers and employees. The learning is targeted at all new employees as part of induction and as a refresher for other staff.

DWP offers a follow up ‘Disability Awareness’ course. This aims to build the confidence of managers to give effective support to disabled employees.

DWP customer facing staff are trained in the skills required to support a range of claimants and to respect their individual needs. This approach ensures they are skilled to deal with a diverse set of circumstances, whilst treating everyone as individuals. Jobcentre Advisers, in particular, have access to a comprehensive training programme which focuses on raising awareness of the individual’s personal circumstances, including disabilities, and also recognises that those circumstances can affect individuals in different ways.

The Department regularly participates in external benchmarking activity to measure and improve performance for disabled staff, customers and service users. 2013 results showed a significant improvement in performance from 2012.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as part of the requirement to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, accessible toilets at Jobcentre Plus offices are available for the use of claimants with disabilities.

Lord Freud

Where there is a medical need, our policy is to allow claimants to use toilet facilities in our Jobcentres, subject to constraints in certain locations caused by the layout of the building and keeping people safe. We consider that this policy complies with the requirement under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that accessible toilets for disabled people in buildings other than private dwellings comply with published national standards.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

In buildings other than dwellings, Part M of the Building Regulations requires that reasonable provision is made for accessible toilets where relevant types of building work are undertaken. Statutory guidance on how that can be achieved is contained in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings). The building control body is responsible for ensuring that relevant building work complies with this requirement.

Provisions in the Equality Act 2010 require employers and those providing a service to the public or carrying out a public function to make a “reasonable adjustment”, so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” compared to non-disabled people. Ultimately, only a court can decide what is “reasonable” in any particular case. However, Part 4 of the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010, prescribes circumstances in which it is not reasonable for such a body to remove or alter a physical feature which was provided in or in connection with a building to assist with access to the building or the use of facilities and which satisfy the relevant design standard. The Schedule to these Regulations provides details of how to determine whether the design standard is satisfied, and refers to design considerations and provisions in Approved Document M.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many car parking companies which are members of the British Parking Association have been refused access to keeper data by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency since the introduction of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Baroness Kramer

29 members of the British Parking Association have been suspended from having access to vehicle keeper data since the introduction of the Act in 2012.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to deal with websites offering services to customers wishing to apply for a blue badge parking permit, and which are not associated with the Blue Badge Improvement Service.

Baroness Kramer

To obtain a Blue Badge in England applicants can apply directly via the Gov.UK website or to the relevant local authority. Successful applicants will be charged no more than £10.

The Government’s contractor, Northgate Public Services, has taken a number of positive steps to raise awareness about unauthorised websites. These include issuing a press release warning people about dubious websites, issuing a Bulletin to all local authorities so that they can warn residents, providing advice and awareness to charitable organisations representing disabled people, and ensuring staff at the national Blue Badge support helpline are able to advise the public accordingly.