Fears raised that schools will not be covered by disability bill

Fears that schools may not be covered by a major duty in the
Disability Discrimination Bill were raised at Community
Care Live Children and Families, writes Amy
Taylor.

Speaking at a workshop session, Philippa Russell, a commissioner
at the Disability Rights Commission, said that she was concerned
that the bill may not consider schools to be ‘public
bodies’ making them exempt from its ‘public sector
duty’.

She said that there was currently a “big debate”
going on about whether schools needed to be public bodies, in terms
of the bill, or whether they were already covered by accessibility
planning regulations under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The bill states that under the ‘public sector duty’
public bodies that carry out services must avoid ‘less
favourable outcomes’ for disabled people.

Russell concluded by highlighting that the policy was still just
a proposal at bill stage and not yet an act.