Did you Know..?

It is an offence to park a vehicle that is not displaying a badge in a Blue Badge parking bay. Police officers, traffic wardens and local authority parking attendants have the right to inspect Blue Badges. Failing to produce a badge for inspection, without reasonable excuse, carries a maximum fine of £1,000.

In the News

A Lanarkshire hotel has had to pay a disabled man £3,000 in compensation.

Wheelchair user Isaac Curran took the hotel to court after it failed to provide proper access at a party.

During his visit to the hotel, for a relative’s birthday lunch, Isaac had to be carried into the property as there was no ramp, the dining room was located up five flights of stairs and the only disabled toilet was in the ladies.

The hotel has now applied for planning permission to improve its disabled access.

www.bbc.co.uk/news - October 2006

Budget airline, Ryanair, has agreed to alter small print when buying tickets that prevents disabled passengers from claiming compensation for damaged or lost wheelchairs.

The Office of Fair Trading had been negotiating with the airline since receiving complaints from passengers earlier this year.

The agreement will give disabled people more confidence that, if something does go wrong to their equipment, they will be compensated. In the past, wheelchair users had to struggle and fight quite hard to get compensation and in many cases, they didn’t received any.

www.disabilitynow.org.uk/news - November 2006

A deaf and disabled arts organisation has launched a campaign that aims to achieve an accessible London arts scene by the time of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Shape's ‘Open the Door’ campaign will promote inclusion through new training programmes and seminars aimed at the mainstream arts sector. Shape has also relaunched ‘Shape Tickets’, an online ticket service providing disabled Londoners with information about accessible events and volunteer escorts. Steve Mannix, Shape’s chief executive officer, said: “Open the Door offers a unique opportunity to create lasting and real change to enable disabled and deaf people access to the arts and creative industries.”

www.disabilitynow.org.uk/news - November 2006

Is your businesses DDA compliant? Only two fifths of small businesses in London have made reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled people under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), according to new research.

The survey of 100 small business owners conducted by Business Link for London also showed two fifths were unfamiliar with the DDA and how it impacted on their business.

A Disability Rights Commission [now known as the Equality and Human Rights Commission] spokeswoman said the research showed “ignorance and anxiety” but also contained positive messages, for example, 63 per cent of the businesses that had implemented changes said it had been less difficult than anticipated.

www.disabilitynow.org.uk/news - November 2006