Subject: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the
Special Educational Needs and Discrimination Act 2001
Origin: Director
of Estates Services
Background
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to end the discrimination
which many disabled people face. This Act gives disabled people rights in the
areas of:
Discrimination
may be caused:
The Special
Educational Needs and Discrimination Act (SENDA) introduces the right for disabled students not to be
discriminated against in education, training and any services provided wholly
or mainly for students, and for those enrolled on courses provided by
'responsible bodies', including further and higher education institutions and
sixth form colleges.
Student services
covered by the Act can include a wide range of educational and non-educational
services, such as field trips, examinations and assessments, short courses,
arrangements for work placements and libraries and learning resources.
It will be unlawful for responsible bodies to treat a disabled person
'less favourably' than a non-disabled person for a reason that relates to the
person's disability.
The University
has , for many years, sought to ensure that no person with a disability was
barred from using the University facilities where it was practical to do so
through modification but previously this had been identified on an individual
basis. This had been a reasonably successful policy but it has now been
superceded by the law.
All new buildings
in recent years have been constructed in accordance with the relevant
legislation and existing buildings have been modified when major modifications
are undertaken.
The University Commissioned a survey of its premises shortly after the
introduction of the DDA to determine the extent of any modifications to assist
with compliance. The survey was carried out by a dedicated person trained by a
qualified access audit surveyor . The HEFCE provided limited funds to assist
with modifications and this work was commissioned.
The survey was updated following the extension of the University’s
liability through the SENDA and the HEFCE provided further funds for
modification works.
The HEFCE funding is insufficient to meet the full needs of the University
and it is not practical to carry out the amount of work needed to occupied
buildings in the time provided by the Acts. There are some 150 buildings on a
very sloping site ranging in age from the 1900s to the 2000 and buildings have
been constructed to the standards current at the time. These standards have
changed
The work has therefore been prioritised by Estates Staff to try and gain
maximum benefit for the maximum number of people and get value for money.
Inevitably there are areas where work has not been scheduled which in an ideal
world would have been done.
Of course the Acts do not prescribe physical modifications as the only
means of compliance and it is always open to the University or its departments
to modify the service delivery so that persons with a disability are not placed
at a disadvantage. The key tests are of reasonableness and the need not to
treat any persons with a disability less favourably than others.
This paper is
prepared to report on the way the issues affecting the physical estate have
been addressed. It is believed the process followed would provide a reasonably
robust defence against a legal challenge but there can be no certainty as there
is no case law to indicate how the courts would interpret ‘reasonable’.
It is clear that there are insufficient funds to meet the full needs and
a fresh paper is being prepared for the appropriate committees to seek
additional funding. Please see the attachment for the planned schedule of
works.
The subject has been reported to and discussed at the Human Resource
Committee some two years ago and more recently at the Estates Management
Committee and its working group, the Estates Liaison Group with a resultant
recommendation that the Staff and Student groups which provide a forum for
matters that concern people with special needs should be combined in the long
term to ensure there is just one line of communication rather that the several
that appear to operate separately. It was recommended that they meet together
regularly, at least in the short term, to consider co-ordination and
collaboration. This would aid communication and consultation which has proved
difficult to undertake during the initial surveys.
The
Funding Council under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 and Special
Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001 has awarded two separate
grants to Loughborough University to make the campus more accessible.
The first
grant of £563000 was claimed in April 2004 for disability work completed
between 2002 and 2004 as listed below:
New passenger lift
for Schofield building
New passenger lift for
LUSAD main block
New passenger lift and
toilet facilities for EHB building
New ramp and toilet
facilities for Martin Hall
Upgrade of Brockington lift
Automation of Business
School doors
New ramp and toilet
facilities for the Counselling service
Improvements to ramps and
staircases generally
Replacements of internal
signage
The second grant of
£1,213000 is available to be claimed by the end of March 2006 and the following
works will be completed by the end of October 2004 ahead of the deadline
completion date:
New passenger lift, ramp
and automated doors to Hazelrigg Hall
New passenger lift, toilets
and automated doors to the Towers Dining Hall
Upgrade of ‘S’ building’s
lift and new toilet facilities
Upgrade of Sir David Davis
building’s lift and new toilet facilities
Upgrade of Pilkington
Library’s lift
New Disabled toilet in
Withworth Tower
The attached list outlines
the remaining disability work planned to be completed by the end of March 2006
totalling £852000. Out of the second
grant of £1,213000, we have now committed £852000 leaving £360,000. To complete the works in the attached list
there is a short fall of £491000.
The committee is asked to
endorse this additional amount to aid completion of the disability works.
Loughborough campus will never be one hundred percent accessible, however after March 2006 accessibility will be greatly enhanced compared to 2002 when disability work started. The assumption for accessibility is a mix of reasonable adjustments to the built assets in conjunction with timetabling and management of disability in general.
Members should note that
Holywell Park although only 12 years old has not had an accessibility audit
carried out and it is recommended that one is carried out to identify any
necessary work.