Annual Report 2003-2004

A: The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee

Background

1. We are an independent organisation that advises the Government on the transport and built environment needs of disabled people.We provide expert advice and carry out independent research. Our purpose is to promote a more 'inclusive' society (where more people are able to take part). We were set up under the 1985 Transport Act and began meeting in 1986.

Our function

2. We advise the Government, among other things, on:

• Putting the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 into practice, in relation to transport and the built environment
• Taking forward the Disability Rights Task Force's recommendations on transport and the built environment
• Dealing with issues of how disabled people gain access to transport facilities and services
• Measuring and monitoring what progress has been made on access
• Developing guidance for industry on transport matters
• Making sure disabled people can influence access to transport in all its forms and at all levels.

Our aims

3. We aim to make sure that disabled people can go where others go, when they want to, at the same cost and having just as positive an experience while doing so. We provide independent advice to the Government, where Ministers specifically ask us to, and where we think it is important.

4. DPTAC is committed to the creation of a fully inclusive transport system and built environment which:

• Provides equitable access.
• Allocates appropriate space for people.
• Ensures ease of use, comprehension and understanding.
• Requires minimal stress, physical strength and effort.
• Achieves safe, comfortable and healthy environments.

Our strategy

5. Our overall strategy is to lead the evolving policy debate and to influence government policy decisions through the provision of high quality advice informed by key stakeholders. This will help us to make sure that those decisions contribute to the delivery of a transport system and built environment that is accessible to everyone.

6. You can see our strategy for 2002-2004 on our website (www.dptac.gov.uk). Each year, we develop a detailed work programme in consultation with our stakeholders, and our plans for 2004-2005 are set out in section C.

The five yearly review

7. Every five years Government departments review the bodies that they have set up. A Department for Transport review of DPTAC ended in 2003. It concluded that there was a continuing need for DPTAC, stating:

"While there have been major advances in access for disabled people since the Committee was set up in 1985, there is a continuing need for specialist advice on these issues... DPTAC should continue to carry out this function. Ad hoc bodies would lack the force and continuity of DPTAC, as would uncoordinated advice direct from voluntary bodies operating in this area. Nor is there a single body to whom the function could be transferred without loss of effectiveness."

8. The review recommended several minor changes to the way in which DPTAC operates and reports, and DPTAC has agreed an action plan with the Department for Transport to carry them out. The changes include:

• Agreeing a concordat with the Disability Rights Commission to define working arrangements between the two bodies
• Publishing our Code of Practice for Members and producing a Register of Members' Interests
• Developing a work programme that distinguishes between our own tasks and chasing progress by Government
• Including summary financial information in the Annual Report
• Clarifying our reporting and financial arrangements with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster on built environment matters

9. All apart from the last one have been completed, and the last one is under way.

Membership

10. New appointments to DPTAC are made on a rolling programme to ensure continuity. As a result, the Committee retains expertise even when experienced Members retire. Staggering the appointments process also provides an opportunity for Ministers to bring in new expertise, increase the age range of Members, and ensure that DPTAC continues to represent a full range of disabilities. The Secretary of State for Transport appointed new Members, including the Chair, in July 2003. Over 90 people applied for membership. Those appointed in this round will serve for a period of three years to 30 June 2006.

11. As a result of these new appointments, we said goodbye to two Members, one of whom was our former Chair Jane Wilmot. We all thank both her and Janet Seymour Kirk for their sterling work. Details of all current Members, including new appointments, are at the end of this report.

12. We have held thorough briefing sessions for our new Members on the main issues relevant to disabled people and on our work, and to take stock of progress on different types of transport and on the built environment. New and established Members are now working well as an integrated team.

13. This year we decided that working groups for the different types of transport, and for the built environment and for education and training would be the best way of taking forward our work. We have appointed Chairs of Working Groups and supporting Members to take this work forward, and have also included representation from industry, regulatory bodies and government departments.

14. The Department for Transport has now completed a round of applications for new members, and expects to announce appointments in late 2004. Advertisements for a further round of applications will be made in 2005. For further information please contact:

Our resources

15. One of the recommendations of the recent five-year Review was that DPTAC should publish the costs of running the Committee. The table below shows what it cost to run DPTAC in each of the past two financial years. The costs may be higher than those for some other advisory bodies, because of the higher costs associated with using venues and methods of transport that are accessible to our all of our disabled Members and observers. This reflects the additional costs, including transport costs, that disabled people may experience.

DPTAC actual expenditure 2002-2003 and 2003-2004

(All figures in pounds sterling)

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