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Minutes of the DPTAC Main Committee Meeting: 07 December 2005Chair: DPTAC Members: Observers: Invitees: In Attendance: Agenda item 1: Welcome, introductions and apologies1. DPTAC Chair Neil Betteridge welcomed everyone to the fourth DPTAC Main Committee meeting of 2005. 2. The meeting received apologies from DPTAC members Tomi Jones and Richard West; and from observers Jean Wilson (Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland), and Helen Cameron (Scottish Executive). Neil welcomed new member Judith Jesky, who many members had met at the Strategy Day the previous week, along with Tomi Jones. Agenda item 2: Minutes of previous Main Committee meeting (14 September 2005)3. Members approved the minutes without amendment, and the Secretariat would place them on DPTAC's website. Action point 1: Secretariat to place the minutes of 14 September Main Committee meeting on the DPTAC website. Agenda item 3: Matters Arising4. Neil Betteridge noted that DPTAC had published the Annual Report for 2004-05 on the day of the meeting. The report and associated press notice were also on the DPTAC website. Members' views had been taken into account, with a freepost comment form and greater use of pictures. Neil thanked Richard West for his assistance with the easy-read text. 5. Neil said that he had met the Secretary of State and junior Minister Karen Buck on 1 November. Ministers had been pleased with DPTAC's work in the past year. They had discussed audiovisual announcements on buses, concessionary fares, the Olympics and road user charging. Neil had circulated his follow-up letter with the agenda papers and would circulate the response when received (annexed to these minutes). There were no other points raised under matters arising. Action point 2: Secretariat to circulate ministerial reply to the Chair which followed up his meeting on 1 November with the Secretary of State and junior Minister Karen Buck. (Annex A to these minutes). Agenda item 4: Main Committee and Working Group meeting arrangements 2006-076. Neil Betteridge noted that Working Group Chairs had now agreed the dates of meetings for the coming year, based on the criteria that members had agreed at their last meeting. These dates were set out in the paper, but could change depending on the course of DPTAC business, in fact two Aviation Working Groups dates had already been changed. The Secretary assured members that updated calendars would be sent to all members and placed on e-DPTAC once changes had been made. 7. Neil reminded members that they had agreed to review the membership of Working Groups (but not the Chairs) when new members Judith and Tommi joined DPTAC. The last mailing had included a preference sheet on which members could indicate any proposed changes to Working Group membership. This was not to bring about change for change's sake and he hoped that that most members would stay with the Groups that they were on. DPTAC was looking to members to add new groups to what they did, if possible. Action point 3: Members to notify Secretariat of any preferences for changes in Working Group membership. Action point 4: Secretariat to circulate revised calendar of meetings when changes to dates had been agreed. Agenda item 5: Mobility and Inclusion Unit Report8. Ann Frye introduced the report and noted some further developments. The regulations lifting the exemption of land based transport from Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 had been published. The Disability Rights Commission's Transport Code was at the Cabinet approval stage and should be published by the end of January 2006. 9. Ann reported that the Draft European Commission Proposal for Regulation on The Rights of Persons with Reduced Mobility when Travelling by Air was nearing approval by the European Parliament. Because it was a regulation rather than a directive, it would not need to be transposed into UK law but arrangements would need to be put in place to set up the necessary administrative and other structures for it to be applied in the UK within two years. 10. Ann explained that the Department for Transport was about to start work on the Disability Equality Scheme that it had to have this in place by the end of 2006. The Mobility and Inclusion Unit would lead on drafting this and would come to DPTAC for advice. 11. On member conditions, Ann reported that Ministers had agreed in principle to the payment of DPTAC members. Lawyers were now exploring legislative options for bringing this about. The arrangements would probably be based on those in place for the Commission for Integrated Transport and for the Department for Work and Pensions' National Forum for Organisations of Disabled People. 12. Jenny Meadows, Chair of the Bus, Coach and Community Transport Working Group, referred to the Department for Transport's recent work on community transport and social exclusion. It had proved difficult to quantify the link between community transport and tackling social exclusion. Ann Frye agreed that this had proved to be more of a challenge than expected, and thought that qualitative measures such as case studies might prove a more effective way of capturing the benefits. New software would make it easier for community transport operators to keep the necessary records. 13. Members discussed a number of other issues under this heading, including:
14. Neil Betteridge asked that members with specific concerns about concessionary fares or station improvements in particular areas route them through the Secretariat. Action point 5: Members to route specific concerns about concessionary fares or station improvements to the Department for Transport, via the Secretariat. Agenda item 6: Progress Report on Work Programme 2005-0615. Members noted progress with the Work Programme and agreed the priorities for the coming quarter. Agenda item 7: Research for 2006-0716. Neil Betteridge invited members to discuss how they would prioritise the four proposals for the DfT research programme for 2006-07. He reminded them that their proposed Home Zones research the previous year was now in progress. 17. For 2006-07 DPTAC members had suggested four proposals which were:
18. In discussion members identified needs for and benefits that could flow from each of the projects. They felt that the training project was particularly timely with the lifting of the Part 3 exemption, and the new public sector duty to promote disability. 19. The project on road surface colour appeared to be the least focussed purely on the needs of disabled people. Ann Frye undertook to bring it to the attention of the appropriate policy division in the Department of Transport, with a view to them considering it for inclusion in their own research bids. The Secretariat would put forward the other three, with the training project as the highest priority. Action point 6: Ann Frye to bring the project on road surface colour to the attention of the appropriate policy division in the Department for Transport, with a view to them considering it for inclusion in their own research bids. Action point 7: Secretariat to put forward training, onboard airline wheelchair and train boarding research projects, with the training project as the highest priority. Agenda item 8: Draft Work Programme for 2006-0720. Members began their consideration of the Work Programme for 2006-07 focussing on cross-cutting, Aviation, Personal Mobility and Local Authority and Education and Training tasks, a total of fourteen. These were all agreed, with the other topic areas deferred for consideration at the March Main Committee. Agenda item 9: Verbal feedback from DPTAC Strategy Day21. Neil Betteridge noted that all but two members had been able to attend the Strategy Day the previous Thursday. He reminded members that the day's aim had been to review the direction in which DPTAC should move in order to fulfil its vision and increase the possibility of its future success for the period 2007-20. Members had begun by considering their perceptions of DPTAC, and then went on to consider the strengths and weaknesses of DPTAC, the opportunities before it, and the risks that might be encountered in achieving them. 22. Members, including newer members, reported that the day had been useful. Neil reminded them that he had asked members to draft between 1 and 3 strategic objectives for DPTAC in the 2007-20 period. Each one should have a linked indicator which would show how DPTAC could measure whether it had achieved the objective, as well as a note of any resource issues. Action point 8: Each member to draft between 1 and 3 strategic objectives for DPTAC in the 2007-20 period, including a linked indicator showing how DPTAC would measure whether it had achieved the objective, and a note of any resource issues. Agenda item 10: Presentation by Peter Hendy23. Neil Betteridge welcomed Peter Hendy to the meeting, which followed up a November meeting between them in both his roles as the new Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport and Director for Surface Transport at Transport for London. Peter Hendy gave a wide-ranging presentation (a copy of which is attached to these minutes) covering streetscape, training of professionals and front line staff, and accessible buses, with particular reference to audio-visual information systems. 24. Discussion and questions covered a range of issues that included:
25. Members noted with approval the progress that was being made on accessible vehicles, information systems and the training of staff, and the good practice this was generating. 26. Neil thanked Peter for his informative presentation and invited Members with further questions to submit them to the Secretariat so that they could be put to Peter Hendy in one group and the responses circulated. Action point 9: Members to write to the Secretariat with any further questions or comments for Peter Hendy. Action point 10: Secretariat to circulate Peter Hendy's presentation with the minutes. (Annex B to hard copy of these minutes and also posted to e-DPTAC.) Agenda item 11: DPTAC position paper on road user charging27. Grahame Lawson introduced a draft position paper on road user charging. He noted the timeliness of this discussion, as the 28 successful local authorities bidding for Transport Innovation Fund support had just been announced. 28. Members mentioned the extent to which local authorities could reduce parking for disabled people as part of congestion charging schemes. Grahame noted that this had been mentioned in DPTAC's evidence to the Transport Select Committee in its inquiry into parking. 29. Neil Betteridge said he had advised the Secretary of State at their meeting to expect this position paper shortly, and the Secretary of State had in turn expressed a readiness to consider it. Neil noted that the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland had considered the draft paper. They planned to develop their own position on the subject, but to a more relaxed timescale, as the Transport Innovation Fund would not apply to Scotland. 30. Members agreed to the principles in the paper, and that Grahame should amend the wording to qualify references to "concessions". Action point 11: Secretariat to publish and promote the position paper once Grahame Lawson has made some last amendments and circulated it for final comment. Agenda item 12: Guidance for the Department for Transport on addressing the needs of disabled people31. Carol Thomas introduced this item, noting that in 2001 DPTAC had identified a task to prepare guidance for the Department for Transport on consulting disabled people. Other priorities, notably the Disability Discrimination Bill, had limited DPTAC's capacity to drive this work forward. Recently she and the Secretariat had done some further work on the draft to integrate good practice and changes in the law. However the Department for Transport had meanwhile produced its own guidance on consultation, which covered some of the same ground, but in a wider context of social inclusion. This internal guidance had contained relatively few references to DPTAC. The proposal before Main Committee was therefore to reposition this piece of work as guidance to local authorities on their new duty to promote disability. 32. Ann Frye agreed that this would be a sensible way forward in the light of the overlap between the two pieces of work. She believed that the annexes in the DPTAC draft did add a new level of detail and should be added to the Mobility and Inclusion Unit's own advice as soon as possible. She assured members that the references to DPTAC in the internal guidance would be amended appropriately. Action point 12: Mobility and Inclusion Unit to add the annexes to the DPTAC draft to the internal consultation guidance, and to amend the references to DPTAC in the document. Action point 13: Personal Mobility and Local Authority Working Group to incorporate the guidance into advice to public authorities on their new duty to promote disability. Agenda item 13: Reports from Working Group Chairs33. Members received the usual reports from Working Group Chairs. They agreed that in future the Chair would also write a brief report along similar lies, to form part of the item on future agendas, covering his own meetings on DPTAC business. Action point 14: DPTAC Chair to prepare a short report of meetings held on DPTAC business, to accompany Working Group Chairs report submitted to future Main Committee meetings. Agenda item 14: Specification for an on-board wheelchair for use on aircraft34. Neil Betteridge welcomed Graham Love of Dubblo Designs to present progress on developing the specification for an on-board wheelchair for use on aircraft. The presentation is attached to the minutes of this meeting. Graham noted that this was a functional specification rather than a design, and was restricted to wheelchairs rather than including loading and transfer equipment. He outlined the process of desk research; interviews, drafting and discussion with the Aviation Working Group which had led to the present draft. 35. Graham went on to describe the next stages that were necessary to complete the projects. These were testing the design on a static rig, and then on a mobile rig that could be used in various designs of aircraft before the design was finalised for publication. Members agreed the draft, approved the further work that was planned as part of the Work Programme for 2006-07, and noted that some of this work might be able to draw on the 2005-006 research budget. Action point 15: Secretariat to explore the potential for tapping into any underspend on the 2005-06 research budget to take the next stage of this work forward. Action point 16: Secretariat to circulate Dubblo Design presentation with the minutes. (Annex C to hard copy of these minutes and also posted to e-DPTAC.). Agenda item 15: Any Other Business36. Neil Betteridge noted that it was the last Main Committee Meeting for two members of the Secretariat. Ffion Grant was leaving after five years to join London Underground as Assistant Accessibility Development Manager. Verona Wiltshire was to leave at the end of the year to pursue other career paths in social work helping disabled people. Members joined him in thanking them for their work with a floral presentation and wished them well in the future. Date of next Main Committee meeting: 01 March 2006, Great Minster House |
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