Annual Report 2006-2007

A: The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee

Background

1. DPTAC is the independent body set up to advise the UK Government on the transport needs of disabled people. We provide expert advice and carry out independent research. Our aim is to help develop a more inclusive society. This means one where more people are able to take part. We were set up under the Transport Act 1985 and held our first meeting in 1986.

Our function

2. We advise the Government on a number of topics. In 2006-2007 these have included the following:

• Working with regulators and the industry to put the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 into practice, in relation to transport.
• Monitoring the progress made so far on access to transport.
• Developing guidance for the professionals who design and run transport in this country.
• Making sure disabled people can influence access to transport in all its forms and at all levels.

Our aims

3. We want to ensure that disabled people can travel where everyone else goes with the same quality of travel experience, at no greater cost, and without having to deal with any additional barriers. We want there to be significant progress towards this before 2020. We have chosen this time span because all buses should be accessible to people with mobility impairments by 2017, and rail vehicles should be accessible to disabled people by 2020.

4. Our membership includes disabled people with a broad range of experiences of using transport, working alongside professional people dealing with disability and transport. This ensures that we can speak with credibility on both the needs of transport customers and effective ways of meeting them. We regularly experience the same difficulties as many disabled people face getting around, not least attending meetings and events on behalf of DPTAC.

5. We are committed to the creation of a fully inclusive transport system which:

• Provides an equal level of access for disabled people.
• Allocates everybody the space they need.
• Can be used and understood easily.
• Requires only acceptable levels of stress, physical strength and effort.
• Achieves safe, comfortable and healthy environments.

Our strategy

6. We have set out an overall strategy, agreed at the end of this reporting period. This sets out how we will plan and carry out this work up to 2010. We published this on our website (www.dptac.gov.uk).

7. Our overall strategy is to lead in the development of policy and to influence government decisions through providing high quality advice informed by disabled people who have a stake in the services. This will help us to ensure the delivery of a transport system that is accessible to everyone.

8. Each year, we develop a detailed programme of work that shows the activities that we plan to carry out to achieve our aims. Our Work Programme for 2006-2007 is set out below in Section B.

Membership

9. Ministers make new appointments to our membership on a rolling programme to ensure continuity. As a result, we retain expertise even when experienced Members retire or their appointments are not renewed. In the past year we have benefited from more continuity than usual as no members retired or were appointed. However, we look forward to the prospect of new members joining us in the coming year as the period of appointment of 10 of our members ends.

10. The application period will have ended by the time this report is published. However, if you would like to be added to the mailing list of people to be sent more information about application rounds in future years, including details of how to apply, then please contact:

Accessibility and Equalities Unit
Department for Transport
Zone 2/23 Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
Telephone: 020 7944 4913
Email: aeu@dft.gsi.gov.uk

11. We continue to use working groups for the different modes of transport and for education and training as the main way that we take forward our work. Each group has a Chair and supporting Members, and we have also included representation from industry, regulatory bodies and government departments.

12. This year we added a new Olympic Working Group to recognise the increasing calls on us to advise on the preparations for transport in relation to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Our resources

13. The Department for Transport has provided the resources to support our work. Table 1, below, shows our operating cost in each of the past three financial years.

14. In addition, we have been able to call on the Department for Transport's research budget to conclude work reviewing the effectiveness of the guidance we produced for port and vessel operators, on Home Zones and on a training framework and generic principles for disability awareness for front line transport staff. Further details of this work are given in Section C.

Table 1: DPTAC expenditure 2004-2007 (all figures in pounds sterling)

* The significant decrease in expenditure resulted following the end of DPTAC's involvement in the Inclusive Environment work programme. This associated funding was removed from the DPTAC budget.

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