Annual Report 2006-2007

E: Our Members

This section includes information on all members of DPTAC as at 1 April 2006.

Chair:
Neil Betteridge

Members:
Pravinkant Amin
Ann Bates
Sean Bolton
Vidur Dindayal
Jean Dunlop
David Finnegan
Roger Hewitt
Judith Jeskey
Tomi Jones
Grahame Lawson
Marilyn Lister
Wendy Morrell
Nicola McLeish
Alan Norton
Tom Pey
Katherine Phipps
Dai Powell
Keith Richards
Carol Thomas
Richard West

Observers at 1 April 2006:
Ian Humes, Department for Regional Development (Northern Ireland)
Nigel Dotchin, Department for Transport, Mobility and Inclusion Unit
Miranda Carter, Department for Transport, Mobility and Inclusion Unit
Barbara Vincent, Department for Work and Pensions
Will Bee, Disability Rights Commission
Emma Sinclair, Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland
Lynne Duff, Scottish Executive
Mike Spearing, Welsh Assembly Government

Secretariat:
Andy Kirby, Secretary
Sandra Duncan
Gary Kemp
Michael Parsons
Harriet Samuels
Verona Wiltshire

Member profiles

Neil Betteridge - Chairman
Neil developed rheumatoid arthritis at the age of three, which had a major impact on his life for the next ten years or so and continues to inform all his work. Since completing his research degree in 1989, he has been working as a public policy specialist and campaigner on arthritis and pan-disability issues.

Formerly Head of Public Policy and Campaigning at RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation), he is now Chief Executive at Arthritis Care. He is additionally Chair of the PARE (People With Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe) Manifesto, the European campaigns network of arthritis user groups; is Chair of ARMA (Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance), the umbrella group for arthritis in the UK; and a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport. He has recently completed four years as Vice President of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) as well as a three year term of office as a trustee with the Long Term Medical Conditions Alliance.

Throughout 2004-05 Neil served as a patient advisor on the steering group of the Department for Health in England's Musculoskeletal Services Framework.

Pravinkant Amin
Pravin is the Special Projects Manager in the Engineering and Transportation Department at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He is the Past President and Trustee of National Congress of Gujarati Organisations and Trustee of ASHRAM (Lambeth Asian Elderly Centre). This is his second term as a Member of DPTAC.

Ann Bates
Ann was a member of the Rail Passengers Committee and Council (now Passenger Focus) and worked closely with train operating companies, rolling stock leasing companies, Network Rail and the Strategic Rail Authority.

Since becoming Chair of the Rail Group, Ann has built on these relationships and now sits of the Access for All committee, which monitors the distribution of the UK Government's £370 million accessibility fund. She gives advice to the UK Office of the Rail Regulator and works with the Rail Safety and Standards Board. DPTAC Rail Group have also led the way in the UK on the negotiations around the new EU Interoperability agreement for PRMs.

Ann is also a non-executive director of a National Health Trust running two busy District General Hospitals and has professional involvement with the Trade Union Disability Alliance.

Ann is a wheelchair user and balances her different roles with caring for her family. Ann has been a member of DPTAC since 2002 and also sits on DPTAC's Olympic, Aviation and Maritime Working Groups.

Sean Bolton
Sean Bolton was appointed as a member of DPTAC in January 2005. He is also a member of the Scope National South West Partnership committee, which manages the Scope Area plan, and monitors the services at local level, reporting back to the Scope Executive Council. He is an 'expert by experience' at the University of the West of England in Bristol, in which role he assesses students on their knowledge of service user involvement, and helps them to locate information they need for their Social Work courses. He is a member of the North Bristol Patient and Public Involvement Forum, which looks at the health service within our area. His role is to talk to patients, and feed back their comments and concerns to the NHS Trust, in order that services can be improved. He has previously been involved with Bristol Disability Equality Forum advising on Equal Opportunities and Disability Policies. He was also involved with the Bristol Physical Access Chain which looked at the access issues within Bristol, including transport and buildings. This is his first term as a Member of DPTAC.

Lekh (Vidur) Dindayal
Vidur is an architect who has worked on access design for over 30 years. Appointed to DPTAC in 2002, he is a member of the Disability Appeals Tribunal and a continuous professional development (CPD) assessor for the Royal Institute of British Architects CPD Providers Network. He is a former member of the London Regional Passengers Committee, and Vice Chairman of its Advisory Panel on Accessible Transport. He was a part time lecturer for 15 years.

Jean Dunlop
Jean has been a Member of DPTAC since 1997. Jean is the Vice-Chair of the Scottish Accessible Information Forum, Chairperson of FABB Scotland (Facilitating Access Breaking Barriers) and a member of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland. She is a wheelchair user and also a disability equality trainer. She chairs DPTAC's Maritime Working Group.

David Finnegan
David has spent 16 years working in the access field with Merseytravel Passenger Transport Executive with responsibility for designing inclusive infrastructure and implementing the DDA throughout the organisation. He has undertaken other disability work through WIRED (Wirral Information Resource Equality and Disability), the Spinal Injuries Association and is also a member of the Access Association. David has an interest in environmental issues and is an inventor. He is a wheelchair user and has been a DPTAC Member since 2002.

Roger Hewitt
Roger has been a member since 2003 and is in his second term. His role as Projects Manager for the United Kingdom Council on Deafness (UKCoD) involves co-ordinating a number of projects, including Opportunities for Volunteering and Deaf Awareness for Healthcare staff on behalf of the Department of Health. As a Deaf person, Roger's personal experience and knowledge has proved useful in his role on several access advisory groups covering a wide range of areas such as theatres, local authorities and the police. Roger is also a consultant, researcher and trainer on Deaf Issues, including Mental Health.

Judith Jesky
Judith became spinal cord injured in 1969 following a road traffic accident at the age of 13. For the past six years she has worked full time for the University of Cambridge as head of its Disability Resource Centre, which provides information, advice and support for disabled students and staff studying and working at Cambridge. Before that she worked in local government, at Cambridge City Council for 11 years developing disability services such as Shopmobility and a Taxicard travel voucher scheme, and in developing policy and best practice in their Strategy Department. She is a member of the General Council of the Spinal Injuries Association. This is her first term as a Member of DPTAC.

Tomi Jones
Tomi has worked in transport for the past 20 years. Initially he was Transport Supervisor for Social Services in Dyfed and then became Transport Manager for the new unitary authority of Ceredigion. Four years ago he was instrumental in setting up an integrated transport unit for the authority and has since then been its manager. He was a founder member of the Community Transport Association of Wales and is has been its chair. He has also served on the national executive of CTA UK and is currently vice chair. This is his first term as a Member of DPTAC.

Grahame Lawson
A Member since 1996, Grahame has been involved in transportation for over 36 years and has had a particular interest in disability issues for 15 years. He undertook a lead role in the review by DPTAC of the Blue Badge Scheme. Grahame recently retired as Head of Planning and Transportation with North Lanarkshire Council, where he was a key officer on disability issues. He was also an adviser to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on disability matters. He chairs DPTAC's Personal Mobility and Local Authority Working Group.

Marilyn Lister
Marilyn Lister is Studies Manager at the Audit Commission, where she has worked since 2000. She worked previously in local authority leisure services and for the Cabinet Office Chartermark Awards. This is her first term as a member of DPTAC.

Wendy Morrell
Wendy was a mathematics teacher until 1989 when she sustained a brain injury in a sporting accident. In 2000 Wendy was partnered with an assistance dog from Dogs for the Disabled; she has since become an active member of the assistance dog movement working to improve access both in the UK and abroad.

Wendy is on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) and has travelled extensively throughout Europe and USA with her assistance dog. Wendy is a wheelchair user and lives in Dorset, where she has co-founded a local access group. This is her first term as a member of DPTAC.

Nicola McLeish
Nicola works as a Senior Transport Planner at Kent County Council, where she has been since 2001. Nicola specialises in mobility and access issues across the highway network. She has been involved in raising the profile of disability issues in Kent through Disability Awareness Training specifically constructed for Highways and Transportation professionals. Nicola is a member of the Transport Planning Society and the Institute of Civil Engineers, and has a keen interest in sustainable travel. This is her first term as a member of DPTAC.

Alan Norton
Alan is Director of Assist UK (formerly the Disabled Living Centres Council), the national network for advice on independent living equipment. He is also a board member for the Disabled Living Centre in Manchester, and Chairman of Bury Shopmobility. He is a member of the North West Committee for Community Legal Services and involved in the Greater Manchester Police Respect Programme. He is also involved in many voluntary sector activities providing services and inclusion for disabled people in the North West. This is his first term as a Member of DPTAC.

Tom Pey
Tom is Director of Public Policy and Development for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, a Trustee of the Royal London Society for the Blind, and sits on the Pets Passport Advisory Committee. He chairs DPTAC's Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Working Group. Tom is blind, and was appointed to the Committee in 2002.

Katherine Phipps
Katherine is currently Director of Communication Services and Development at RNID. Previously she was Head of JMU Access Partnership, the pan-disability access consultancy within RNIB and she has also worked as a Disability Consultant with RNID and a research assistant at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research. She is the first chair of the Inclusive Environment Group, advising the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on the built environment needs of disabled people, with a specific remit for access and inclusive design. On DPTAC she leads on transport issues relating to the 2012 London Olympics. Katherine is severely deafened herself and this is her first term as a Member of DPTAC.

Dai Powell
Dai Powell is Chief Executive of Hackney Community Transport, a large urban not-for-profit company in east London who won the Social Enterprise of the Year award in 2004. Dai has always believed that transport can play a key role in determining the extent to which people with mobility difficulties are able to fulfil their potential and to participate more fully in society. Through the services HCT run, Dai has demonstrated how to turn such a vision into a reality.

As well as his work in HCT, Dai has also been the Chair of the national Community Transport Association (CTA) since 1999. Under his leadership, the CTA has played a significant role at a strategic level, working with the Social Exclusion Unit, the Department for Transport, academic institutions and other agencies to ensure that the needs of millions of socially isolated communities and individuals with disabilities are fully taken into account when policies and laws are developed.

Dai was honoured with an OBE in the New Year Honours list (2006) for his contribution to services to disabled people. This is his first term as a member of DPTAC.

Keith Richards
Keith is a barrister and Head of Business Development and Consumer Affairs at ABTA, the travel association, where he has special responsibility for access issues. Appointed in 2002, he was a member of the Department for Transport's Air Access group responsible for producing the Code of Practice - Access to Air Travel for Disabled People. Keith is also a member of the European Civil Aviation Conference Facilitation Working Group on People with Reduced Mobility. He chairs DPTAC's Aviation Working Group.

Carol Thomas
Carol Thomas is Access and Inclusion Manager at The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Carol started her career as a planner and access officer in local government. She has worked in the access field for over 20 years, at Disability Wales and JMU Access Partnership, RNIB before joining Guide Dogs.

Carol has been a member of DPTAC since 1999 and chairs the Education and Training Working Group. Carol leads the Secretariat for the Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Partially Sighted People, and is a member of many bodies, including the Access Association, Disability Rights Commission forums on built environment and transport, and the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment Inclusive Environment Group.

Richard West
Richard is a member of the Greater London Association of Disabled People (GLAD) and works with CHANGE, where he deals with transport issues. Richard has a particular interest in making transport information more accessible for people with learning disabilities and has worked with Transport for London in that area. Richard has been a Member since 1999 and is the first member of the Committee with a learning disability. Richard is also deaf.

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