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About DPTAC
Minutes of our meetings11.12.08: Minutes of Main Committee Meeting Who we areWe are the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, DPTAC. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee has published a leaflet, Who We Are and What We Do (Adobe Acrobat- 209kb), containing a summary of the aim, role, and objectives of the Committee. Hard copies are this leaflet can be obtained by contacting the DPTAC secretariat. Our purposeWe have been established by an Act of Parliament as an independent body to advise Government on the transport needs of all disabled people across the UK. We also advise on the built environment needs of all disabled people. The taskThis is a huge task. There are over 9.8 million disabled adults in Great Britain, who face major, widespread problems and disadvantages on all forms of transport and in the built environment. Our aimOur aim is to ensure that all disabled people can go where everyone else goes and that they can do so easily and without extra cost. We would like to see this happen over the next 10 years. Attitudes are changing. There has already been some progress in recent years but it has been slow. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 created statutory rights and obligations. Under the Act, new trains and buses must meet tough accessibility requirements. Although this is a great improvement on where this country was only few years ago, this Act still needs to be improved. Our membersOur Chair is Neil Betteridge. There are 20 other members of DPTAC representing a wide cross-section of disabled people and key transport professionals with experience of disability issues, as well as representatives from Scotland and Wales. By law, at least half of the DPTAC members have to be disabled. At the moment, about 70% are. The Chair and members are appointed by Ministers and serve for three years. Copies of the Register of Members' Interests are available on request from the Secretariat. We have a small Secretariat with an office in London. How to become a memberThe Department for Transport trawl, seeking applications for DPTAC membership closed on Friday 13 March 2009. Further information regarding this trawl can be obtained by contacting the DPTAC Sponsorship team within the Department for Transport. Links to any future trawls will be placed here and further information will be made available on the Department for Transport recruitment webpage. Our statutory responsibilitiesDPTAC has a statutory duty to consider any matter referred to it by Ministers but it can give advice on any other issue on the transport needs of all disabled people in England, Wales and Scotland. We also have a number of specific statutory roles. How we workOur role in relation to Government and industry is to give credible advice:
We work closely with a range of bodies that include Department for Transport (DfT), the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland. We have established a concordat with the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland. Our principles in relation to disabled people
Our principles in advising Government and industry
Annual reportTo find out about our recent activities please see our recent annual reports: What we cannot do
How to contact usThe Chair of DPTAC is Neil Betteridge. Telephone: 020 7944 8011 Our address: DPTAC DPTAC meetings are usually held in Department for Transport (DfT) London offices. How to get to DfT's London buildings Copies of a DPTAC Information Leaflet (Adobe Acrobat- 209kb) can be obtained free of charge from DPTAC. This leaflet is also available in alternative formats. |
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