DPTAC response to Cabinet Office consultation on Effective Consultation

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Introduction
Key issues in the consultation
   Scope and accessibility of the consultation
   Future consultation
   Prominence of access and inclusion in the draft
   Accessible formats for consultation documents
   Accessible ways of responding to documents
   Accessibility of meetings
   Arms length consultations
   Disability Equality Duty
   Ministerial discretion to depart from good practice
   Impact of the Code
   Twelve week period
   Collection of statistics
   Timing of consultation in the policy development process
   Results of consultation process
   Impact assessments
   Supplementary engagement processes
   Consultation fatigue
   Requirement for additional methods of consultation
   Requirement for additional methods of consultation
   Principles based approach
Conclusion
Annex 1: Disability in the UK
   Disabled people in the population
   Population trends in disability
Annex 2: Checklist for accessible meetings
Annex 3: Checklist for documents

Introduction

1. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) welcomes the opportunity to comment on this consultation by the Cabinet Office on Effective Consultation. We believe that this consultation proves an important opportunity to review and update guiding principles which provide the foundation for consultations by all government departments, including several that are involved in policies that have implications for the transport of disabled people. While the content of the consultation goes beyond DPTAC's remit, we consider that there are lessons to be learned from consultations on transport that we have been involved in that could be applied more widely.

2. The Government set up DPTAC under the Transport Act 1985 to advise it on the transport needs of disabled people. Our aim is to ensure that 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 by 2020.

3. DPTAC has identified four overarching principles on which to base its advice to the government, other organisations and disabled people. Those principles are that:

• Accessibility for disabled people is a condition of any investment
• Accessibility for disabled people must be a mainstream activity
• Disabled people should be involved in determining accessibility
• Accessibility for disabled people is the responsibility of the provider.

4. These principles are the basis of our response to this consultation. We have also included some essential statistics relating to the numbers and nature of disabilities as an annex to these comments.

Key issues in the consultation

5. We will begin by setting out a number of issues relating to the draft overall. Where appropriate these will be linked to the headings in the consultation document. However, we will raise several issues which cannot be accommodated in that format.

Scope and accessibility of the consultation

6. DPTAC welcomes the length of time allowed for responses to the consultation and the reported availability of the document in some alternative formats. However, we are concerned that an easy to read summary has not been made available, and that DPTAC was not included in the original distribution list, despite our being a statutory consultative body of 21 year's standing and having been in correspondence with the Cabinet Office at Ministerial level in relevant months.

7. In addition to the standard Cabinet Office guidance that is the subject of this consultation, DPTAC also recommends that government departments clarify who is being consulted, about what questions, in what time-scale and for what purpose. We encourage officials to ensure disabled people and those concerned with access are consulted on a range of issues, not just those specifically focussed on disabled people. For example, most people would understand that changes to parking policy or to the regulation of rail carriage design might have consequences for disabled people. However it could be less immediately obvious that road pricing policy and changes to airport security can be equally important to disabled people.

Future consultation

8. DPTAC welcomes any opportunity to engage with Cabinet Office on the preparation of any supplementary guidance following on from this consultation.

Prominence of access and inclusion in the draft

9. While DPTAC welcomes the consultation, we are very disappointed at the paucity of references in the document to disability, access and inclusion in relation to consultation documents, meetings and other forms of engagement. Opportunities have been missed to promote the understanding of barriers to participation and engagement by disabled people in policy development, and to avoid them by providing the right information in the right format and manner and at the appropriate time.

Accessible formats for consultation documents

10. DPTAC considers that it is of paramount importance that documents mare made available in a range of accessible formats from the first day of any consultation period to the last. All too often documents are either not made available in accessible formats such as large print, audio, easy to read and languages other than English, including British Sign Language, until well into the consultation period.

11. The Government^[1] has stated that its publications which particularly affect disabled people should be made available in appropriate alternative formats at the same time as the standard format document is published. Where the timing of publication of documents is driven by other factors, it may not be possible to publish all formats at the same time. In these cases and where the documents being published are time bound, such as in the case of a consultation, the Government has said that it will generally extend deadlines for those people who rely on accessible formats. DPTAC recommends that this principle is incorporated in the revised Cabinet Office guidance.

12. For example, Let's make it accessible!^[2] provides advice to civil servants about how to make information accessible. It states that 'as a matter of good government and good practice, all departments should ensure that the public has access to information about departmental policies, initiatives and programmes'.

13. We attach at Annexe 2 to this response, a checklist that we have prepared on developing accessible consultation documents. This was prepared as part of an internal resource for Department for Transport staff, and made available to them on an intranet. We commend it for use more widely across government.

Accessible ways of responding to documents

14. Departments and their agents consulting disabled people also need to ensure that they have set in and accessible ways of responding to a consultation. For example, some blind and some other disabled people may need to ring in and record their responses.

Accessibility of meetings

15. DPTAC commends the increasingly common practice of holding meetings at which the subject of consultation can be discussed with stakeholders. While such meetings cannot substitute for a consultation document, they can provide important opportunities for consultees to clarify their own understanding of a consultation, ask questions of the consulting body, and learn from the points that other consultees make. There are occasions when these meetings will be best organised by the government department themselves, and departments should also consider resourcing other stakeholders to convene such meetings, as this may help to reach "quieter voices" and those less well known to central government.

16. We attach at Annex 1 to this response, a checklist that we have prepared on developing accessible consultation events. This was prepared as part of an internal resource for staff at the Department for Transport, and we commend it for use more widely across government.

Arms length consultations

17. One area where consultations have been less than usually effective in respect of the Departments for Transport and for Communities and Local Government in recent years, has been where consultants have been employed by government departments to carry out work that includes a consultation process. DPTAC has identified several instances where consultants have been so employed and have failed to consult us.

18. Moreover, in these cases the consultation was not listed on the consultation page of the websites of the departments concerned. There was therefore no way for advisory bodies and other stakeholders to find out for ourselves that the consultation was taking place. We recommend that this issue be specifically addressed in revised guidance. We do not believe that this failing is likely to be restricted to the departments that we have named.

19. DPTAC recommends that Cabinet Office guidance should be that government departments integrate inclusiveness and accessibility into the process for the procurement of all work that includes carrying out consultations. The Disability Rights Commission has drawn attention to the key role of the procurement process in the effective implementation of the Disability Equality Duty^[3]. Cabinet Office could also give thought to what accreditation could be used to show that consultants possessed the appropriate skills.

Disability Equality Duty

20. DPTAC was disappointed that the consultation document did not refer to the new disability equality duty which came into effect in December 2006. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 renders many of the departments that carry out consultations under the Cabinet Office guidance subject to both the general duty and the specific duties under the Act; though Cabinet Office itself is only subject to the general duty.

21. In terms of the general duty, the decisions and actions of Cabinet Office in respect of consultation policy will have to have due regard to the six principles of:

• Promoting equality of opportunity
• Eliminating discrimination
• Eliminating harassment
• Promoting positive attitudes
• Encouraging participation by disabled persons
• Treating disabled people more favourably than others.

22. Not only is there an expectation of positive action, but the duty is retrospective - Cabinet Office will be expected to take action to rectify the consequences of past decisions and actions that failed to give due regard to disability equality.

23. DPTAC recommends that revisions to the Code contain explicit reference to the Disability Equality Duty, including advice to departments on making appropriate reference to accessible consultation processes in the Disability Equality Schemes that many departments are now required to publish.

Ministerial discretion to depart from good practice

24. DPTAC notes the statement that "it is the Government's intention that Ministers will retain the discretion in future, irrespective of the outcome of this review, to consult but to consider it inappropriate or unnecessary to follow all of the best practice criteria." DPTAC accepts that there may be occasions when considerations of urgency or national security mean that best practice provisions are not appropriate, we recommend that these exceptions should be justified publicly by Ministers at the time that these considerations are invoked.

Impact of the Code

25. DPTAC is not in possession of detailed evidence on how effective the Code has been in improving the conduct of consultations by government departments. However there have been occasions when DPTAC has found it useful to be able to make reference to the provisions of the Code when these have not been adhered to by government departments.

Twelve week period

26. DPTAC considers that the twelve-week consultation period is essential. To the extent that it has been honoured by departments, it is probably the most important single achievement of the Code. Even with a twelve-week period, where a consultation falls over the summer or Christmas period we can be hard pressed to respond fully within the allotted time. We recommend that both the month of August and the week between Christmas and the New Year therefore be excluded from any 12 week period.

27. We note that according to Cabinet Office's own statistics^[4], in only one of the past five years (2005) has the percentage of consultations of 12 weeks or longer been greater than it was in 2001, while the total number of consultations has actually declined. In percentage terms therefore. Code compliance with the twelve week limit is falling.

Collection of statistics

28. DPTAC has no strong views on the collection of statistics relating to compliance with the Code. We would not wish any such requirements to be any more burdensome, time consuming or resource intensive than it has to be in order to collect reliable information and disseminate it to appropriate stakeholders.

Timing of consultation in the policy development process

29. Cabinet Office poses the question of when in the consultation process it is appropriate to consult. DPTAC has encountered more difficulties as a result of being consulted too late in the policy development process than in being consulted too early. If advisory bodies are engaged too late in the day then some important options might have been closed down from further consideration, and provisions may have been built in to the policy that give rise to problems of accessible and inclusion. If, in order to avoid this, stakeholders such as ourselves need to be consulted a number of times in the development of a policy, then the government should resource us to do so. Policy development is an iterative and cyclic process, so it is no surprise that consultation will often also have these characteristics or preconsultstion, reconsutlation, evaluation and debriefing.

Results of consultation process

30. DPTAC particularly commends the practice of going back to consultees and explaining what changes were made as a result of the consultation, including what was and was not changed as a result. This can help consultees to make their engagement in future consultations more effective, and so assess their own impact in relation to that of other stakeholders. It can help ensure that the consultation process involves learning for all concerned. Two goods examples of the use of this method are the Olympic Delivery Authority's consultation on its draft Olympic Transport Plan, and the Disability Rights Commission's consultation on its guidance to the transport sector on lifting part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Impact assessments

31. DPTAC has found that impact assessments vary in quality and completeness. To a large extent this is a necessary consequence of the incomplete development of the policy which as been reached at the consultation stage. That is why, as we have noted above, consultations need to be iterative and cyclic. However, we do find that impact assessments are a useful tool with which to engage with other stakeholders in jointly considering how effective a policy option is likely to be. We commend their continued use.

Supplementary engagement processes

32. Cabinet Office has asked for views on the role of engagement processes supplementary to consultation documents, such as one-off meetings, consultative forums, and consulting on how stakeholders prefer to be consulted in the future. While we see benefits in all of these methods, we consider that they should be additional to a written consultation, and not to substitute for it.

Consultation fatigue

33. Cabinet Office has reported that some organisations have stated that it was impossible or very expensive to provide responses to all the written consultations produced by the Government that touched on areas of interest to them. It causes DPTAC fatigue to have to chase consultations that we have not been advised of, have been advised of later in the consultation process, or where accessible documents have not been available. It is far less fatiguing to have to deal with a large number of consultations where we are provided with accessible materials on day one of a full twelve week consultation period.

Requirement for additional methods of consultation

34. The consultation proposes three options for future consultation the first a requirement that a written consultation always be supplemented by one other method. DPTAC agrees with the government that many departments are already doing this much of the time, and we consider that there may be situations where such additional methods may not be appropriate. Therefore, though we believe that meetings, forums and other events are generally useful, we do not consider that the use of an additional method of consultation should be mandated at this stage for all consultations. Instead, we recommend that Cabinet Office commissions work on how useful a range of additional engagement methods have in fact proved to be.

Requirement for additional methods of consultation

35. The consultation also proposes a fast track procedure where a policy team could demonstrate that its consultation would be of interest to only a very limited number of stakeholders who were already engaged with the department on the policy area in question. DPTAC would resist this, because of the increased risk that significant stakeholders might be omitted. We consider that it would duplicate the provision that exists for Ministers to have the discretion to depart from the recommendations in the Code, on which we have commented above.

Principles based approach

36. Finally, the consultation proposes an approach in which criteria in the current Code would be replaced by core principles, to be taken into account by Government departments when consulting on policy ideas or proposals. Departments would consult in a manner which they deemed to be appropriate and proportionate to the policy under discussion. DPTAC does not recommend this approach on the grounds of the loss of consistency and clarity. Such a change would make the situation far more complex for stakeholders who respond to consultations from a range of government departments.

Conclusion

37. DPTAC welcomes the opportunities presented by this consultation. We consider that they offer the potential to further promote and embed good practice, particularly with regard to ensuring that consultations are inclusive of and accessible to disabled people.

Neil Betteridge, Chair of Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
4/24 Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 8012
E-mail: dptac@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Annex 1: Disability in the UK

Disabled people in the population

1. DPTAC's principal concern is to ensure accessibility for disabled people. By this, we mean inclusive transport systems that are easy to reach, use and understand by all, in safety and comfort.

2. Disabled people and those with long-term illnesses make up about 17% of the population or about 10 million people, including people with limiting longstanding illnesses. Of these 4.6 million are over state pension age and 700,000 are children^[5]. While higher numbers of children are being born and living with impairments than ever before^[6], disability levels do increase with age.

3. Currently 985,000 people live with learning disabilities^[7], of whom 796,000 are adults over 20. The adult figure will increase to 855,000 (plus 7%) in 2011 and 891,000 (plus 11%) in 2021. It has been estimated that some 7 million adults have literacy problems^[8].

4. Using a broad definition of disability, a survey by the Department of Social Services reported that the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 covered approximately 11.7 million people, including 6.5 million people of working age. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 will have increased the figure, as it classes AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis as disabilities from the point of diagnosis. Multiple disabilities were common, as illustrated by prevalence figures indicating that a third reported sensory deficits, a third learning difficulties, half mobility problems and roughly as many impaired physical co-ordination. Long-term illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease and mental illness were included in the estimated total number of people affected by disability^[9].

5. Disabled people are not an homogenous group with identical needs. The needs of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities are distinct from those of wheelchair users for example. Even among people with similar impairments, needs vary, for example, profoundly deaf people will not benefit from induction loops. The needs of disabled people may be best met by any, all or combinations of: adapted forms of communication, attention to light and sound levels, easy to read signage and wayfinding, planning for assistance dogs, the presence of suitably trained and empowered staff, and appropriately designed physical infrastructure such as ramps, lifts and surfaces.

6. Disabled people live throughout the community. One in four households has a disabled resident^[10]. The need for access for disabled people is not limited to specific areas, but is present throughout the wider transport system.

Population trends in disability

7. The number of people over state pension age is projected to increase by 11.9% from 10 or so million in 2002 to 12.2 million in 2011 and the population aged 80 and over is projected to grow from 2.5 million in 2002 to nearly 5 million by 2031^[11]. The proportion of the working population will increase, as retirement ages advance. Over the same period that will bring about these changes in the population profile, the overall population will increase by about 9%.

8. The Department for Work and Pensions estimated in 2004 that disabled people have a spending power of around £80 billion each year^[12]. Planning strategically to design transport facilities that meet the needs of disabled people is likely to further increase this amount, as more disabled people become creators of the national wealth, rather than consumers of its state benefits.

9. Meeting the transport needs of disabled people by providing inclusive transport policies and infrastructure will be of considerable economic benefit to the country; both allowing them to exert this spending power and enabling them to become or remain part of the country's workforce.

10. The mobility of disabled people is also a precondition for the achievement of a wide range of government objectives such as safe and independent living; full participation in civil society; and the maintenance of good physical and mental health through access to recreational and cultural facilities. Some of these links were brought out in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's report "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People"^[13], and in our response to it^[14].

Annex 2: Checklist for accessible meetings

Assessment criteria for accessible venues:

• Reserved or Blue Badge parking near to entrance and reached by an accessible route.
• Well signed entrance with clear accessible route from parking, pedestrian access points and public transport drop off points, including ramps and handholds in accordance with Part M building regulations.
• Due consideration needs to be given to the venue's distance and accessibility from public transport links (rail, air and low floor bus) to reduce the cost of providing taxis from the terminals to the venue, and indeed the availability of accessible taxis. To ensure full accessibility of the venues used you may have to audit how suitable the facilities would be.
• Dropped kerbs at entrances and level or ramped access.
• Accessible road crossings near entrance which should include such features as beepers on signal posts, textured cones on controls that are easy to see and reach (and preferably with tactile/Braille controls and audible announcements) and textured route paving.
• Guide dog run/toilet facilities.
• No narrow doorways (minimum 800mm for a straight approach, more to allow for turning).
• Lifts available to all levels with low level controls.
• Accessible and clearly signed toilet facilities for both sexes.
• Accessible access to refreshment facilities (restaurants or cafe areas), telephones and vending machines.
• Conference room space to cater for the expected number of people (including language service professionals such as Sign language interpreters, lipspeakers and palantypists) with enough circulation space for wheelchair and assistance dog users.
• Tables with at least 750mm clearance for wheelchairs underneath, and chairs removed from some table spaces to allow room for wheelchairs.
• Clear accessible signs, in terms of height, contrast, print. Inclusive Mobility offers advice on signage.
• Controllable lighting, including blinds, within the conference room area to assist Sign language interpreters and lip speakers.
• Sound enhancement equipment either available on site or 'hired in' in by the user.
• Announcements of evaluation procedures will need to take account of the needs of disabled people.
• Ask people to introduce themselves in turn, so people with visual disabilities can be sure where people are in relation to themselves.
• Where interpretation is provided ask people to avoid acronyms and jargon and not to speak too fast, to enable to interpretation to take place smoothly.
• Make sure there are no obstacles at entrances and in corridors such as bins, and cables.

Sound enhancement equipment suppliers

A number of companies can provide sound enhancement equipment and normally the services of a technician throughout the hire period. This can take the form of an induction loop for the room, portable inductors worn by individuals who need them or an amplification system with microphones. This last alternative can be ordered for meetings in Great Minster House when rooms are booked.

Communication support

Palantypists are stenographers providing speech to text reporting during meetings using a typing machine and usually a laptop screen, though text can be projected onto larger screens for lager numbers of people.

The palantypists bring their own equipment to meetings but will need to have a power supply available for their equipment. It is always useful to have an additional extension lead available. All leads need to be taped to the floor for safety.

Palantypists are in demand and it is advisable to book their services as soon as a meeting date is known. If not available, an alternative provision might be to engage Sign language interpretation, finger spelling, Sign Supported English or lip speakers but you would need to ask members individually if these alternatives would be suitable (it would depend on the type and size of meetings).

Interpreters will translate speech into Sign language and vice versa. They need papers in advance of the meeting. Two interpreters will need to be available at each meeting as interpreters need regular breaks.

There may well be a charge of the full cost of provision for palantypist and interpreter cancellations of less than one working week before the booking date.

Water should be made available for assistance dogs, and arrangements for their exercise and relief over the course of a long meeting.

Meeting papers

The general principles relating to consultation documents set out below should be followed.

The meeting papers should be produced in a sans-serif font such as Arial with a 14 point font size. The papers should be ideally bound to enable ease of use. All paragraphs and pages should be numbered.

Where papers are handed out at meetings, and expected to be used, this is impossible for people who need alternative formats such as tape.

Nameplates should be used in the largest font size possible.

Annex 3: Checklist for documents

A consultation document should be as simple and concise as possible. It should include a summary, in two pages at most, of the main questions it seeks views on. It should make it as easy as possible for readers to respond, make contact or complain. The questions asked in consultation documents need particular attention. Any question should be clear and easy to understand. Where a format such as a questionnaire with spaces for specific responses is provided it should be made clear that responses in other formats will be taken into account.

Documents should be made widely available, with the fullest use of electronic means (though not to the exclusion of others), and effectively drawn to the attention of all interested groups and individuals. Making documents widely available may include doing so in alternative formats. These could include Braille versions, audiotapes, large print, easy-to-read versions with illustrations to benefit people with learning difficulties, and versions using Sign language. We recommend this is considered at an early stage in the development of the policy and budgeted for.

Where documents are published on the Internet they should be easily accessed and downloaded, with the option of a single file as well as a number of smaller files for each section. Many people with sight disabilities experience problems accessing 'pdf' files, especially where a document is in many parts. Some people with visual impairments relying on text-to-voice conversion software which may not be able to access these documents at all. We recommend a simple text or 'Word' version is also made available as a single download. We recommend officials ensure organisations of and for disabled people are contacted on a range of issues. In ensuring disabled people are aware of consultations we recommend contacting umbrella organisations in the first instance.

Use a readable font. Arial or another clear sans serif font with a 14 point size is recommended. All paragraphs and pages should be numbered using Arabic numbering (e.g. 1, 2, 3).

Avoiding acronyms and explaining technical terms.

Alternative formats - could include Braille versions, audiotapes, large print, clear print using special typefaces, easy-to-read versions with illustrations to benefit people with learning difficulties, and versions using Sign language. We recommend this is considered at an early stage in the development of the policy and budgeted for. It may be possible to generate some of these formats such as large or modified print at short notice but you should have some copies available art all times n all formats in which they are likely to be needed.

Website materials - Where documents are published on the Internet they should be easily accessed and downloaded, with the option of a single file as well as a number of smaller files for each section. We recommend a simple text or 'Word' version is also available as a single download. Some text to sound software used by people with visual disabilities cannot read 'pdf' documents.

Consultation list - include representative and any relevant local disability organisations, Do not assume that a national organisation is best paced to respond to a local consultation or will know who is.

Video is increasingly a medium used in consultation processes. Videos should include subtitles, and consideration be given to include British Sign Language. Where DVDs are used it may be possible to design in Sign language interpretation, audio-description and subtitles and soundtracks in a range of languages from the start.

Dealing with queries - be prepared to respond to queries about consultation in appropriate ways to the inquirer. Textphones such as minicom allow a deaf person to send a typed message through a telephone line, while Typetalk is a national relay service connecting a textphone and a hearing telephone user using a hearing operator who is in contact with other parties. Fax, e-mail and text messages are also popular methods of communication for deaf people.

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