Consultation on DPTAC 2005-07 Strategy

Introduction
Purpose of the Consultation
Content of the 2005-2007 Strategy
Summary of Consultation Questions
Alternative Formats
Consultation Criteria: Code of Practice
Disclosure of Responses
How to Respond
Closing Date
Draft 2005-2007 Strategy
Annex A: Background on The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
Annex B: Consultation Code of Practice

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Introduction

1. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) is consulting on its strategy for 2005-2007. DPTAC has asked for comments by 17 January 2005. Annex A contains further information on DPTAC.

Purpose of the Consultation

2. DPTAC wants to learn the views and comments of those with an interest in its work on the form and content of the 2005-2007 Strategy.

Content of the 2005-2007 Strategy

3. The 2005-2007 Strategy sets out the aims, objectives and strategic priorities for DPTAC's work between 2005 and 2007.

Summary of Consultation Questions

4. Please comment on any aspect of the draft 2005-2007 Strategy. However DPTAC would like to know your comments on the following questions:

1. Are the aims, objectives and priorities of the strategy realistic and appropriate?
2. Is there other work to which you think DPTAC should be giving a high priority but which is not included in the 2005-2007 Strategy?
3. Could the wording and presentation of the 2005-2007 Strategy be made more clear?
4. How well does the DPTAC 2005-2007 Strategy set a framework for DPTAC to work effectively with Government, other advisory bodies, and the transport and built environment sectors?
5. Are there any further steps DPTAC could take to produce the 2005-2007 Strategy in alternative formats and languages so that it is accessible to disabled people, those who do not have English as their first language or those in disadvantaged communities?
6. How clearly do you understand where the DPTAC 2005-2007 Strategy helps you to meet your needs, and those of any disability, transport or built environment organisation that you represent?
7. Are there legislative, regulatory or other requirements that we need to take into account in making this 2005-2007 Strategy happen?

Alternative Formats

5. You can view this consultation document in full on the DPTAC website at: www.dptac.gov.uk.

6. The document can be downloaded free of charge using MS Word software. It is possible to alter the font and text size of documents on our website.

7. We can also make this consultation document available in large print, disc, Braille and audio tape. Details of how to order copies are given below.

Consultation Criteria: Code of Practice

8. This consultation is being carried out in accordance with the Government's Code of Practice on Written Consultation, a summary of which can be found in Annex B.

Disclosure of Responses

9. DPTAC will make your response publicly available unless you ask us not to. Please make it clear if you would object to us copying or disclosing your response to others. All responses will be included in any summary of results, although individuals will not be identified. Names and addresses may be held in an electronic database of interested parties for the purpose of distributing future documents on similar issues.

How to Respond

10. Please send your comments on this 2005-2007 Strategy to:

Andy Kirby
DPTAC Secretariat
Zone 1/14
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 8012
Fax: 020 7944 6998
Text Phone: 020 7944 3277
E-mail: andy.kirby@dft.gsi.gov.uk or dptac@dft.gsi.gov.uk

11. If you are making specific comments or amendments, please use page and paragraph numbers.

12. You can also contact us at the above address if you would like more information about this consultation, if you have examples of good practice to bring to our attention, or if you would like to receive a copy of the final 2005-2007 Strategy, to be published later in 2004.

13. Representative bodies or organisations are asked to bring this paper to the attention of all the various interests they represent. Additional copies of this consultation paper may be obtained from us, full contact details are given above, or may be downloaded from the our web site at: www.dptac.gov.uk.

Closing Date

14. Please send us your comments by 17 January 2005.

DPTAC 2005-07 Strategy

Our Strategy for 2005-07

1: The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) was established in 1986 to provide independent advice to Government on the transport needs of all disabled people (Transport Act 1985).

2: Ministers invited us to provide independent advice on disabled people's needs regarding the built environment in 2000 (Disability Rights Task Force recommendation 8.3).

3: People with physical and sensory impairments make up one in five of the population, or 9.8 million adults in the UK. In addition, one in seven people at any one time may experience significant mental health problems. These people face major, widespread problems and disadvantages on all forms of transport and throughout the built environment. These barriers can exclude disabled people from participating fully in society as equal citizens.

4: Our aim is:

'To ensure that disabled people can go where everyone else goes and can do so easily and without encountering additional barriers or incurring extra costs. We would like to see this happen over the next ten years.'

5: Attitudes are changing. There has been marked progress in recent years but it has taken longer than it should.

6: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 created statutory rights and obligations. Under the Act, new trains and buses must meet thorough accessibility requirements. Service providers now must consider whether they need to make reasonable adjustments to their premises to ensure access for disabled people. Although this is a great improvement on where this country was only a few years ago, the Government recognise that this Act needs to be improved and plans further primary and secondary legislation.

7: One of DPTAC's strengths is the experience and knowledge of its membership, which gives it the ability to provide timely and credible advice. We work in partnership with Government, disabled people and their organisations and the transport and built environment communities we seek to influence by advising on effective solutions to access problems.

8: Our purpose is to advise the Government on the transport and built environment needs of disabled people.

9: Our objectives are:

Objective 1: To provide timely, focused and credible advice to Government on the transport and built environment needs of all disabled people, the advice to be representative of the broad views of disabled people in the United Kingdom on non-devolved issues.

Objective 2: To provide guidance and advice to the transport and built environment industries and others on how best to meet the varying needs of all disabled people, taking account of gender, race, faith, sexuality, age and other relevant factors.

Objective 3: To ensure that service providers inform disabled people of developments in accessible transport and the built environment.

10: We base our advice on four underlying principles, which are:

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

11: We also believe that accessibility for disabled people can, and should, be measured and monitored to ensure progress is being made. DPTAC wants to see quantifiable improvements in the mobility of disabled people and accessibility of the built environment measured in terms of changes to the quality of their lives.

12: Although Ministers established DPTAC, it can only fully satisfy its remit if it acts independently of Government. This ensures not only its standing within the transport and built environment communities but also its credibility among disabled people. The dedicated Secretariat was established in 2000 to enable DPTAC to demonstrate its independence.

13: To be effective DPTAC has to lead the debate and influence not only Government but also other stakeholders and the climate in which policy and investment decisions which affect disabled people are made. Above all, DPTAC has to offer practical solutions, not just analysis or idealism.

14: DPTAC's main liaison is with the Department for Transport, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and their equivalents (principally the National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development). DPTAC has a crucial role in educating and influencing these Departments to address accessibility issues.

15: However, they are not the only audience for DPTAC's work, other key stakeholders will include:

• The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland, the Disability Rights Commission and its successor the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, and other disability organisations,
• Other Government advisory bodies such as the Commission for Integrated Transport and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment,
• Regulatory bodies such as the Office of the Rail Regulator and the Civil Aviation Authority,
• Transport for London and Passenger Transport Executives,
• Voluntary bodies such as the Community Transport Association and representative bodies of disabled drivers,
• Local Government organisations such as the Local Government Association, and the Innovation and Development Agency,
• Industry associations for specific modes, such as the Association of Train Operating Companies , the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the British Air Transport Association,
• Organisations handling passenger complaints and comments, such as Rail Passenger Council, the Bus Appeals Body, and the Air Transport Users Council,
• Others with a role in improving accessibility, such as the Access Association, professional bodies and educational establishments,
• This list is not intended to be comprehensive but demonstrate the range of stakeholders DPTAC must influence if it is to achieve its aim.

16: To carry the argument, and to ensure that DPTAC advice is not marginalised or overlooked, the supporting analysis must be rigorous and robust. Its advice will be based on research evidence where that exists.

Being Realistic About What DPTAC Can Achieve

17: DPTAC has a small Secretariat of six officials based in London, twenty members and limited resources. We are realistic about what we can achieve in our role as an advisory body, however we do not underestimate the influence of timely, credible advice.

18: DPTAC operates on a number of levels:

1. We promote a general message about accessibility, as embodied in the DPTAC principles.
2. We provide guidance on mainstreaming accessibility.
3. We can provide general or detailed technical advice to industry.

19: DPTAC's broad membership enables it to operate on all of these levels. It uses a variety of mechanisms including advice to Ministers and officials in the Department for Transport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister guidance to industry, responding to consultations, producing publications and the DPTAC website and undertaking research.

20: However, priorities need to be established and care taken not to spread ourselves too thinly. This strategy outlines how DPTAC will seek to deliver its objectives and identify priorities for the 2005-07 period.

DPTAC Strategic Priorities

21: A key part of the DPTAC strategy is to lead and inform policy debates, and to input and influence key Government policy decisions to ensure they contribute to the delivery of our aim of a transport and built environment accessible to all.

22: In seeking to deliver our objectives, DPTAC will undertake tasks grouped under the following strategic priorities (SPs):

SP1: to discharge DPTAC's statutory responsibilities (as set out in Annex B) and put its built environment responsibilities on a clear statutory footing.

SP2: to ensure implementation of the DRTF and subsequent recommendations to Government relating to transport and the built environment through primary, secondary and European legislation.

SP3: to ensure accessibility is achieved, enforced, measured monitored and evaluated, with progress benchmarked.

SP4: to mainstream accessibility in transport and built environment policy, practice and procedure and show how this can support other government aims such as those relating to health, sustainable development and law and order.

SP5: to ensure that the advisory, regulatory and enforcement structures necessary to achieve accessibility such as the Commission for Equality and Human Rights are in place and effective in relation to the mobility needs of disabled people.

Work Programme

23: To achieve DPTAC's objectives and strategic priorities, the Committee will adopt working methods and practices that focus on specific tasks.

24: Ahead of each financial year DPTAC will agree a work programme identifying the outcomes it wishes to achieve in the following year.

25: DPTAC's statutory responsibilities (SP1) are likely to be largely constant throughout the strategy period.

26: Tasks and outcomes under the other strategic priorities will depend on wider Government policy, other developments and the emerging priorities of the Committee. Capabilities in forward planning will be developed to ensure DPTAC undertakes tasks and seeks outcomes that will lead to real improvements in accessibility for disabled people over the short and long term.

Conclusion

27: This strategy sets out a framework under which detailed work programmes will be developed through the strategy period.

28: It is an ambitious strategy that will make a significant contribution towards DPTAC's aim of a transport system and built environment accessible to all within ten years.

29: In delivering this strategy, DPTAC will focus on achieving the outcomes identified under each priority area using a variety of working methods. Full use of Members' experience and knowledge will be essential, as will constructive relationships with other stakeholders.

Annex A: Background on The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee

1. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) was established under the Transport Act 1985, as an independent statutory body advising the Government on the transport and mobility needs of disabled people.
2. The committee has a maximum of 20 members and a Chairperson appointed by Ministers (of whom at least half must be disabled people), representing a wide range of transport interests. Members are unpaid, apart from the reimbursement of expenses.
3. Since summer 2000, DPTAC has also been responsible for advising the Government on the built environment needs of disabled people, as recommended by the Disability Rights Task Force.
4. DPTAC provides expert advice on a broad range of transport and built environment issues aimed at improving access for disabled people, and carries out independent research on disabled people and their use of transport, with the aim of promoting a more inclusive society.
5. DPTAC's statutory remit is to consider matters referred to it by the Secretary of State, but it can also consider any other matter, such as advising on Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which applies to airport operators, bus and train operators as service providers in relation to airports, rail and bus stations and associated infrastructure.

Annex B: Consultation Code of Practice

This consultation has been carried out in accordance with the Government's Code of Practice on Written Consultation. The Code of Practice requires that:

1. Timing of consultation should be built into the planning process for a policy (including legislation) or service from the start, so that it has the best prospect of improving the proposals concerned, and so that sufficient time is left for it at each stage;
2. It should be clear who is being consulted, about what questions, in what timescale and for what purpose;
3. 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;
4. 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;
5. Sufficient time should be allowed for considered responses from all groups with an interest. Twelve weeks should be the standard minimum period for a consultation;
6. Responses should be carefully and open-mindedly analysed, and the results made widely available, with an account of the views expressed, and reasons for decisions finally taken;
7. Departments should monitor and evaluate consultations, designating a consultation coordinator who will ensure the lessons are disseminated.

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