Recommendations & Conclusions
10 items
1
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
Aside from the structural legal issues, it is clear from the evidence that myriad specific practical issues need to be addressed, across all transport modes and relating to all kinds of disability, to improve compliance and practice on a daily basis. We will seek to hold the Department for Transport, …
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Aside from the structural legal issues, it is clear from the evidence that myriad specific practical issues need to be addressed, across all transport modes and relating to all kinds of disability, to improve compliance and practice on a daily basis. We will seek to hold the Department for Transport, local authorities and providers to account for addressing these issues. The meaningful involvement of disabled people must be central to the work of operators and government at all levels in solving these problems, and such involvement must be adequately funded, planned and supported. (Conclusion, Paragraph 38) From policy aspiration to implementation: where do things go wrong?
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Government response AI summary
The government states it will act on the practical accessibility issues raised by the inquiry and will ensure operators and regulators treat accessibility as a fundamental and prioritised expectation.
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Department for Transport
2
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
The 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy set a goal of “creating a transport system offering equal access for disabled people by 2030”. Regardless of the status of individual actions set out in that Strategy, it is evident that the overall goal will not be achieved on that timescale. A positive direction …
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The 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy set a goal of “creating a transport system offering equal access for disabled people by 2030”. Regardless of the status of individual actions set out in that Strategy, it is evident that the overall goal will not be achieved on that timescale. A positive direction of travel is not enough—and, indeed, we have seen progress go backwards in some respects since the Covid-19 pandemic. There needs to be more emphasis on a concrete delivery plan to achieve the overall outcome of closing the accessibility gap, rather than administrative actions which, while positive in themselves, risk adding up to no more than the sum of their parts. (Conclusion, Paragraph 45)
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts that its strategic approach to accessibility needs improvement and will embed it as a 'golden thread' within the forthcoming Integrated Transport Strategy (INTS), focusing on a clear action plan and milestones.
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Department for Transport
4
Recommendation
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
Decision-makers too often deem accessibility to be in conflict with, and less important than, other policy goals, technical requirements or cost pressures. The Government’s starting point must be that accessibility has to be delivered, not that it will only be delivered if other factors do not get in the way. …
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Decision-makers too often deem accessibility to be in conflict with, and less important than, other policy goals, technical requirements or cost pressures. The Government’s starting point must be that accessibility has to be delivered, not that it will only be delivered if other factors do not get in the way. (Conclusion, Paragraph 58)
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts that accessibility must be a "golden thread" in transport system design and operation, committing to embedding it within the forthcoming Integrated Transport Strategy with clear action plans and milestones to ensure it is not sidelined.
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Department for Transport
8
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
The seemingly routine, everyday nature of assistance failures on the rail network is unacceptable. Accessibility must not be viewed through the same lens as customer service, where less than 100 per cent performance is considered normal. Accessibility failures should be vanishingly rare, not commonplace, but too few actors in the …
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The seemingly routine, everyday nature of assistance failures on the rail network is unacceptable. Accessibility must not be viewed through the same lens as customer service, where less than 100 per cent performance is considered normal. Accessibility failures should be vanishingly rare, not commonplace, but too few actors in the system currently behave as if that is the case. A change of mindset throughout the transport system is urgently needed, recognising that accessibility is both a non-negotiable matter of human rights and discrimination, and a health and safety issue. (Conclusion, Paragraph 66)
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the need to improve its strategic approach to accessibility, committing to embed it as a 'golden thread' within a forthcoming Inclusive Transport Strategy (INTS) which will include a clear action plan and milestones.
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Department for Transport
9
Recommendation
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
The Government’s new strategy for inclusive transport should set out what practical measures it will take to embed the principle that every instance of not meeting accessibility obligations constitutes a serious failure for which operators and service providers will be held accountable. This must include measures to collect comprehensive data …
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The Government’s new strategy for inclusive transport should set out what practical measures it will take to embed the principle that every instance of not meeting accessibility obligations constitutes a serious failure for which operators and service providers will be held accountable. This must include measures to collect comprehensive data on such failures. (Recommendation, Paragraph 67) 75
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Government response AI summary
The government commits to embedding accountability measures and a clear action plan within its forthcoming Inclusive Transport Strategy to address accessibility obligations and failures.
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Department for Transport
11
Recommendation
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
The Department must set out in response to this report how it will change its processes in order to build accessibility into decision-making processes both internally and at agencies overseen by the Department, and how it will ensure that internal checks and balances for accessibility are effective. Relying on consultations …
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The Department must set out in response to this report how it will change its processes in order to build accessibility into decision-making processes both internally and at agencies overseen by the Department, and how it will ensure that internal checks and balances for accessibility are effective. Relying on consultations to highlight problems after policies and interventions have already been designed is not acceptable. (Recommendation, Paragraph 75)
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees to integrate accessibility into decision-making, stating it will review business case guidance and associated processes to better reflect impacts on people with disabilities. It has also expanded its People and Equalities Centre of Excellence (PECoE) team to drive internal culture change.
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Department for Transport
12
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
We welcome the aspiration expressed by the Department in the last Parliament to involve the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee more thoroughly in the policy-making process beyond policy specific to accessibility. This was long overdue, considering that DPTAC was established in 1985. (Conclusion, Paragraph 76)
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We welcome the aspiration expressed by the Department in the last Parliament to involve the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee more thoroughly in the policy-making process beyond policy specific to accessibility. This was long overdue, considering that DPTAC was established in 1985. (Conclusion, Paragraph 76)
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Government response AI summary
The government states that the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) already plays a key role across all aspects of policy development and has agreed to enhance its public reporting by publishing regular updates and meeting minutes.
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Department for Transport
18
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
We welcome the focus in the Government’s rail reform consultation paper on streamlining, consolidating and strengthening powers for protecting passenger interests, resolving complaints and monitoring rights and standards. However, the focus on accessibility in the consultation document appears relatively weak in comparison to the severity of the problem. It will …
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We welcome the focus in the Government’s rail reform consultation paper on streamlining, consolidating and strengthening powers for protecting passenger interests, resolving complaints and monitoring rights and standards. However, the focus on accessibility in the consultation document appears relatively weak in comparison to the severity of the problem. It will be necessary for the passenger watchdog to have substantial expertise in and resources dedicated to accessibility and inclusion if it is to make a significant difference to the everyday experience of disabled travellers. We draw attention to our recommendation later in this report that the Department assess whether a single body with responsibility for enforcing the rights of disabled travellers across transport modes would be a more effective model for bringing about change than mode-specific and general passenger rights bodies. (Conclusion, Paragraph 96)
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Government response AI summary
The government confirms the forthcoming Railways Bill will create a new passenger watchdog, which was proposed to have an explicit duty on accessibility for monitoring and advocating improvements, with the full consultation response due later this year.
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Department for Transport
19
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
An unreasonable burden is currently placed on disabled people themselves in holding transport operators and authorities to account for fulfilling their duties. Legal action is rarely a practical option for most individuals, so it is especially important that complaints processes are made more accessible and effective. The user should not …
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An unreasonable burden is currently placed on disabled people themselves in holding transport operators and authorities to account for fulfilling their duties. Legal action is rarely a practical option for most individuals, so it is especially important that complaints processes are made more accessible and effective. The user should not have to be an expert either in the law or in organisational structures across varied transport modes to know whether they have a valid complaint, to whom it should be addressed, how to contact that body and how to escalate the complaint if necessary. In the long term, there may be a case for rationalising the number of organisations who deal with transport accessibility complaints, but in the meantime, a unified ‘front of house’ service could make a meaningful difference to users. We note plans to establish a passenger standards authority in the rail sector, but this covers just one mode of transport and will not be an accessibility-specific body. (Conclusion, Paragraph 104) 77
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the complexity of complaints processes and is already working with disabled people's groups to improve information. It will undertake further work to explore simplifying complaints processes and escalation routes across modes, starting with assessing bus complaints pathways.
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Department for Transport
23
Conclusion
1st Report – Access denied: rights vers…
Accepted
The landscape of legislative and regulatory requirements for transport accessible is overly complicated and fragmented and needs to adapt to changing uses of transport. This prevents both operators and travellers readily understanding rights and obligations, and makes redress harder to access. (Conclusion, Paragraph 123)
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The landscape of legislative and regulatory requirements for transport accessible is overly complicated and fragmented and needs to adapt to changing uses of transport. This prevents both operators and travellers readily understanding rights and obligations, and makes redress harder to access. (Conclusion, Paragraph 123)
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the conclusion that transport accessibility legislation is complicated and commits to having the Law Commission undertake a review of the framework to provide clearer standards.
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Department for Transport