Recommendation 26

The confidence that regulators evince in informal methods of enforcement and its deterrent effect on other operators is not justified by the experience of travellers. We recognise that reputational incentives such as performance rankings have a part to play, as do informal collaboration and education, but failure to adhere to legal requirements demands more robust and immediate responses. Thresholds for taking formal enforcement action are in general set too high, requiring evidence of repeated and enduring failures. As a result, the number of formal actions that have been taken in each sector is so low that they can generally be recalled individually by enforcement bodies. This cannot be right when disabled travellers themselves typically lose count of the number of times they encounter serious problems. This results in a significant enforcement gap, and operators getting away with repeated poor practice. (Conclusion, Paragraph 164)