Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 27
We welcome the steps the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has taken to emphasise...
Recommendation
We welcome the steps the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has taken to emphasise that food retailers’ legal obligations to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people have remained in place throughout the pandemic. We fully endorse its new guidance to food retailers on the steps required to continue to meet their obligations, including in emergency situations. The Government should also publicly state the vital importance of reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people equal access to food during the pandemic. The Government should also publicly state the vital importance of reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people equal access to food during the pandemic. We recommend the Government better promote the EHRC’s new guidance to food retailers, including in its ongoing discussions with the food retail sector on maintaining disabled people’s access to food during the remainder of the pandemic.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states it has checked its efforts to ensure fair food access for disabled people, made some changes, and will continue to monitor and adjust, but does not commit to publicly stating the importance of reasonable adjustments or promoting EHRC guidance as recommended.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
27
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The Government is clear that all service providers—including shops and supermarkets selling food—must at all times comply with the law and make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers. In this context the duty is anticipatory, meaning that retailers should not wait to be asked, but should be planning for the fact that some of their customers will have mobility or breathing problems and have help and support ready for when this is needed. The Government welcomes the opportunity to restate this publicly. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been regularly engaging with supermarkets which are a part of the priority delivery slot scheme for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) and Non-Shielded-Vulnerable (NSV) individuals. Fourth Special Report of Session 2019–21 3 Both schemes are in place to ensure that access to food for vulnerable individuals is maintained throughout the pandemic. In line with the national roadmap, Defra are looking at both the CEV and NSV offer and are engaging with supermarkets, local authorities and charities to come up with options for the futures of both services. This is being looked at in conjunction with the ending of Shielding, the need for the services going forward and taking into account a scenario where shielding may be re-introduced in local lockdowns. Defra took an active stance in promoting the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) guidance during the pandemic and has worked closely with the EHRC and British Retail Consortium (BRC) about concerns raised by the EHRC. These were around retailers failing to uphold their duties under the Equalities Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people under the exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19, both in store and online. In light of the concerns raised, work was undertaken with the EHRC and BRC to look at what could be done in the context of social distancing and acute pressure on online delivery capacity. Defra continues to be a part of ongoing discussions with the retail sector through forums such as the fortnightly Retailer Forum. In September 2020, the EHRC published guidance for retailers.1 Defra facilitated a discussion with retailers ahead of the guidance being published to assist them to meet their duties under the Equalities Act 2010 during the pandemic.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗