Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Monday, 9 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 October 2006. It was answered by Shaun Woodward (Labour) on Monday, 16 October 2006 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Disability Discrimination Acts

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the progress of leisure and tourism facilities in complying with the Disability Discrimination Acts.

Answer: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires all providers of tourism and leisure services to address physical barriers faced by disabled people in using their services. Beyond this my Department is working with the tourism industry to ensure that access is available to all.My Department fully supports VisitBritain in its operation of the national accessible scheme. The scheme covers the full range of visitor accommodation in three main areas of disability—mobility, hearing impairment and visual impairment.The need to greatly improve disability provision is also prominent in Welcome: Legacy, my Department's current consultation on the Tourism Strategy for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. The consultation seeks views on how best to increase participation in the accessible scheme from the present 435 providers, and on the possible use of the general national accommodation quality schemes to improve levels of provision for disabled visitors. The consultation ends on 17 November.

Secondary information