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Public Transport (Disabled Access)

It is a pleasure to be here today. I believe this is the first time that I have spoken in this Chamber with you in the Chair, Mr. Williams. I take the opportunity to thank Mr. Speaker for granting me this Adjournment debate. Part of the London borough of Hillingdon is in my constituency. Every three months or so, the three Hillingdon Members of Parliament—my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd), the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) and I—have a joint meeting with Disablement Association Hillingdon, known locally as DASH. We meet various people who have disabilities and also those who have issues around it. A subject that has been common to various meetings is the problems that are still encountered by many disabled people in accessing public transport. First, I should acknowledge that there has been some advance in accessibility for disabled people on public transport—I believe we all recognise that—and certainly things have improved with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, but it is obvious that there are still significant problems. It is not particularly easy to bring accessibility to transport quickly, but the situation is frustrating for disabled people. Mr. Simon Harris, who is in charge of DASH, and one of the other people who often raises this point, Mr. Allen Bergson, are appropriately forthright in trying to champion the cause of improving accessibility for the disabled. I also acknowledge that in London, where my constituency is, we have Transport for London, and the Mayor and the Greater London authority have input. Although some of my comments will be about the UK generally, many of them will be directed by the experience in Hillingdon. However, they are relevant to many other areas. I shall not spend a great deal of time on the tube or the Overground, because it is evident to anyone who has any form of disability, particularly those who require a wheelchair, that the underground system is difficult to access.