---

Disability Discrimination Act

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Anne McGuire) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. I am today submitting to Parliament, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the draft revised Guidance on matters to be taken into account when determining questions relating to the definition of disability (hereafter referred to as the guidance). The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), as amended, prohibits discrimination against disabled people in a range of circumstances, including in employment and occupation, education, transport, and the provision of goods, facilities and services. Only those people who are defined as disabled in accordance with Section 1 of the Act, and associated schedules and regulations, are entitled to the protection that the Act provides. Under Section 3 of the Act, the Secretary of State has the power to issue guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining whether a person is a disabled person for the purposes of the Act. The guidance does not impose any legal obligations of itself, nor is it an authoritative statement of the law. However, Section 3(3) of the Act requires that an adjudicating body (such as a court or tribunal) which is determining whether a person is a disabled person for the purposes of the Act, must take into account any aspect of the guidance which appears to it to be relevant. The original guidance was published in 1996 (when the Act first came into force), and has not been amended since. As a result of various legislative changes since 1996, including the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (which provides automatic coverage for people with HIV, cancer and MS from the point of diagnosis, and removes the requirement for a mental illness to be ““clinically well-recognised””), the guidance now needs to be updated. It also needs to take account of developments in case law to reflect key court and tribunal cases, which have helped to improve understanding of how the definition works in practice. Finally, it needs to take account of commitments that the Government gave during the passage of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 through Parliament that they would consider how the guidance might be revised in order to make clear how people with a mental impairment can be covered by the Act. With these aims in mind, the guidance has been redrafted. The revised text was subject to a consultation exercise, aimed at the primary users of the guidance, but also including organisations representing disabled people, business and employee interests, and the legal and medical professions. The consultation document was also made available to the public through the Stationery Office and via the Internet. The consultation took place between 5 September and 31 October 2005 and we have carefully considered the comments received. As a consequence, a number of amendments have been made to the draft to clarify the guidance and the illustrative examples that it contains. An evaluation report on the consultation exercise has been produced and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of each House. In accordance with Section 3(6) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, I am today laying a copy of the draft revised guidance before each House. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Secretary of State aims to bring this revised guidance into force on 20 April 2006.