That this house congratulates the Government for reducing the minimum age for eligibility for the mobility component of disability living allowance, and, therefore, motability from five to three, in 2001; appreciates that this change has benefited many families with disabled children who are three and four years old; acknowledges, however, that some severely disabled children under the age of three need the continual availability of large items of special equipment such as pump feeding or respiratory aid systems; welcomes innovations in posture protecting seating and standing technology for earliest years' use in conditions like cerebral palsy, which can reduce pain, improve physical development and obviate the need for later surgery; recognises, however, that the weight, size and rigidity of this equipment often make it impossible to take with the child in an unadapted family car or by public transport; and calls, therefore, on the Government to make the mobility component of disability living allowance available to families where best care of a disabled child under three requires the use of exceptional vehicle space or a specially adapted vehicle.

That this house congratulates the Government for reducing the minimum age for eligibility for the mobility component of disability living allowance, and, therefore, motability from five to three, in 2001; appreciates that this change has benefited many families with disabled children who are three and four years old; acknowledges, however,...

That this House congratulates Avon and Somerset Police on being the first police force in the world to use video phones to enable deaf people to contact the emergency services; notes that the scheme involves an operator who can use sign language communicating via video phone with a deaf caller; and urges the Government to look at ways in which constituents can use similar methods to communicate with their honourable members in Westminster.

That this House congratulates Avon and Somerset Police on being the first police force in the world to use video phones to enable deaf people to contact the emergency services; notes that the scheme involves an operator who can use sign language communicating via video phone with a deaf caller;...

That this House expresses concern that Ofcom is proposing to grant broadcasters of live discussion programmes and parliamentary proceedings an exemption from the provision of subtitling services; further notes that Ofcom is proposing to extend the requirments to provide access services to a very small proportion of the total number of licensed digital cable and satellite channels and in addition is rejecting the long established practice adopted by ITC since the Broadcasting Act 1990 of setting increasing interim targets for subtitling provision which will lead to the small number of newly regulated channels facing a minimum requirement of subtitling of a mere 10 per cent. of their output for the next five years; further believes that Ofcom's current proposals are based on a number of inaccurate technical assumptions and that it is failing to recognise the immense benefits of television subtitles for the one million people who use them for all television viewing as well as to the far greater population that use them on a regular basis; and therefore calls upon Ofcom to fully reconsider its current proposals and ensure that the intent of Parliament as clearly expressed in the Communications Act 2003 and in the extensive debates on access services are fulfilled by ending the proposed exemption for live discussion and parliamentary proceedings and by setting demanding yearly targets for subtitling provision for a significantly greater number of channels.

That this House expresses concern that Ofcom is proposing to grant broadcasters of live discussion programmes and parliamentary proceedings an exemption from the provision of subtitling services; further notes that Ofcom is proposing to extend the requirments to provide access services to a very small proportion of the total number...

That this House notes that following the publication of the Audit Commission's Report, Fully Equipped, in 2000 criticising the provision of second-rate disability equipment services for older and disabled people, the Prime Minister said, 'We cannot have a situation where older and disabled people are let down in the way this report suggests'; further notes that the follow up report by the Audit Commission in 2002 said that 'the services examined in the (2000) report have continued to struggle to attract the attention of senior policy makers and managers. Plans for the improvement of equipment services rest more on hope than expectation'; therefore, calls upon Her Majesty's Government to act upon the recommendations of both the Audit Commission Fully Equipped reports; and supports the call of the charities consortium emPOWER for a national focus on these services that are designed to support independence, through the creation of a national focus body for disability equipment provision.

That this House notes that following the publication of the Audit Commission's Report, Fully Equipped, in 2000 criticising the provision of second-rate disability equipment services for older and disabled people, the Prime Minister said, 'We cannot have a situation where older and disabled people are let down in the way...

That this House, while welcoming the voluntary intiatives by some digital cable and satellite broadcasters to subtitle their programming and recognising the significant benefits that the proposed communications legislation will bring for deaf and hard of hearing people through the extension of subtitling requirements to digital cable and satellite television, notes that the proposed timescale of 10 years for achievement of this target will delay fuller access to television for the five million deaf and hard of hearing people in the United Kingdom who use subtitles on a regular basis until 2014 at the earliest; and therefore calls on the Government to give urgent consideration to reducing the proposed 10 year timescale.

That this House, while welcoming the voluntary intiatives by some digital cable and satellite broadcasters to subtitle their programming and recognising the significant benefits that the proposed communications legislation will bring for deaf and hard of hearing people through the extension of subtitling requirements to digital cable and satellite television,...

That this House welcomes the recent publication of the draft Housing Bill; calls on the Government to include an incentive scheme for landlords and owner occupiers to adapt bathrooms to include easy or level access showering; believes this will lead to more elderly and disabled people being able to stay in their own homes and live independently when their mobility becomes restricted; and further notes that such a scheme would be very popular, would maintain skilled jobs in the plumbing and building industry and would offer good value for money, by relieving the indignity of strip washes suffered by the elderly and disabled, while they wait for the necessary adaptions.

That this House welcomes the recent publication of the draft Housing Bill; calls on the Government to include an incentive scheme for landlords and owner occupiers to adapt bathrooms to include easy or level access showering; believes this will lead to more elderly and disabled people being able to stay...

That this House is concerned to see new RNID research revealing that despite hearing loss being predominantly age-related, the number of people in the United Kingdom who use subtitles does not increase with age, confirming that many of the people who would most benefit from subtitles do not know either that they exist or how to access them; notes that this is further evident by the fact that the number of people who admitted to not knowing how to access subtitles was significantly higher amongst people above the age of 65; notes therefore that despite welcome increases in subtitling output proposed in the Communications Bill, far too many people are still missing out on television needlessly because they are not aware of subtitles; notes also that it is in broadcasters' interest to promote subtitles to attract large numbers of viewers to their channels; and calls on the Government to encourage broadcasters to improve their promotion of subtitling and on broadcasters voluntarily to commit to promoting the existence of subtitles with information on how to use them.

That this House is concerned to see new RNID research revealing that despite hearing loss being predominantly age-related, the number of people in the United Kingdom who use subtitles does not increase with age, confirming that many of the people who would most benefit from subtitles do not know either...

That this House calls upon Her Majesty's Government to act upon the recommendations of the Audit Commission's Fully Equipped Report on the provision of disability equipment services for older and disabled people; calls for national standards to be implemented for the one million wheelchair users in the United Kingdom, for prosthetic services and for orthotic services; and commends the work of the charity consortium emPOWER in supporting the provision of high quality equipment for the right people at the right time.

That this House calls upon Her Majesty's Government to act upon the recommendations of the Audit Commission's Fully Equipped Report on the provision of disability equipment services for older and disabled people; calls for national standards to be implemented for the one million wheelchair users in the United Kingdom, for...

That this House notes that many disabled and elderly people are sold assistive products such as stairlifts, mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs which are not appropriate for their needs through the use of high-pressure sales techniques, and that repairable equipment is often deemed as being 'beyond economic repair' by companies who wish to promote the sale of a new product; further notes that many such assistive products are sold at inflated prices and without after-sales support; notes the article in the Daily Mail on 18th March 2001 raising this issue in detail and bringing it to wider public attention;and calls on the Government first to promote the strengthening of existing Codes of Practice within the industry, secondly to promote the introduction of a mandatory Code of Practice for vendors of such equipment, in order that the often extremely vulnerable members of society who purchase assistive products are protected from such sales practices which often lead to much unnecessary expense and distress, and thirdly to support the establishment of advisory centres, independent from the manufacturers themselves, to which the purchasers of such equipment could turn for assistance in this regard.

That this House notes that many disabled and elderly people are sold assistive products such as stairlifts, mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs which are not appropriate for their needs through the use of high-pressure sales techniques, and that repairable equipment is often deemed as being 'beyond economic repair' by companies...

That this House welcomes the Government's creation of 20 first-wave Modernising NHS hearing aid services providing digital hearing aids, implemented jointly by the Department of Health and the RNID, but also notes with concern that this technology is not yet available to all two million current hearing aid users; notes that, so far, less than five per cent. of people in need of hearing aids have access to the NHS digital hearing aids that are proving so much more helpful to users; notes that hearing aids provided by the rest of the NHS are based on outdated 1970s technology and that one-third of these aids are not used regularly, largely because users cannot obtain real benefit from them; notes that digital aids purchased privately can cost up to ??2,500 each, whilst each digital hearing aid costs the NHS as little as ??150 and could cost less for larger volumes in universal provision; notes that universal NHS provision of digital aids would benefit more than three million potential additional users, some 500,000 immediately; notes that with an incremental cost of only ??100 per capita - equivalent to less than a day in hospital - no opportunity exists in the NHS to change so many lives so radically; further notes that public expenditure would be reduced due to greater individual well-being and independence and an extension of working lives; and consequently calls on the Government, having assessed the work of the Institute of Hearing Research, to commence the universal provision of digital hearing aids through the NHS.

That this House welcomes the Government's creation of 20 first-wave Modernising NHS hearing aid services providing digital hearing aids, implemented jointly by the Department of Health and the RNID, but also notes with concern that this technology is not yet available to all two million current hearing aid users; notes...