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Equality & Diversity

Disability Equality Scheme

At the Heart of the Disability Discrimination Act (and the amendments that were made recently to the Act) is a duty on all Higher Education Institutions (and other public bodies) to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.

The new 2005 Act gives Higher Education Institutions a positive duty to produce a Disability Equality Scheme (see www.ecu.ac.uk for further information on the Act and the duties of Higher Education Institutions).

What is the Disability Equality Scheme?

From December 2006 the amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 places a duty on all public bodies, and this includes universities, to actively promote disability equality. This duty, the Disability Equality Duty, encourages a whole-institution approach to being proactive in ensuring that disabled people are being treated equitably.

The Act sets out a general duty to:
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination.
• Promote equal opportunities for disabled people.
• Eliminate harassment of disabled people.
• Promote positive attitudes and the encouragement of disabled people in public life.

The Act also sets out a specific duty which will assist in meeting the general duty. The core requirements of the specific duty are:
• The preparation and publication of a Disability Equality Scheme.
• The Implementation of the Disability Equality Scheme (via an Action Plan in the scheme).
• Plans for Monitoring and annual reporting of progress.

The Disability Equality Scheme sets out the overall objectives for improving and addressing disability inequalities for the key stakeholders of the University and includes an Action Plan for delivering improvements in identified areas.

The University has identified its key disabled stakeholders as being:
• Disabled students
• Disabled employees
• Disabled users in the local community
• Disabled users in the wider community

In developing its first Disability Equality Scheme the University has considered what actions have been taken to date with regard to disabled people and how to involve its disabled stakeholders.

This has resulted in the identification of areas that need to be addressed and these identified areas form the basis of the Disability Equality Scheme Action Plan. The Action Plan also identifies those responsible for taking the actions and the timescale in which actions will take place during the three-year duration of the University’s first Disability Equality Scheme.

A Disability Equality Scheme and Action Plan will help Bangor University:
• To meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act and set out plans for addressing disability inequalities for all disabled stakeholders of the University.
• Ensure that the University is consulting with disabled people and actively involving them in setting priorities.
• Continuously monitor and thus identify areas for improvement or review.
• To meet the principles of the social model of disability as specified in the University’s Code of Practice on Provision for Disabled Students.

Jackie Ellis: email - pos009@bangor.ac.uk
Telephone 01248 383867

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