Has the Equality Act Improved the Rights of the Disabled and to What Extent?

11 million people are disabled in the UK, and the number is increasing year after year. Disability affects everybody in the society starting with the disabled themselves, caregivers, friends, employers, family, and educators. It is the reason why we have an obligation of removing barriers that may be preventing some folks from participating fully and equally in the society. In this regard, the House of Lords passed a legislative in 2010 that would protect the disabled group in the society and ensure they participate fully in their daily activities. The Equality Act 2010 has been protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities since its ratification. The Act was passed because Equality in the society has some benefits. One, people enjoys life more when they are treated in a fair way regardless of the challenges they may be facing in life. Second, a nation becomes richer if everyone is given an opportunity to do what he/she can do better with maximum support. Lastly, it is much easier for citizens to live with each other when everybody is treated fairly.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The Equality Act had helped the disabled individuals to access many facilities with ease since its endorsement in 2010. The following are sectors that have been affected by the Act that has significantly impacted the lives of disabled people by ensuring they are given equal opportunities when receiving these services.

Education sector

Publicly funded education institutions have a duty of ensuring that they do not discriminate against former, current, or potential students. The clause entails all activities that are associated with educations such as admission, provision of education, and access to any facility, benefit, or service in the institution. The local authorities have to treat any student who may be seeking their services to be able to access a course at a university or any other education institution. The schools have built a lot facilitates that favor, disabled individuals in those institutions. The facilities include lifts in the buildings, stairs where a wheelchair can move, and washrooms that can be used by this group. All these have facilitated education for these people to ensure that they can exploit their full potential.

Employment

Employers have a duty of ensuring they give equal job opportunities to all applicants or workers. The clause protects both apprentices and paid staffs in any organization. The areas of employment covered by this act include advertisement and recruitment, promotion and training, employment contracts, and remuneration and benefits. Through Equality Act, many disabled people have been able to acquire employment than in the past decades when the faced a lot of discrimination in the workplace. All employers have an obligation of building facilities that are usable by this group of individuals.

Transport

The Act gave the disabled people the right of accessing public transports just like their colleagues. Taxi drivers are offering transport services even to people with wheelchairs. In case a taxi driver violates such policy, the local authority has been rescinding his/her driving license for a given period. The construction plan of rail infrastructure has changed over time to accommodate all people including the disabled people. They have been constructed with a step-free access, and have been retrofitted with visual/audio annunciators. The individuals working in rail, bus, and coach stations have been re-trained on how to give disabled people transport services. These people have benefitted from the Act since they can access the public transports more convenient than before.

Housing and Public Spaces

In the past, public facilities such as restaurants, clubs, and pubs were difficult to access especially for the disabled people. After the enactment of the Equality Act, these facilities have made a significant effort to provide basic facilities such as toilets for disabled, and this has ensured the disabled citizens can enjoy these services without discrimination. Local authorities are not allowed to renew the licenses for individuals who have not modified their premises to accommodate all people without discrimination. Moreover, the design of new buildings has changed to ensure that they are livable by all individuals including the disabled. The buildings are being built in a way that they are accessible by use of wheelchairs and the facilities in the house are usable by the individuals with disabilities. This has made these people be able to get housing more conveniently than in the past when there were no such policies.

Communications

Although much effort has been put in place in an attempt to ensure that disabled people are not denied information, there is a long way to go if the government wants these people to benefit from the Equality Act. Media houses such as television provide information to the deaf whenever they have noteworthy news, but other time these people are disadvantaged since they cannot use the gadget. Government departments and local authorities have not yet established proper means of communicating to the disabled people.

Sports Grounds

More disabled people have been participating in the sport since the Act was enacted. They have been holding their tournaments and many other competitions that have enabled them to exploit full potential. Premier League has put a lot of efforts to upgrade its stadia by the end of the year 2017 to accommodate disabled people.

The government has taken full responsibilities to ensure that disable individuals can acquire its facilities more conveniently. The government has been giving these people monthly remunerations to ensure they can receive basic needs such as clothing, housing, and medical care. All key department of government participates in ensuring that disabled people can access the facilities and support their needs. For example, The Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills made sure that disabled people receive a university education and favorable working policies such as flexible working program are formulated. Additionally, The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport ensure equal access for disabled folks to sports stadia. Although the government has made an abundant effort in providing equal rights for everybody in the country, some sectors have significant challenges. For instances, new policies might call for the formulation of new policies to ensure disabled people receives services from banks without much struggle. The banks might be forced to build new machines that favor even the disabilities. Through the provision of all these facilities, disabled people will become more productive in the society, and this might change their perspective on the disabled people. These individuals are productive, but since the society perceives them as folks with no capability, they are hindered from exploiting their full potential.

Bibliography

Authority of the House of Lords. (2016). The Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people. Retrieved from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201516/ldselect/ldeqact/117/117.pdf

UK Parliament. (2017). Government inaction is failing disabled people - News from Parliament. (2017).Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/equality-act-2010-and-disability/news-parliament-2015/equality-act-report-published/

Disability right UK. (2015). Understanding the Equality Act: information for disabled students. Retrieved from https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/understanding-equality-act-information-disabled-students