(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order appoints 25th May 2011 as the day for the coming into effect of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Code of Practice on the Provision and Use of Transport Vehicles (“the Transport Code”) which was issued by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland on 23rd March 2011.
The Transport Code has been prepared and issued by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland under section 54A(1) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (“the Act”). This Code is a supplement to, and is to be read in conjunction with, the Code of Practice for Part III of the Act, “Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises” (“the Part III Code”), which explains the duties imposed by the Act on those who provide services to the public. The Transport Code provides practical guidance to those providers of transport services who became subject to the Part III duties with effect from 25th January 2010.
Part III of the Act was amended by Article 7 of the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (“the 2006 Order”) to replace the earlier exemption from the Part III duties for “any service so far as it consists of the use of any means of transport” with a new exemption relating only to the provision and use of transport vehicles. The 2006 Order also introduced a power to enable the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to make regulations to lift that exemption, in total or in part, in respect of particular transport vehicles. The Disability Discrimination (Transport Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (SR 2009 No. 428), which come into operation on 25th January 2010, impose, either in total or in part, the Part III duties on the operators of rail vehicles, buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, vehicle hire, breakdown services and vehicles deployed on a system using a mode of guided transport.
Copies of the Transport Code and the Part III Code may be obtained free of charge from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Equality House, 7–9 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DP (Telephone 02890500600, Textphone 02890500589, email: information@equalityni.org or can they be downloaded from the Commission’s website at www.equalityni.org.
A copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment in respect of the duties dealt with in the Transport Code has been placed in the library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. A copy of the assessment may be obtained from: Equality, Rights and Social Need Division, Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, Room E3.18, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3SR.