(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations do not extend to Northern Ireland.
These Regulations insert new provisions into Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in relation to the enforcement of the duties placed on general qualifications bodies. General qualifications bodies are authorities or bodies which can confer relevant qualifications.
They provide for claims that a general qualifications body has discriminated against a person to be heard as a claim in tort (or in reparation for breach of statutory duty in Scotland) in the county court (or the sheriff court in Scotland).
Claims must be brought within 6 months of the act complained of, unless the matter is referred to conciliation, when the time allowed is extended by 3 months.
The Regulations also make provision for cases in which premises that are required to be altered are occupied by the general qualifications body under a lease, including joining the lessor as a party to any court proceedings, and in relation to consent from the lessor to alterations that the general qualifications body is required to make to the premises for the purposes of section 31AD.
A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as any impact on general qualifications bodies will be negligible.