EFDSS and the DDA

by John Bacon, National Council
(Previously published in 'English Dance and Song, Autumn 2004)

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), employers (under Part II), service providers (under Part III) and education providers (under Part IV) are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not discriminated against and can use the facilities and services easily and in comfort. There are over 1.9m disabled people in the UK and the two largest groups comprise those who are hard of hearing and those who are visually impaired. These two groups comprise about 50% of the total. Wheelchair users amount to about 5% of the total.

The Part of the Act that affects us the most is Part III, services providers, and we are obligated to make reasonable adjustments to the way in which we work and operate by October 2004. Over the last 18 months we have been working towards this date:

• The EFDSS website has been redesigned to RNIB guidelines

• EFDSS staff have attended a Disability Access course run by Camden Council

• Modifications to Cecil Sharp House have been designed and approved.

The project to modify Cecil Sharp House is in four parts:

• Part 1 - Comprises development of designs and proposals for disabled access, submission of planning application to Camden Borough Council (CBC) and the undertaking of an Access Audit.

• Part 2 - Installing disabled access to Cecil Sharp House

• Part 3 - Installing disabled toilets in Cecil Sharp House

• Part 4 - Installing a passenger lift in the stairwell to access the lower ground floor and first floor.

Part 1 of the project is now complete and basic designs have been completed, planning aproval granted, and an access audit carried out. We are currently reviewing the recommendations made by our Consultant and these have been prioritised. Many of these will be completed by October 2004. Parts 2,3 and 4 will require funding and we are actively seeking funds from a number of sources to allow the project to be completed.