Clause 30
Equality Bill
4:15 pm
John Mason (Glasgow East, Scottish National Party)
The purpose of new clause 7 is to require public service providers to make reasonable adjustments to physical features to make their services and facilities accessible to babies and young children. The DDA introduced the concept of reasonable adjustments into UK legislation. The duty to make reasonable adjustments means that providers of services are required to make changes called reasonable adjustments, so that disabled people can use the services more easily. The duty has led to improvements in relation to accessibility for disabled people and others, so it might now be a good time to extend the protection specifically for the benefit of babies and young children.
The new clause suggests reasonable adjustments for under-fives in relation to the physical features of public transport and public premises. For public service providers, that would simply be an extension of the existing duty relating to disability. Older people with accessibility needs may well qualify as disabled under the DDA and enjoy reasonable adjustment rights under that legislation. Babies and young children, and their families or carers, are clearly not disabled, but they suffer similar limitations on their access to many services.
There is currently a lack of safe and available seating for infants and young children and inadequate space for pushchairs on public transport. Constituents frequently come to me and complain that, because there was already a pram on a bus, a second pram was unable to be taken on. Adults travelling with young children often experience problems getting on and off public transport and feel that they and their child are frequently treated less favourably than others.
A survey found that parents in the UK are put off using public transport by poor access, sometimes inconsiderate staff and a lack of suitable facilities. Some 72 per cent. of the 500 mothers who were surveyed thought that public transport was difficult for mothers and babies to use, 60 per cent. found that bus drivers were unhelpful, and only 12 per cent. had a fully buggy-accessible train or underground station near them.
Research by the then Equal Opportunities Commission, which was conducted in 2006, concluded that the designs of buses
“take insufficient consideration of the difficulties experienced by women who are encumbered by accompanying children.”
I assume that that could relate to men as well. The research recommended that a balance should be sought between providing adequate seating capacity and providing enough space for shopping bags, pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The new clause, for which I am grateful to Young Equals, would allow the Secretary of State, by regulation, to require transport providers to make reasonable adjustments to ensure the safety and comfort of very young passengers.
Moving on to public buildings and spaces, babies and young children experience similar difficulties when trying to access and use public buildings with their parents and carers. Cardiff county council carried out a detailed inquiry into how family friendly its city is. The conclusion was that people experienced
“considerable problems in finding stores or buildings with baby changing facilities...buggy access into and around shops, restaurants and other buildings was also very difficult and in some places impossible.”
The new clause would allow for a reasonable adjustments duty in respect of public buildings to be placed on public service providers to ensure access for families with babies and children under the age of five. I believe that a similar duty exists in some regions of Germany; for example, Baden-WĂ1/4rttemberg requires a barrier-free environment for facilities used by small children, people with disabilities and the elderly.