THE Disability Awareness Act and disabled provision at Liverpool Airport were among the topics discussed over the past year by an island group which looks after the interests of the disabled.
During the course of its monthly meetings during 2011 the Tynwald Advisory Council for Disabilities expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in implementing the 2006 Disability Discrimination Act and decided it was going to lobby more forcefully in its favour in the future.
Although the act was passed in October 2006, it cannot be brought fully into effect until detailed rules and regulations have been drafted.
An impact assessment of the act, commissioned from Sight and Sound Technology Ltd by the Department of Social Care, was also considered. The assessment analyses the effect of implementing the act on the business sector, government departments and voluntary organisations. The results of the survey are to be presented to Tynwald in the first quarter of this year.
The Advisory Council wrote to both Ronaldsway and Liverpool airports about lack of seating available for passengers. It also asked various disability groups in the island to couch opinions from their members about their travel experiences, both individually or as part of the Noble’s Hospital patient transfer service. Results from this survey were collated in January and the Advisory Council is to draft a list of recommendations based on these.
Among the other items discussed were free-standing display boards outside shops. The boards now have to be licensed by the local authority, which also now has authority for enforcing the regulations governing their use. The Advisory Council favoured restrictions to reduce obstacles in shopping areas for the blind, partially sighted or disabled.
Members of the Advisory Council, along with some MHKs and others, took part in a walk along Strand Street in Douglas arranged by the Manx Foundation for the Physically Disabled in November. The objective was to publicise difficulties faced by the disabled as part of Disability Awareness Week.
Access for disabled young people to tertiary education was also discussed with the Department of Education and Children.
Advisory Council members completed visits to the prosthetics and orthotics clinic and independent living centre at the community health centre in Westmoreland Road, Douglas, the Isle of Man Prison at Jurby and the various sites of the learning disability services. Talks from a range of invited speakers covered topics as diverse as kidney dialysis, supported housing and the Disability Discrimination Act, to list a few.
The Tynwald Advisory Council for Disabilities meets 12 times in the year. It has five members consisting of two politicians, Phil Braidwood MLC, chairman, and Geoff Corkish, vice chairman, plus three lay members from organisations representing disabled people. Its role is to give advice to government departments, statutory boards and the Isle of Man Medicines Commission on matters affecting the sick or disabled. It advises on any changes to the law and raises questions on behalf of the sick and disabled.