§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the expected(a) average and (b) total expected cost to small businesses employing fewer than 15 people is from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003; [124736]
(2) how many small businesses employing fewer than 15 people are expected to be affected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003; [124737]
(3) how many representations her Department has had from small businesses employing fewer than 15 people regarding the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (a) prior and (b) subsequent to their being passed; and what proportion of those representations expressed concern about a potentially adverse impact of the regulations; [124738]
(4) how many disabled employees are expected to be affected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003; [124739]
(5) what representations he has received from organisations representing small and medium sized enterprises on the costs of compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003; and if he will make a statement. [125587]
§ Maria EagleThe Regulatory Impact Assessment on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, which is available in the Library, estimates that the average cost for small businesses with one to 15 employees of removing the small firms exemption in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) is £5.50, although many small employers will have no costs at all. The total cost to these small businesses will be about £6 million. Of this, £3.9 million is a one-off cost while £2.1 million is a recurring cost, and includes £0.7 million for recruitment. This does not take into account the many benefits that employers can gain from employing and retaining disabled people such as access to a wide pool of applicants, retention of skills and knowledge and better motivation more generally among the workforce.
There are around 1,087,000 businesses with between one and 14 employees. Within these businesses, there are around 382,000 disabled employees who will be protected from discrimination by the DDA's employment provisions as a result of the inclusion of small employers. Other provisions in the Regulations will end a number of other employment and occupational exclusions such as the police, fire-fighters and partners in business partnerships. These measures are expected to bring an additional 218,000 disabled workers within scope of the DDA. Other provisions in the Regulations applying to organisations of all sizes could affect all of the 2,243,000 disabled workers in GB (Winter 2002 Labour Force Survey).
We consulted on draft regulations to implement the sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability provisions of the Article 13 Employment Directive in our 2002 document "Equality and Diversity—the way ahead". Of the 172 respondents who replied on issues specifically concerning the disability provisions, only 2 identified 244W themselves as a private organisation employing one to 14 employees; the vast majority of replies were from representative bodies, disability organisations, public bodies and voluntary organisations. Neither of those respondents commented on a potential adverse impact of the disability regulations.
The Federation of small businesses responded to the consultation but did not comment on compliance costs. Other respondents representing employers, such as the Confederation of British Industry and the Institute of Directors, may have taken account of views from small and medium-sized employers in submitting their replies but it is not possible to measure the extent to which their replies were informed by members with fewer than 15 employees. The majority of such responses concerned the operation of the regulations themselves. However, the IOD questioned some of the assumptions made by Government in estimating the overall costs of implementing the Directive. There have been no representations from small employers or their representative bodies on the disability regulations since they were approved by Parliament.
§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department are assisting tourism businesses in becoming informed about the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [124759]
§ Maria EagleThe Department is currently undertaking a campaign to raise awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) among all types of businesses, including those in the tourism industry. As Minister for Disabled People, I am undertaking a series of regional visits which highlight disability issues and remind employers and service providers of their duties under the Act, and these have been supported by radio advertising and press articles.
On 15 May 2003, we launched two major elements of this campaign; an information pack, aimed particularly at small and medium-sized enterprises. The pack contains advisory leaflets for employers and service providers, together with a video entitled 'Act Now—the DDA and Your Business'. This video provides information about the duties that employers and service providers have under the Act. It shows practical examples of what some companies have done to improve access for their disabled workers and customers and the 'Access All Areas' award which aims to recognise and congratulate small organisations that have made imaginative changes to the way they provide their services so that disabled people can use them. Details of the award and an entry form are available on the website www.disability.gov.uk and are included in the information pack, which is available to any business free of charge.
The Department has undertaken a mailshot of the information packs to business organisations such as Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, CBI Regional Offices, and local Businesslink offices. We have liaised with VisitBritain which has publicised the award on its website and in its email newsletter which reaches 200,000 tourism businesses. The Tourism Skills Network has also advertised the award on its website.
245WIn addition, the Department sponsors, and is continuing to work with, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), to promote a greater awareness and understanding of the rights of disabled people. The DRC provides advice via its helpline to employers. service providers and members of the public about rights and duties under the DDA.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport provides funding for England's 9 Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs), and one function of the RTBs is to interpret and communicate the impact of legislation which applies to the tourism sector—this includes the DDA.