§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on his Department's policies of the goods and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to be implemented in October 1999. [71276]
§ Mr. HuttonThe National Health Service Executive appointed "Disability Matters", a specialist consultancy, to develop a proposed action programme for the implementation of Section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 across the NHS. We plan to issue guidance, based on the report submitted by "Disability Matters" later this year.
It is for individual social services authorities to assess the impact on them of the implementation of the goods and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 from October 1999. All social services authorities in England were included in the consultation carried out by the Department for Education and Employment on the implementation of the new requirements. The vast majority of social services departments were aware of what their new duties entailed, and were content with the proposals.