§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 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. [71275]
§ Mr. ByersThe DTI is acting to ensure that its policies meet the needs of disabled people and that we comply with our legal obligations. The Department already takes positive steps to make it easier for disabled people to make use of its services. We shall continue to do so, not only by complying fully with new duties in the Disability Discrimination Act but by aiming to exceed them where appropriate.
The Department has recently circulated guidance on mainstreaming to those with responsibility for policy development. This ensures that all new and existing policies and programmes are assessed for any adverse impact not only on disabled people, but on any minority or disadvantaged group and, where necessary, action is taken to remove or reduce any such impact.