§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What conclusions were reached at the Department of Employment Conference for People with Disabilities (held on 14 December) with regard to holiday-taking and disability; and whether they would publish both the proceedings of the workshop that focused on this issue and the Government's response to its recommendations. [HL440]
§ Baroness BlackstoneThe "accessibility" conference, which my department held in co-operation with a number of other government departments on 14 December, ranged widely over access issues. Workshops covered access to further, higher and adult education; access to employment; access to the National Health Service; using direct payments to empower people with learning difficulties; and whether disability was a barrier to tourism. Discussions in each of these workshops led to a worthwhile exchange of information and experiences and the dissemination of good practice. The workshop on tourism was facilitated by the English Tourism Council (ETC). It provided DCMS and its sponsored body the ETC with a greater understanding of the key difficulties facing disabled travellers. This will assist them in their aim of making English tourism the most accessible and welcoming in Europe.
A conference report, which will include a summary of each workshop, will be available in due course. It will be sent to everyone who attended the conference and will be available more widely.