§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received concerning the introduction of legislation to improve access to transport 25W for disabled people; what has been his response; what proposals he has to improve access for disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [137005]
§ Mr. HillThe Department has held widespread consultations with disability organisations and with the transport industries in the course of developing proposals to implement the transport provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Regulations have been in place since the end of 1998 to require all new trains to meet detailed technical standards to guarantee accessibility. In the order of 250 trains in service are already DDA compliant. Regulations setting similar standards for buses used on local or scheduled services are also in place and will take effect from 31 December this year. A package of measures to introduce access requirements for licensed taxis is being finalised and will be subject to further consultation.
In addition, we are also considering the recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force as they relate to transport and I hope to make a statement in response to the recommendations shortly.