HC Deb 21 October 2003 vol 411 c515W
Mr. Lansley

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to publish the Disability Bill. [133083]

Maria Eagle

We will publish a draft Disability Bill later this year with the intention that it will undergo pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill would amend the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) to make fundamental improvements to disabled people's rights in areas like the public sector, premises, transport, private clubs and the definition of disability.

This is the next step toward meeting our 2001 Manifesto commitment to extend basic rights and opportunities for disabled people. It builds on other legislation we have already introduced, including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, which were approved by Parliament on 1 July. Those regulations make significant and far-reaching changes to the DDA which will, among other things, bring within scope of its employment provisions a further 1 million small employers, 7 million jobs and 600,000 disabled people already working in those jobs. The final step toward meeting our Manifesto commitment will be when a Disability Bill is passed in this Parliament.

By the end of this Parliament, we will have taken forward the most significant package of changes to civil rights for disabled people ever seen.