Disabled parking bays

There is no legal requirement. If it is a new car park then building regs would expect one space. BS8300 recommends 5% accessible and 5% enlarged spaces. I would talk to your L.A. they all have different rules, Leeds allow you to park all day on some on street parking, have a look at the link below.



http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/motoringandtransport/dg_4001061

There is no legal requirement to provide bays other than under equality in service. ADM requires at least one space per car park, BS8300 generally recommends 5% and 5% enlarged spaces.

I would check your local authorities rules, each authority varies. They do have a public sector duty and you could ask why there are no bays and do they intend to provide any in the future. You may not be able to park in regular bays for 3 hours, it may be more or less, Leeds let you park all day in some bays, have a look at the link below.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/motoringandtransport/dg_4001061

Regards Jane

Thank you Carole and Lorraine for your kindness and support. I really appreciate it.
I have received a letter and apparently another one is due from someone else within the University system.

The first letter which was a report from a gentleman who visited me form the University on December the 8th 2011 was very biased and negative towards me. He has twisted certain things I said which makes me look stupid and silly.

The next letter form whoever will probably be the same I think.

Can I post these letters here ?

So glad to hear that EHRC are assisting you. Other than that, I can only echo what Carole has said.

All the best.

Well Done David!! I know that has taken a great deal of courage so I think you are being very brave. I am sure once they have received your letter and really thought about the implications they will be sensible about it.

I am glad the EHRC are helping you too. I wish there was somewhere locally you could go to receive some moral support. I don't know where your based so its difficult to suggest some disability communities that may offer support which would help with the isolation. I think it would help you to be able to actually talk to somebody in person rather than online! If you would like to message me I can perhaps give you some organisations depending upon where you are that may be helpful in that regard.

Unfortunately there are some very ignorant people around but they are greatly out numbered by those that are very knowledgable, kind and helpful. Please try and remember that because there are always people that will help you.

Hello, the EHRH is helping me now with advice. The university is still totally ignoring me and I have now written via email to the vice chancellor and other departments just to make sure someone has a copy of the email.

I have given the vice chancellor 14 days to respond, 4 days have now passed, I also asked ten specific questions to be answered.

I am not hopeful that they will respond but the EHRH said if they didn't answer then we would take the necessary steps to go to the County Court.

This whole situation has disturbed me greatly and the isolation I feel is terrible. When are people going to learn that disabled people are still human!

Thank you.

David

Probably worth noting that educational establishments come under the SENDA rules for disability they are not same as applied to offices etc.

Regards

Barry

David,
Before dragging this one on any further why not direct your Uni HR dept, SU and so on to this site and particularly this thread. It may just help your case if they realise that it is already being discussed 'outside'.

Agree with Lorraine. Also if they bamboozle you to not taking action and then do nothing that constitutes breaching or adhering to their public equality duty, they will feel they can just continue to act in the same way to every disabled student in their care. Clearly not only would this be victimisation but they are clearly bullying you which is totally unacceptable.

Bullying is a criminal offence. My advice would be to document all the attempts you are making to resolve this matter and the requests you have made. Back any verbal requests up in writing giving a time frame in which you want to see a response. If the behaviour still continues or/and your requests are ignored you should seek legal help. Again the EHRC or find a Law Centre near you for free advice http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/
Don't give up if you can possibly help it I know that can easily be said than done!

Sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time, David. If you haven't already spoken to EHRC as Carole suggested, give them a call; they might be interested in such a case (they only do casework where it might be a test case).

You can follow the University's complaints procedure & if the matter isn't resolved you can then complaint to:
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA)
Tel: 0118 959 9813
Fax: 0118 955 9099
E-mail: enquiries@oiahe.org.uk
Website: www.oiahe.org.uk

Another agency that might be of assistance is:
Disability Law Service (England and Wales)
Tel: 020 7791 9800 (Monday to Friday from 10.00am to 5.00pm)
Email: advice@dls.org.uk
Website: www.dls.org.uk

You sound pretty exhausted & defeated by the whole experience- you might benefit from the support of an advocacy worker. Have a look here, where you can search for a local service:
http://www.actionforadvocacy.org.uk/map.jsp?region=UK

Remember, making veiled threats about not taking this matter further could amount to victimisation by the institution which is a further breach of the Act. You're asking them to adhere to their public equality duties, not for an honorary phD!!

Sadly, it can be very difficult for anyone with a disability to enforce the legal obligations of large organisations. Often, fatigue prevents people from pursuing issues & they either make do or give up. It's understandable & is really frustrating but try to hang in there. Be polite, persistent, insistent. Follow up any conversation with a letter. However, don't be put off indefinitely; there may come a point where you need to take legal action, or you'll find yourself accepting things as they are.

Still no positive movement from the University, although I am getting bombarded with people coming out of the woodwork implying that I should not take further action? It has become a bit scary. Tonight at 4pm a man from the University is coming to my home to talk about the situation. He has already implied 4 times on the phone that I should not take it further.

It has become so obvious to me now that this behaviour is rampant throughout the university. Not one senior executive has been proactive with my case and it seems like the feeling I'm getting now is that they are batten down the hatches, circle the wagons and maybe he will go away.

This all feels so lonely and intimidating, how do disabled people have the guess to fight back, I'm finding it hard :-(

Thank you Carole, I have just what you said and you have made me feel
better, thank you. I am going to do what you have said and hopefully one of them will get involved. I think I will do to the dean first.

Thanks xxxx

Dave I would go to the closest Citizens Advise Bureau. They will have somebody there who will be able to advise you on practical matters.
You could also call the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) Helpline on 0845 604 6610. They will also give you practical help.
Do not give up because you have people around you who are ignorant of the facts. There is no excuse if the security guards have already been through this with you once before and seen your BB.
Do you not have a senior lecturer or somebody who is responsible for you that you can go to about this? They have a duty of care to make sure that there are reasonable adjustments made for you to be able to go about your business at the university in a way that is not discriminatory at all times no matter what you are doing. Clearly that is not the case at the moment. I cannot believe that they have never had or do not have now any other disabled students and do not know what their responsibilities are regarding them.
If all else fails go into the Deans office and insist on talking to somebody about this matter!! If they get slapped with a case the Dean is going to find out about it sooner or later anyway!

Hello All and thanks for your input.

The student disability officer became involved and informed me today that she can get no further than I have so it would be best to involve the Student Union. I did this and they seem to be just as befuddled as the Student disability team.

Again I was locked in this morning, when I phoned security up and asked for the barrier to be raised I got the same abuse as before, do I have a blue badge, do I have a university badge and son on.

I feel totally alienated now and also very upset and victimised. i don't want to be treated like this and I am now not able to do the presenting because I do not want this hassle all the time. it seems that on one there knows what to do to make it better.

If Student disability officer can't help and then they forward me to student union and they are confused by it and amazed who can I get help from.

I'm so totally fed up of this happening, life is hard enough without the happening too.

Thank you all so much for your help.

Dave.

As a university they are also covered under the Public Sector Duty which requires them to promote, etc, to the extra where measures may need to be increased to ensure equal level of service. I don't believe that The Code of Practice has not been published for Higher Education yet, have a look at the link below.

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/equality-act/equality-act-codes-of-practice/

Another aspect to consider, is was the parking space part of a bulding regulation submission? If, it was, then should they be removing something which was required to gain approval?

Some thoughts.

regards Jane

If a senior manager admits to having seen a specific employees car parked in a disabled space displaying a blue badge can he then claim not to know the employee was disabled in an argument about failure to provide reasonable adjustments. One of my colleagues is facing this situation currently and I will be accompanying him to his appeal meeting.

Thank you so much for the replies. I am waiting for a meeting with the Disability officer to discuss this matter. Since I posted the question the disabled sign has been blacked out :-( andno explanation given to me or notice of when. I turned up and it was blacked out. I'm so sad at this attitude and I was really upset that another person can be cruel like this.

Again thanks I will post the outcome of the meeting.

Dave.

I agree with Jim Its not in the Universities interest to get into a legal situation about this, they would clearly be discriminating against you.

Hi David,

I fail to understand why the university would want to remove an existing accessible bay? To be brief, they have a duty under the Single Equality Act to provide 'reasonable adjustments' and in addition they also have an additional responsibility under the Duty to Promote Disability Equality to have due regard for disabled people when setting policy. My guess is, you've spoken with someone who's not well informed. Speak to the student Liaison Officer about the situation and I'm confident that the university will proovide an amicable solution.

Please let me know what they say.

Jim

Hello, I am a disabled student with a blue badge at University and I am a volunteer Radio presenter. They have around a dozen parking spaces and one disabled space.

I use this disabled space when I am presenting and recording for shows. I am being locked in via a barrier when I am in the radio parking area and using the disabled space. They say I cannot use it and that the disabled parking space shouldn't be there, they are going to paint over the disabled markings. Hence there will no allocation for disabled people although there is a ramp and a lift access presumably for disabled people.

Can they stop me parking there as a volunteer and can they then remove the space allocated for disabled people.

Sorry Michelle, I forgot to add that you could also call the EHRC -their tel number is 0845 604 6610 who will give you advice. In fact on thinking about it I would jump to them if you dont have a union rep or any insurance with free legal advice.

They also have letter templates so maybe able to point you in the direction of one that can be adapted for your purpose.

Hi Michelle - Hmmm - seems like your company are playing hard ball. You dont mention if you have involved you immediate manager when trying to contact HR. If not I would do so as having your manager on side to contact and advocate on your behalf will be of great benefit.

Also does your company have a disability champion or somebody who is responsible for the Equality Policies other than HR. If so go and speak to them and ask them their advise on the best way of approaching HR. If none of those are possible then -
1. Do you have a union at your company and if so are you a member? If you do I would suggest you join quickly and then make an appointment to see your rep. They will take it up and hopefully will have some clout.
2. If you do not have a union I would suggest that you try to go to your citizens advice centre or see if you have any legal cover on any insurance policy so you can get some free advice. I am not suggesting here by that statement that you swing straight into legal action! The purpose would be to get advice on a specifically worded letter that you will now need to write to HR which will inform them that you are telling them about your disability and that they have responsibilities to recognise it and make reasonable adjustments accordingly.

They will know that once you have put them on notice with a letter like that they have to act and start dialogue with you or you could start getting really heavy with them. They cannot give some employees disabled bays when they have need but ignore another when they have notified them in writing of their disability and the fact that they have a BB which is only given to people who have a clear problem with walking difficulties. That could be seen as discrimination.

Carole, I realised why he didn't meet the criteria, although even when he had problems walking they wouldn't give him a badge. They said apply for DLA, which he got then they gave him a badge!

I think the criteria is perhaps too narrow I have a friend whose 18 year old, over 6ft son has seisures on a very regular basis, one or two a week. She is only 5ft6, he has support staff when they cannot be with him 24 hrs their GP has written advising they need a blue badge, they can't get one.

Michelle, I suggest you try again quoting the Equality Act, this appears to be direct discrimination, they have given other blue badge holders a space but not you. Ask HR to see the policies now that the Equality Act is in place. I went to a training session a couple of weeks ago and I understand that there is now no PROMALA defence for direct discrimination. I am sure a solictor could confirm whether this is correct. I am not a lawyer.

Regards Jane

Thanks Carole

I did all of the above, trying to get to see anyone from HR was just a nightmare, my OT gave them his details and said he would accompany me in any meetings but still nothing! My OT has had dealings with my company a few times before!

Il just keep pressing the matter

Thankyou