Disability Discrimination (Private Clubs etc.) Regulations 2005

rose to move, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 19 October be approved. [6th Report from the Joint Committee and 13th Report from the Merits Committee]. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in my view these draft regulations are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. They will ensure that private members clubs with 25 or more members are under essentially the same duties of reasonable adjustment which are imposed under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act on providers of goods, services and facilities to the general public. That is what we proposed in our consultation document published during the passage of the Disability Discrimination Bill, on which we received a small but positive response in agreement. Many private clubs which provide services to the public, such as rooms for hire, will of course already be well acquainted with these duties. I stress that private clubs will only be asked to do what is reasonable in all the circumstances. That means that disability discrimination legislation will provide a familiar and consistent regime of law for disabled people, whether in relation to providers of goods, services and facilities to the general public or private members clubs providing benefits, facilities and services to their members, associates and guests. The duties are anticipatory, so private clubs must consider the likely needs of any actual or future disabled members, associates and guests in advance of a person facing difficulties, and make arrangements to meet them where this is reasonable and in all the circumstances. Clubs must be prepared to make changes to their policies, practices, procedures and physical features of the premises they occupy. They must also be prepared to provide auxiliary aids or services to help disabled people access their benefits, facilities or services. In all these cases, they must do these things where not to do so would make it unreasonably difficult or impossible for a disabled person who is a member, associate or guest to make use of the benefits, services or facilities provided by the club for its non-disabled members, associates or guests—the threshold of ““unreasonably difficult”” or ““impossible to use”” being the same as that which currently applies to service providers under Part 3 of the DDA. The duties also extend to prospective members and guests within the scope of the non-discrimination duties provided for in the Act. Any breach of the duties is enforceable only by a disabled person who is adversely affected. Clubs also have broadly the same limited range of justifications for not making reasonable adjustments, as do providers of goods and services to the general public. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is intended to apply from 4 December 2006. The Disability Rights Commission is in the process of producing a revised code of practice on Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act, which will include practical advice and guidance to clubs on how to apply these duties. The consultation period on the code has just ended, and the commission will shortly be submitting a revised code to us for approval and for laying before Parliament. However, in extending these principles to private members clubs, we have had to bear in mind the special relationship that such clubs have with their members, associates and guests. There are, therefore, some differences of detail to deal with the particular circumstances of clubs. For example, where a private club—perhaps one which comprises a local interest group—meets in a private house belonging to one of the club’s members or associates, additional considerations apply to ensure that the member or associate concerned would be under no obligation to agree to making changes to his or her home. The regulations also set out certain circumstances where there are exceptions to the duty not to treat a disabled person less favourably than a non-disabled person for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability. These circumstances are similar to those which apply in relation to providers of good, services and facilities to the general public. It is intended that these provisions will apply from 5 December 2005. We have consulted on the policy behind these regulations. We have framed them to provide a consistent legislative framework across providers of goods, facilities and services, and we have taken account of the special relationship that clubs have with their members. I think that we have reached a fair balance between the rights of disabled people to participate fully in all society has to offer, and the rights of people to associate in private. I commend these draft regulations to the House. Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 19 October be approved [6th Report from the Joint Committee and 13th Report from the Merits Committee].—(Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.)