People with disabilities will be assessed by independent officers and will have an individual service plan drawn up, under the long-awaited Disability Bill, published yesterday. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The mechanisms outlined for accessing services do not include recourse to the courts, except to the High Court on a point of law. Instead, a complaints and appeals procedure is put in place, with the right to the assistance of an advocate rather than legal representation.
As well as providing for an assessment of needs and a related service statement, the Bill provides for access to public buildings, services and information and an obligation on public bodies to employ people with disabilities.
It also provides for restricting the use of information from genetic testing for insurance and employment purposes, and for setting up a centre for excellence in universal design, which will ensure that buildings and facilities are accessible.
Disability is defined as an impairment resulting in a substantial restriction in the capacity of a person to carry on a profession, business or occupation, or participate in social or cultural life.
The Bill sets out a system for the assessment of such a person's educational and health needs.
This will be carried out by an assessment officer working for a health board, who will have an independent statutory function. It will be carried out without regard to the cost or capacity to provide any service identified in the assessment.
It will detail whether the person has a disability, its nature and extent, the person's educational and health needs, and a statement of the services considered appropriate, along with the time scale for their delivery.
A separate service statement will also be drawn up, based on the statement of needs. This will take into account the practicability of providing the service and the financial resources available.
A person can complain to the health board about a finding that he or she does not have a disability, the failure of the assessment to meet certain standards, the contents of the service statement, or a failure to provide the services outlined. The complaint will be heard by a complaints officer and either resolved informally or investigated.
The resulting recommendation will, again, take into account both eligibility and the availability of resources.
The recommendation can be appealed to an independent appeals officer. His or her decision is final and can be appealed only on a point of law to the High Court. A recommendation or a mediated settlement can be enforced by the Circuit Court if the health board refuses to abide by the decision.
In this process, the person with a disability can have the assistance of a personal advocate. This will be available to a person who, in the opinion of Comhairle, the body supplying the advocates, would be unable to obtain a service without having such assistance. This is provided for in the separate Comhairle (Amendment) Bill, also published yesterday. It does not spell out the qualifications required of the personal advocates.
The Disability Bill also places an obligation on public bodies to make their public buildings and services accessible to everyone, regardless of ability. Access officers will be appointed to public bodies to co-ordinate arrangements for access to services of people with disabilities.
The Bill also refers to the drawing up of sectoral plans for various Departments involved in providing services for people with disabilities and drafts of such plans were published separately.
The Bill also contains a new section on safeguards for people who avail of genetic testing. These aim to ensure that people who may be affected by genetic disorders will not be subject to any unreasonable requirements from an employer or an insurance or mortgage provider.
The long-standing requirement of public bodies that they implement a target of 3 per cent for employing people with disabilities is given a statutory basis in this Bill. The target has not so far been met by many public bodies and Government departments.