The Disability Discrimination Code of Practice (Supplement to Part 3 Code of Practice) (Provision and Use of Transport Vehicles) (Appointed Day) Order 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order appoints 18th April 2006 for the coming into effect of the supplement to the Code of Practice on the duties under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (“the Act”) entitled “Provision and Use of Transport Vehicles” (“the Transport Code”), which was issued by the Disability Rights Commission on 11th April 2006.

Part 3 of the Act was amended by section 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) to replace the earlier exemption from the Part 3 duties for “any service so far as it consists of the use of any means of transport” with a new exemption relating only to the provision and use of transport vehicles. The 2005 Act also introduced a power to enable the Secretary of State to make regulations to lift that exemption, in total or in part, in respect of particular transport vehicles. The Disability Discrimination (Transport Vehicles) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3190), which come into force on 4th December 2006, will impose, either in total or in part, the Part 3 duties on the operators of rail vehicles, buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, vehicle hire, breakdown services and vehicles deployed on a system using a mode of guided transport.

The Transport Code has been prepared and issued by the Disability Rights Commission under section 53A(1) of the Act. It is a supplement to, and is to be read in conjunction with, the Code of Practice for Part 3 of the Act, entitled “Code of Practice: Rights of Access Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises” (“the Part 3 Code”), which explains the duties imposed by the Act on those who provide services to the public. The Transport Code provides practical guidance to those providers of transport services who will become subject to the Part 3 duties in December 2006, and has been published in advance of the imposition of those duties to enable appropriate adjustments to be made before the duties come into force.

A copy of the Transport Code (ISBN 0-11-703632-3) and the Part 3 Code (ISBN 0-11-702860-6) may be obtained from The Stationery Office Limited, PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN (telephone orders 0870 600 5522, fax orders 0870 600 5533, e-mail book.orders@tso.co.uk, internet www.tso.co.uk/bookshop) and from The Stationery Office Bookshops, or can be downloaded free of charge from the Disability Rights Commission website: www.drc-gb.org.

A copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment in respect of the duties dealt with in the Transport Code may be obtained from the Mobility & Inclusion Unit, Department for Transport, Zone 4/23, Great Minister House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR. A copy has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.

Copies of the Regulatory Impact Assessment may also be accessed on the Office of Public Sector Information website www.opsi.gov.uk.