Equality and Diversity

What is South Tyneside’s Disability Equality Scheme?

The Disability Equality Scheme is a strategy setting out the Council’s approach to promoting disability equality. The Scheme sets out how we intend to meet our legislative obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.

The Act places a General Duty on all public authorities to promote disability equality. A number of specific duties have also been introduced to help public authorities meet the general duty.

The Scheme sets out a three-year programme of actions that the Council will undertake to ensure it gives due regard to:

  • Promoting equality opportunities
  • Eliminating unlawful discrimination
  • Eliminating disability related harassment
  • Promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people
  • Encouraging disabled people’s participation in public life
  • Taking account of a persons’ disabilities, even if this involves treating them more favourably than others
The aim of the General Duty is to make disability equality an integral part of the way all public services are carried out.  In practice, this means the Council must take account of disability equality in all day-to-day work of policy-making, service delivery and employment practice.

We would like to hear your views

In order to keep improving our Scheme, we would like to involve a variety of individuals, groups and organisations to shape its content.  This means the people affected by the scheme will largely determine the way South Tyneside Council deals with disability equality in the future.  We want to involve them in making improvements.

We want to know what you think about your local services and help us improve the way we communicate and engage with all types of people with disabilities.  What works well and what doesn’t?

Our Disability Equality Scheme outlines how we intend to do all of the above and achieve the underlying message of the new legislation:

"By 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and will be respected and included as equal members of society."

The law says our Scheme must be published by 4 December 2006.

Read a copy of our Disability Equality Scheme

However, if you want a copy of these documents in other formats including large print, audiotape, CD or Braille other languages please contact our Communications Team on (0191) 424 7385.

 

See also :

 

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