Equality Minister David Hanson has today announced that disabled people are to be provided with extra protection, following the introduction of a new statutory duty.

The Minister made the announcement during a visit to Northern Ireland by Anne McGuire MP, Minister for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions.

The new duty, which is to begin on January 1 2007, will help to deliver equality for people with disabilities in their dealings with public authorities by requiring them to consider what they can do to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and encouraging their participation in public life.

David Hanson said: “There is no doubt that the public sector can make a real difference to the lives of disabled people. By leading the way in ensuring fair treatment for disabled people by improving outcomes from their own services, and by setting the standard for other sectors to match.”

The new duty will require public authorities to produce and submit to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland's Disability Action Plans which must show how they propose to fulfil the requirements of the duty.

These plans must be submitted to the Commission no later than 6 months after the January 1 2007 deadline.

The duty is one of a series of measures introduced by the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, which brought the whole range of public activities under the legislation for the first time.

Mr Hanson concluded: “Ensuring that all the activities of public authorities are now covered by disability civil rights legislation makes me confident that we have put in place a legislative framework that will be effective in driving real improvements in outcomes for disabled people when they are dealing with the public sector.”

(EF/GB)