Work and pensions minister Maria Eagle has responded to calls for new laws on disability discrimination.

Last week, the TUC launched a petition urging the government to introduce legislation to provide equal rights for disabled people by 2004 and use it to correct weaknesses in current law.

Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary-elect, sought views from the ePolitix.com Forum on current weaknesses in the Disability Discrimination Act regarding equal rights for disabled people.

Maria Eagle, minister for disabled people, told ePolitix.com: "I was interested in the views expressed by the ePolitix.com Forum on current weaknesses in the Disability Discrimination Act (ePolitix, Thu, 3 April 2003). I am sure that, like many of the respondents to ePolitix, the TUC values the progress we have made but its petition could be seen as understating our achievements.

"We have already remedied two major weaknesses by setting up the Disability Rights Commission and extending the DDA to cover disabled pupils and students. We are also bringing into force, in October 2004, requirements on service providers under the DDA relating to the removal of physical barriers to access.

"In March, I laid Regulations, which come into force on 14 April, that ensure people who are certified as blind or partially sighted are conclusively presumed to meet the DDA's definition of disability. I shall shortly be laying Regulations before parliament to bring within scope of the DDA small employers and occupations such as the police, barristers and business partners, all of which will also come into force in October 2004.

"Later this year, we will publish a draft Disability Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The exact scope has yet to be finalised but we are considering including measures such as covering more people with HIV and cancer under the DDA's definition of disability, bringing transport operators within scope of the DDA, introducing further duties on public bodies, covering larger private clubs, and making changes to the Act's premises provisions.

"Our Green Paper, Pathways to Work, shares the Shaw Trust's aim of addressing the practical issues to help more disabled people back to work. In particular, it recognises that barriers faced by people on benefit include lack of support to address confidence/skills and the need for different approaches from GPs, and employers. The solutions it proposes will help to address these issues.

"Building Regulation controls, mentioned by Voice UK, already ensure reasonableness of access for disabled people. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has consulted on proposals to extend Part M of the Regulations - which require changes for disabled people to be made to new buildings - to existing buildings. It has also just issued a good practice guide on planning and access.

"Guide dogs for the Blind Association expressed concerns about the transport system. I've already said that our draft Disability Bill will contain measures on transport. This is in addition to other changes we have already made. For example, the DDA now requires taxis to carry disabled people and their assistance dogs without any extra charge. And drivers of buses and coaches are now required to accept assistance dogs.

"The Disabilities Trust was concerned that talk of a Single Equality Body might lead to a diminution in the influence of those representing disabled people's interests. The consultation on this issue closed on 21 February with more than 280 good quality responses which we are analysing. The challenge for government is to ensure that we deliver a structure which meets the needs of all groups covered by equality legislation including disabled people.

"Finally, Browsealoud made important comments about utilising computer equipment for people with dyslexia and related learning disorders. We are carrying out work to ensure that a practical, integrated approach is taken to the government's responsibilities in the areas of digital communication and services for disabled users."

Forum Response: Voice UK

Kathryn Stone, director for Voice UK, told ePolitix.com: "Voice UK supports the TUC's drive to close loopholes in the Disability Discrimination Act. For us there are two barriers to achieving equality for disabled people. Practical barriers - which can be overcome with money and things.

"Making buildings accessible, making transport accessible and so on. The real barrier is an attitudinal one - unless employers and society generally understands that disabled people are people first with the same rights, needs and aspirations as others then equality will never be achieved.

"We are pleased that the government is demonstrating a commitment to changing attitudes. Removing the deeply offensive term - mental defective - to refer to a person with a learning disability in the forthcoming changes to Sex Offences legislation is a start."

Forum Response: Shaw Trust

Tracey Proudlock, political affairs manager for Shaw Trust, told ePolitix.com: "The TUC member's petition and campaign is very much welcomed as a move to a more inclusive workplace.

"It falls to all of us to maintain the momentum on government to consult on legislation to end disability discrimination and close existing loopholes (of which there are many).

"At Shaw Trust our immediate priority is to address some very practical issues that could make an immediate impact on disabled people's inclusion in the labour market.

"Firstly there must be a social understanding of disability and exclusion. The Green Paper "Pathways to Work" is deplete of any social understanding of disability.

"To view disability in a medical context is, at best unhelpful. A real change in the numbers of people accessing jobs is dependent on developing a culture within government that enables and supports people into work and is not one that disproves entitlement to benefits and sanctions disabled people for attempting work.

"A social understanding of disability will address the barriers outside of the individual disabled person and provide a more holistic menu of support - financial incentives, in particular the Housing Benefits system, a comprehensive New Deal for Disabled People, practical help in the workplace through Access to Work and WORKSTEP.

"The government has recently announced more pilots to address the disproportionate numbers of disabled people locked out of work. These pilots are a disappointment to disabled people and organisations like Shaw Trust who have a track record of working with employers and supporting disabled people into work.

"Several excellent programmes such as NDDP, WORKSTEP and Access to Work already exist. Investment is now needed in each of these services to provide for all those who need them."

Forum Response: Association of British Insurers

Malcolm Tarling, spokesman for the ABI, told ePolitix.com: "Insurance companies are aware of their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act. Insurers are committed to meeting the insurance needs of disabled people.

"Recent guidance issued by the Association of British Insurers encourages companies to adopt standards of best practice going beyond the existing legal requirements".

Forum Response: Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Robin Hutchinson, head of communications for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, told ePolitix.com: "The Disability Discrimination Act was a much needed, long awaited and very welcome piece of legislation.

"Since its introduction was started in 1996 disabled people have become increasingly confident that, when they do encounter discrimination, there is some form of redress available to them.

"However, the Act is not without its problems, some of them huge and the most obvious of which are the gaping holes in it.

"These have affected people with all forms of disability, but have meant that guide dog owners who work for small employers; who use any form of transport service other than licensed taxis and private hire vehicles; or who want to rent property have no protection under the law against discrimination.

"Not only do these omissions create huge problems for blind and partially sighted people, they undermine the credibility of the Act as a whole.

"And that credibility is further undermined by the Act's concept of 'reasonableness'.

"All parts of the Act require 'reasonable' adjustment, 'reasonable' care etc, but what is reasonable to one person can mean something very different to another.

"The definition needs to be established through case law and there is just not enough of that to offer disabled people the sort of protection they are entitled to.

"In addition, the thrust of the Act is to tell disabled people and businesses in which areas of life disability discrimination is no longer acceptable. What it should have done is to place a blanket ban on disability discrimination and, where necessary (and if necessary), identify exemptions.

"A lack of unified ministerial oversight adds to the confusion and means that many businesses are still, after more than six years, unaware of their duties under the Act.

"The Act's single greatest failure, however, is in the area of employment. The DDA currently requires larger employers to not to discriminate against employees, either actual or potential.

"It does not cover the smaller companies and businesses which make up the majority of UK employers. As a result, the number of blind and partially sighted people in work has, since the introduction of the DDA, fallen.

"The average period during which a blind or partially sighted person is in any one job stands at six months and the removal of the quota system which preceded the DDA has meant that companies no longer have to prove that their non-discriminatory approach is working, just that they appear to have followed procedures, and then only if they are challenged.

"The review of the DDA is important in that it should offer the opportunity to sort out the Act's many weaknesses.

"It would be a crying shame if that opportunity was not seized and made to work, thereby preventing the DDA from being seen as the Act which failed disabled people, rather than empowered them."

Forum Response: Depression Alliance

Jim Thomson, director for Depression Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "We welcome the TUC's petition. Gaps in the Disability Discrimination Act, especially where depression and other mental illness is concerned, have become increasingly apparent and need now to be addressed."

Forum Response: The Disabilities Trust

Matt Townsend, public affairs officer for The Disabilities Trust, told ePolitix.com: "The Trust welcomed the 1995 Act as a major, if long overdue, step forward in terms of the rights of people with disabilities. We know from the experience of many of our service users, especially those with profound physical disabilities, that the Act has had a positive impact on their lives.

"In addition the current government's decision to establish the Disability Rights Commission several years ago to help enforce the Act's provisions and it's proactive support for people with disabilities generally, has certainly been positive. We would be very concerned if in the much talked about proposals to merge all the strands of current equality structures into a new single body led to any diminution in the influence of those representing people with disabilities'.

Forum Response: Browsealoud

Gary Morrison, sales executive for Browsealoud, told ePolitix.com: "For a person with a reading or learning disability, text on a computer screen is as forbidding as a six-inch curb is for someone in a wheelchair.

"I would be interested in the TUC position with regards to people with disabilities like dyslexia and related learning disorders in the workplace who are required to utilize computers as part of their jobs.

"Do they feel companies and government departments with an online presence should have their websites speech enabled? Do they support the making of government and corporate sites more accessible for people with learning disorders such as dyslexia?"

Brendan Barber, secretary general of the TUC, told ePolitix.com: "The TUC campaign has clearly identified that there is much agreement among disability groups on the changes that need to made to the Disability Discrimination Act if disabled people are to have more effective access to equal rights.

"The new disability bill announced by the government is an opportunity too important to miss to make significant improvements to the DDA. The need to change attitudes, as well as the law, to get more disabled people into employment is a priority.

"Among many changes that the TUC is calling for, changes to the definition of disability that will improve access to people facing discrimination because of mental illness is critical, but there are many other areas too where the law is deficient, and implementation of the 156 recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force would be a good starting point. The TUC expects many organisations to join us in pressing the government for early consultation on the content of the new bill."