A High Court victory for wheelchair users in Liverpool is set to have wide-ranging benefits for people with all types of disability, throughout the UK.

The high-profile case was the first in the UK to test the Disability Discrimination Act’s prohibition against discrimination in the exercise of public functions. It also significantly clarifies public bodies’ obligations under the ‘positive duty’, introduced by government in 2006.

Mr. Justice Blake found Liverpool City Council guilty of discrimination by failing to make reasonable adjustments to help local wheelchair users, sending a clear message to all public bodies that they must take their disability obligations seriously.

The case was brought by wheelchair user Alma Lunt, from Liverpool, who claimed that she and many other users of larger wheelchairs could not travel safely in the city’s current public-hire taxi fleet.

Backed by several local disability associations, Mrs. Lunt asked Liverpool City Council to license an alternative, more wheelchair friendly cab so that she can travel safely.

Mrs. Lunt and others repeatedly explained to the Council’s licensing officer and licensing committee that vehicle constraints prevented her being properly positioned and safely secured in the existing Londonstyle taxis. The Council also heard evidence that 96% of wheelchair users travel unsafely in London-style cabs, facing sideways, with their chair unsecured and with no seat belt. The Council had unlawfully ignored this evidence, Mr Justice Blake held.

Stressing that a 'one-size fits all' approach would not meet the needs of all travellers, campaigners had pointed to a ready-made solution, in the form of the more accessible E7 taxi, which is manufactured jointly by Peugeot and accessible vehicle specialist Allied Vehicles.

Despite the wishes expressed by Mrs. Lunt and the powerful evidence put forward to support a change in licensing policy, Liverpool City Council preferred to keep the status quo. The licensing committee refused to license the new-style taxi, because it has sliding doors and doesn’t meet a 28 foot turning circle requirement, originating in the days of the horse-drawn hackney carriage in London.
At the High Court Liverpool’s barrister argued that the Council’s licensing policy should not be subject to judicial review on disability discrimination grounds; that they hadn’t properly understood Mrs. Lunt’s difficulty; and that they were justified in rejecting the E7 on the basis of Councillors’ ‘local knowledge’ of Liverpool’s streets.

Mr. Justice Blake, however, ruled emphatically that the Council’s policies and practices do fall within the Disability Discrimination Act; that they had received plentiful evidence of the problems faced by wheelchair users; and that there was no meaningful evidence to justify their refusal to undertake a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to their policy, by licensing the E7 taxi. He also noted that the average size of wheelchairs is increasing and that the E7 already operates safely across 95% of the UK’s 400 licensing authorities.

Claimant Alma Lunt was accompanied during the three-day hearing at the High Court in London by fellow Liverpool campaigner and wheelchair-user Jean Price and assistant Kim Rawlinson. Both Alma and Jean say they found the travel and hearing tiring and stressful but that they are now delighted to have achieved something so significant for Liverpool’s 12,000 wheelchair users. They also hope the ruling will help prevent discrimination against people with other disabilities throughout the UK.

Delighted with the verdict, Alma said “We’re used to facing many barriers and challenges in daily life so we were very determined to press on, to get our voices listened to and see action taken.”

Source: Reproduced with the permission of Can Do Magazine - Christmas Edition.