Disability Discrimination Act: Impact of 2005 Changes on Organisations

The Office for Disability Issues commissioned IES to undertake follow-up research to the 2003 and 2006 surveys of organisations to see how they have responded to disability discrimination legislation. Earlier research explored how employers, goods and service providers, and public bodies had responded to their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) and the additional changes made in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005). Some of the changes made by the DDA 2005 had not been fully implemented at the time of the 2006 research and this project explored more fully all the changes introduced by the 2005 legislation, and particularly the extension of anti-discrimination provisions to cover: public bodies exercising their functions; larger private clubs; and local authorities in their dealings with their elected members. The research also explored whether and how the current economic downturn has impacted on organisations’ willingness and ability to comply with the legislation. The study, undertaken in partnership with Ipsos MORI, incorporated a survey of 2,000 establishments and in-depth interviews with 100 other establishments over a three month period.

Project details

Client	Office for Disability Issues
Year	2009
IES contact	Nigel Meager
Research partners	Ipsos MORI