'No excuses' on disabled access

Pubs will have no excuses if they fail to take all reasonable measures to make themselves accessible to disabled people by October 2004, a government minister warns.

Maria Eagle MP, minister for disabled people at the Department for Work and Pensions, told a conference of hospitality employers that the government "cannot give in on the question of access for disabled people".

"Pubs refurbish frequently, and by the time the legislation comes into full effect you will have had nine years, and that is long enough to take disabled people into account," she said.

Under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, service providers, including pubs, must make "reasonable" adjustments to make their services available to the nine million disabled people in Britain by October 1, 2004.

The conference, organised by hospitality industry recruitment arm Springboard, was called to draw attention to another aspect of the law that aims to stop discrimination against disabled people in employment.

At the moment this only applies to businesses employing 15 or more people, but October will also see that threshold go, so thousands of independent publicans will have to make sure their employment practices are non-discriminatory.

Ms Eagle said the hospitality industry should take a positive view of employing disabled people. "You are experiencing difficulties in recruitment and traditional sources of labour have been restricted - a sensible employer looks at alternatives.

"Disability doesn't mean inability. Disabled people take less time off sick and are more likely to stay in a job. They are an untapped pool of talent, but there are still a lot of prejudices out there. She added that the DDA "won't be the end of legislation".

• Access campaign​
  Pubs that let down disabled customers through poor access or facilities are being named and shamed on a website set up by wheelchair user Mary Dixon.
  The site, www.yourlevelbest.com, allows customers to praise pubs and restaurants that make life easy for disabled customers. However, Ms Dixon also lists a pub that directs customers to a nearby public disabled toilet, and another that says there are always "three strong men" available to carry customers to toilets located downstairs.