SIMON
FACT
SHEET NUMBER 12
THE
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 places obligations on
‘service providers’ to end discrimination against disabled
persons. Most fisheries and angling
clubs will be affected by this Act.
Obviously commercial fisheries offer a service as set out in the Act but
so do a great many angling clubs.
Basically if your club offers day or season tickets with no conditions
or restrictions then you will be obliged to provide facilities for the use of
disabled anglers. Even private
clubs with restrictions on membership will be included if they have more than
25 members. The provisions of this
Act have been in force since 2004.
However this Act is not designed to make life difficult for clubs and
fishery managers and should cause no real problems providing the club or
fishery manager has acted ‘reasonably’ to accommodate anglers with
disabilities. Clearly if you are an
angling club having the fishing rights on a length of river with naturally
steep banks, it would not be reasonable to put ramps and fishing platforms all
along the river. However if you
own, rent or lease a small pool with twenty pegs then it would be reasonable to
consider putting in a number of properly constructed disabled platforms with
suitable access. It should be noted
that even if you lease the waters or have the fishing on licence it is you, the
provider, who is responsible for complying with the Act and not the owner.
Disability discrimination legislation also covers the provision of
services. This means that when a
club makes a decision whether to accept a person with disabilities as a member
or brings disciplinary action against an existing member with disabilities such
a person is entitled not to be discriminated against as a result of his or her
disability.
The purpose of this Fact Sheet is to bring these matters to your
attention and not to offer definitive advice. The Disability Rights Commission has
appointed the British Disabled Angling Association (BDAA) to represent angling
in this field and they are able to give clubs any help or practical advice
needed.
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Page: anglinglaw.html
Please note that this fact sheet is intended to give general
guidance on the stated area of law. We cannot
accept any responsibility for the consequences of relying on this fact sheet in
relation to particular circumstances of which we are not aware.
Simon Jackson
Solicitors
The Office
Tyn Celyn
Llansilin
Oswestry
SY10 7JW
Tel: 01691 791439
Fax: 01691 791583
e-mail. srbj@btconnect.com