Our commitment to disability equality

2.1 The Information Commissioner has overall responsibility for making sure that the ICO demonstrates its commitment to equality and diversity. He has therefore established an Equality and Diversity Committee which is responsible for making sure equality and diversity issues are identified and acted on. The committee and its sub-groups include 28 people from across the organisation; it is chaired by the Director of Human Resources and it reports to the ICO’s Executive Team, which is chaired by the Commissioner.

2.2 The ICO is committed to meeting and exceeding the requirements placed upon all public bodies to promote disability equality. This means that we will try, in all that we do, to:

• promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people;
• eliminate unlawful discrimination against disabled people;
• eliminate disability-related harassment;
• promote positive attitudes towards disabled people;
• encourage participation by disabled people in public life; and
• take steps to meet the needs of disabled people, even if this requires more favourable treatment.

2.3 This commitment includes all of our work, not just as a provider of public services and as an employer, but also in budget setting, procurement, our regulatory functions and the whole framework within which we operate.

2.4 Our Disability Equality Scheme, and the work we will take forward through our action plan, is based on the social model of disability. This model takes the approach that what stops or hinders a disabled person doing something are the barriers that society has put in place or chosen to ignore. It is society that disables a person, not their impairment.

2.5 We recognise the negative impact on disabled people of a society designed for non-disabled people. We also recognise that active steps are needed to promote equality for disabled people in the way we go about our activities.

2.6 Under the social model of disability, the barriers facing disabled people can be:

• environmental: for example, information or buildings not being accessible;
• systematic: for example, disabled people being segregated away from services or facilities; and
• attitudinal: for example, negative stereotypes about what disabled people can or cannot do.

We are committed through this scheme to identifying and removing these barriers to full participation and equality for disabled people in relation to the work of the ICO.

2.7 Through our Disability Equality Scheme and our supporting action plan, we aim to:

• make sure that disabled people, their representatives and others acting on their behalf are involved in suggesting and helping us to implement improvements in what we do;
• identify and remove unlawful discrimination from any area of our employment or service delivery activity;
• identify and remove physical, attitudinal or other barriers that prevent disabled people from working with or for us, or from accessing our services and information;
• make sure that those we work in partnership with, or from whom we buy goods, facilities and services, are committed to equality for disabled people in what they do and how they do it; and
• become a beacon of good practice in respect of equality for disabled people.

Our achievements

2.8 We have already taken some steps to achieving our aims. These are some of the things that we have done already.

Our communications

• Our website is fully accessible in line with government standards
• We have adopted corporate font sizes based on good practice guidance
• Our communications plans take account of the needs of disabled people, and we provide materials in alternative formats on request
• Our publications are in plain language and designed to be easy to use and read

Our infrastructure

• We provide disabled access and facilities at our offices in Wilmslow, Cardiff, Belfast and London. In Edinburgh, we are seeking to relocate to premises with disabled access
• In Wilmslow, we have renovated our reception area and installed a new reception desk which complies with disability requirements, as well as a ‘Loop’ hearing system
• We carry out work station audits for all staff
• We provide additional equipment and make reasonable adjustments to work stations where any needs are identified
• We have established a separate budget for our equality and diversity work.

Our people

• We offer and make reasonable adjustments for disabled job candidates
• We make adjustments to our business processes where necessary for disabled employees
• We have consulted our staff on our Disability Equality Scheme and have established an internal staff reference panel to advise us
• We offer adjustments to the way training is delivered for disabled staff
• We provide equality and diversity training for all staff, and training in specific areas, such as mental health issues, as appropriate
• We have a Dignity at Work policy on which all staff receive training
• We include equality and diversity issues in our management training
• We have reviewed our internal training materials to ensure inclusiveness, and our specification for externally provided training includes full consideration of equality and diversity issues
• We offer regular occupational health medical screening and services to all staff
• We are currently reviewing all of our policies in order to identify and address any adverse impact on disability equality
• We work proactively with our trade union’s Equality Officer.

Our service to customers

• We take account of disability equality in our external communications to ensure that they are accessible
• We have consulted service users on the accessibility of our website and written materials
• We have appropriate physical access for disabled callers at most of our sites
• We make appropriate adjustments to the way we offer services to members of the public who are disabled
• We undertake research which helps us to monitor user access to and satisfaction with our service
• Our staff receive training to help them to meet the needs of disabled customers effectively
• We are a member of the Cheshire Public Authorities Disability Equality User Group, which provides us with advice on disability equality issues from a service user perspective.