The Equalities Officer presented a report which informed the Committee of the issues faced by disabled people in Bridgend county borough’s communities and to outline the influence that the council has on improving access to services and information.

It was explained that the Strategic Equality Plan 2016 - 2020 and its supporting Action Plan were produced following an extensive consultation and engagement exercise in 2016 involving many local disability groups including Bridgend Coalition of Disabled People, Bridgend Visually Impaired Society, Bridgend Deaf Club, People First Bridgend and Stroke Association.

Some of the key issues that were raised by these groups included: the challenges with direct payments; wheelchair accessible taxis and public transport in Bridgend county borough.

The Committee heard from S Green who explained how difficult it was to find wheelchair accessible taxis. He added that although some taxi companies did have disabled facilities they were very limited particularly when trying to arrange travel at short notice.  He added that Community Transport was expensive and not available quickly.

The Licensing Team Manager responded that there were two large taxi operators and a number of independent firms in the county borough.  The local authority maintained a list of taxis and other vehicles providing disabled access facilities and had the power to enforce legislation should discrimination occur.  She added that the policies and plans were being reviewed to identify the barriers for companies having a greater capacity to facilitate disabled travellers.

S Green outlined his views on the provision of disabled facilities of the taxi companies and requested that spot checks be undertaken to identify those companies who claimed that they had adapted vehicles and minibuses to transport disabled passengers but which were actually used to undertake more cost effective journeys for events and airport runs rather than to transport someone who was disabled.

The Licensing Team Manager explained that taxi licensing was a devolved function of the Welsh Government who were undertaking consultation on this topic.  The Local Authority maintained its equalities duty and were able to consider a quota of accessible vehicles.  A Davies added that there were also difficulties using taxis when you had a guide dog and that she had been refused the use of a taxi because of her guide dog.  The Licensing Team Manager indicated that the policy would be consider in August or September following a consultation period.

The invitees then explained the difficulties the new recycling scheme had imposed on those with disabilities including lack of consistent information about the revised recycling processes, the difficulties with assisted collections and the use of the purple bags.  A detailed discussion took place which highlighted the difficulties that residents with disabilities faced and how this was being addressed.

Queries were raised regarding the application process for the Blue Badge Scheme which had recently been updated by the Welsh Government.  It was considered that the scheme just allocated points on a computer and did not take the needs of individuals into account.  The Leader explained the new criteria were applied when the Blue Badge was being renewed and that an appeals process was available for those who had not met the revised criteria.

The invitees then raised their concern about the lack of accessible toilets in the town centres.  They suggested that many of the toilets doubled up as baby changing facilities which was far from ideal and the toilets suitable for anyone with disabilities were not advertised or signposted effectively.  They acknowledged that adapting toilets were difficult but that more should be done to provide accessible toilets when new buildings were being developed.

The use of dropped kerbs and tactile paving was discussed.  The benefits of dropped kerbs was explained and the difficulties if the tactile paving did not reflect the type of paving where it was situated.  The meeting was advised that some tactile paving was fitted incorrectly and this meant that one road crossing actually used the tactile paving for a train platform or steep drop.

RESOLVED:  That the committee received and noted the report.