Department Of Social Security And Consultation

EDM number 788 in 1995-96, proposed by Harry Barnes on 24/04/1996.

That this House notes that, in March 1996, the Department of Social Security initiated a consultation exercise concerning regulations relating to the initial rights of access to goods, facilities and services and also on the timetable for implementing the remaining rights of access under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and that the Department invited peopl e to ring a freephone number, run by the Mediaphone company, to order a copy of the consultation package; further notes that the deadline for submissions for this consultation is 2nd May; believes that the openness and validity of this particular consultation exercise is gravely undermined by the experience of the honourable Member for North East Derbyshire who ordered the consultation package on 13th March, 27th March and 17th April without receiving the package whilst being fobbed off with promises that never materialised; further believes that if this is a common experience, it makes a mockery of the consultation exercise; and calls upon the Government to increase the period of consultations by at least one month so that all interested parties may have time to read the Government's proposals and respond to them.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.