What's been happening in the Crematorium saga? Well, quite a lot! I think I have broached the possibility of going nuclear.
Well, I haven't quite gone nuclear, but I have summoned up my heavy artillery. Sadly, the Council was playing silly b*ggers with me and not making firm proposals concerning the defective induction loop at the North Chapel.
A small team of us, including two City councillors visited the site on 24 April 2013 together with a renowned induction loop specialist consultant/advisor. He submitted a very comprehensive report on what there was up there and what perhaps should be installed. The Council admitted that it was a very good report, but are dragging their feet about implementing the recommendations.
I did have it in mind to seek a Claim against the Council under the Equality Act 2010, on the grounds of alleged discrimination against me, a hearing impaired person, at the funeral I attended on 13 February 2013. One has 6 months minus a day (don't ask me why) to lodge a claim and you can see that the deadline of 12 August is imminent.
Although submitting a claim under the EA is not very difficult, it's quite hard to find out the actual mechanics one uses. This is because they seem to change.
Sadly, the AoHL (formerly the RNID) currently has no legal advisors, which is really shocking. However I did find out about a quite useful mechanism when making a claim under the EA. This is to lodge a claim with the Court within the time restriction, but not to SERVE it on the defendant. One then has some time before one needs to serve the Claim. The Council will be aware of this, and this will allow time for me and the defendant to negotiate a settlement without litigation.
This is where we are now. I do hope the Council will see sense and negotiate sincerely to achieve what should have been done many years ago: a functioning induction loop with staff trained to operate it and check it. I'm seeking for this to be done under the relevant British Standard (BS) and for the work to be stipulated and signed off by a member of the Institute of Sound and Communication Engineers (ISCE).
When I have all the facts, bolstered by experience about how exactly to lodge a claim, I will probably offer to write an article for Hearing Link Matters.