Peace seems to have broken out and the problems at my local Crematorium will soon be history.
On 23 August I had a very constructive meeting with senior Officers of the Council and we have agreed that works will take place at the Crematorium. There will be a fully functioning induction loop at both the North Chapel, South Chapel and at the Extra-Mural Cemetery. These will be installed by competent ICSE engineers and signed off by someone of equal status.
Further, the Council will use a similarly qualified person to train the crematorium staff in the use of induction loops, the testing of them and the keeping of inspection and maintenance logs. The work is actually taking place right now!
You may recall that the way I tackled this problem was to issue a Claim under the Equality Act, 2010. However, I didn't SERVE it on the Council pending negotiations. These negotiations are nearly finished and so I can withdraw the Claim without having to serve it. We're nearly there!
If the Council does anything silly in the next few weeks (and I don't think it will) I could then serve the Claim.
It might be helpful for readers to inform themselves on the Equality Act (EA) when it comes to campaigning for induction loops or similar technologies at venues. The relevant sections of the EA are Sections 20-22 (inclusive). Within that the provision which is most important for us is Section 20, subsection 5, which concerns auxiliary aids as a reasonable adjustment (an induction loop being an auxiliary aid). Here are the details of Section 20:
Section 20: Duty to make adjustments
(1) Where this Act imposes a duty to make reasonable adjustments on a person, this section, sections 21 and 22 and the applicable Schedule apply; and for those purposes, a person on whom the duty is imposed is referred to as A.
(2)The duty comprises the following requirement....
A requirement, where a disabled person would, but for the provision of an auxiliary aid, be put at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to provide the auxiliary aid. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/20
I hope this informs us all! We will be better equipped, with this knowledge, than any adversaries we might encounter in our struggle. Quote them this stuff and they will be dazzled and will be putty in your hands.
I hope you decide to read the above, or perhaps the whole Equality Act, on the beach or in your garden this bank holiday weekend instead of some crime novel.
All power to your elbows.