Disability 'shirkers' shamed

The Disability Rights Commission has named and shamed higher education institutions that, it said, had "shirked" their responsibilities under equality laws by failing to produce a disability equality scheme.

The commission said it was putting institutions including the London Business School "on notice" that they were in breach of the law.

Sir Bert Massie, DRC chairman, said: "I'm pleased the public sector as a whole has done a great job in responding to the the law, with more than 96 per cent of organisations producing a scheme. The question is: why have a small minority failed to do so? We will be considering issuing compliance notices to offending authorities, which could lead to court action."

The DRC names the LBS, as well as some further and higher education colleges in its report, Public Bodies' Response to the Disability Equality Duty .

Philip Willatt, director of human resources at the LBS, said: "LBSJhas recently reinforced its commitment to disability issues by undertaking an extensive review of its disability codes of practice and ensuringJwe adoptJbest practice in the implementation of our policies.JIt is, however, regrettable that its Disability Equality Scheme was not published by December 1. This in no way indicates a lessening of our intentions and commitment to promote disability equality throughout our institution."