The Disability Discrimination (Taxis) (Carrying of Guide Dogs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

Made: 17th April 2007

Coming into operation: 30th May 2007

The Department of the Environment makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 37 (8)(b) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995[^f00001]:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Disability Discrimination (Taxis) (Carrying of Guide Dogs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 30th May 2007.

• (2) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Disability Discrimination (Taxis) (Carrying of Guide Dogs etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001[^f00002].

• (3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[^f00003] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendment to regulation 2 (notices of exemption)

2

In regulation 2 of the principal Regulations, for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted—

(2) The prescribed manner of exhibiting a notice of exemption for the purposes of section 37(8)(b) of the 1995 Act shall be— (a) by displaying it— (i) on the nearside of, and immediately behind, the windscreen of the taxi facing outwards; and (ii) in a manner that readily permits its removal; and (b) so that— (i) its front is clearly visible from the outside of the taxi; and (ii) its back is clearly visible from the driver’s seat of the taxi.

Amendment to the Schedule

3

In the Schedule to the principal Regulations for paragraph 2 there shall be substituted—

(2) Form of back of notice of exemption Only the driver named overleaf may display this notice when driving the vehicle. The notice may also remain on display when the vehicle is parked provided it has been driven by, and is to be driven by, the named driver. Otherwise the named driver must remove the notice.

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 17th April 2007.

Stanley Duncan — A senior officer of the — Department of the Environment

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 37 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 imposes a duty on taxi drivers to carry an assistance dog, without additional charge, when it accompanies a disabled person. It also provides that a taxi driver may be exempted from this obligation on medical grounds.

These Regulations, which apply to taxis licensed for public hire, amend the Disability Discrimination (Taxis) (Carrying of Guide Dogs etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 in respect of the manner in which the exemption notice should be displayed by the exempted taxi driver. The notice must now be displayed on the windscreen; display on the dashboard is no longer permitted.

The Regulations also amend the wording on the back of the notice of exemption to ensure that the notice is not on display when someone other than the exempted driver is driving the vehicle.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1995 c. 50; section 37 is modified in its application to Northern Ireland by paragraph 21 of Schedule 8; see section 68(1) as substituted by paragraph 47(1) of the said Schedule 8 for the definition of “prescribed” and “regulations”

[^f00002]: S.R. 2001 No. 169

[^f00003]: 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)