Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that guide dog owners are not refused access to (a) shops, (b) other businesses and (c) taxis.

No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they use a guide or other assistance dog.

Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers. Taxi and private hire drivers have a specific duty under the Act to carry guide dogs and assistance dogs at no extra cost to the passenger.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published guidance for all businesses, including service providers, on this subject. The guidance explains that assistance dogs should be treated as auxiliary aids and not as pets. The guidance is available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/assistance-dogs-a-guide-for-all-businesses.pdf and makes clear that businesses and service providers should allow assistance dogs access to buildings where dogs would normally not be permitted whenever this is reasonable.

Anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against in the services offered to them - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to resolve the issue. Before doing so, they might first find it useful to contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or by text phone on 0808 800 0084.