Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that disabled people who rely on assistance dogs, including psychiatric assistance dogs, are not subjected to harassment or unlawful exclusion when accessing shops and other public-facing businesses.

No one should face discrimination, harassment or abuse because they are disabled or because they rely on an assistance dog. The Equality Act 2010 places a general duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people, including people with assistance dogs, access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. It has published guidance - ‘Assistance Dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers’ - to help businesses understand what they can do to meet their legal duties to assistance dog owners.

Duties and protections under the Equality Act are ultimately enforceable through the courts, and anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to seek to resolve the issue. The EHRC will support people who have experienced discrimination through that process.

This Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime, including those targeting disabled people, wherever they occur and whoever is responsible.

Where criminal offences are motivated by hostility towards disability, we expect the police to investigate robustly and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to bring offenders to justice.