Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all assistant dog handlers are treated consistently by (a) employers and (b) service providers regardless of how their dog was trained.

Assistance dogs are not funded or provided by the Government, and assistance dogs are not regulated or defined in law.

There are well established dog training organisations which have international accreditation and are members of the umbrella coalition Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK). Following a Government initiative in 2017/18, a new charity was established - the Assistance Dogs Assessment Association (ADAA) - which offers a test and certificate for assistance dogs trained through sources without international accreditation. It is now possible for assistance dogs to be tested and certified as having reached a set standard, even where they are trained by a body without international accreditation.

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. 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 Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act, and has published guidance on ‘Assistance Dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers’.