DPPP consultation: Covering Letter
Covering letter
This is the covering letter sent to consultees for the DPPP consultation.
Railways for All
Department for Transport
4/18, Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DR
Direct Line: 020 7944 5234
Fax: 020 7944 6102
Email: railwaysforall@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Dear Consultee,
Consultation on Revision of: "How to write your Disabled Persons' Protection Policy: A guide for train and station operators"
The Department for Transport would like to invite your comments on the proposed revisions to the standard guidance on writing Disabled Persons' Protection Policies (DPPPs).
As a standard condition of their licence, every licensed passenger train operator and station operator is required to maintain a DPPP. The document sets out what services, assistance and staffing the operator has in place to assist disabled people who use its trains and stations.
In this consultation, the Department for Transport is asking for your views on the proposed revised Guidance on DPPPs. The Guidance is intended to help operators to prepare their DPPPs; and explains what issues it should cover, and what level of service it is expected that they will provide.
The proposed new guidance would replace the version published by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in 2002.
During this consultation, we welcome your views on the revised guidance. We would particularly like to know whether you agree with the proposed document’s emphasis that DPPPs should be written primarily for an audience of disabled passengers, and whether you believe that the guidance contained in it will result in DPPPs which are useful to disabled people.
In tandem with this consultation the Department for Transport is also consulting on a revision of "Train and Stations Standards for Disabled People: A Code of Practice", which, proposes that the standards in the incoming Technical Standard on Interoperability: Persons of Reduced Mobility are applied across the whole railway network. You can read the consultation document at http://www.dft.gov.uk/access/cop . Whilst we welcome all consultation responses, we invite you to consider your answers to this document in conjunction with the consultation on the revised Code of Practice.
An online copy of the DPPP consultation may be viewed at http://www.dft.gov.uk/access/dppp .
Additionally, audio copies of the consultation paper may be requested from the Railways for All team, using the contact details below.
Responses should be returned on the response form, which may be found at the end of the consultation document. The deadline for their receipt is Friday 23rd May 2008 .
For more information, and to return your response, please contact:
Responding by post
DPPP Consultation
Railways for All
Department for Transport
4/23, Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DR
Queries by telephone
020 7944 5284
Responding by fax
020 7944 6102
Responding by email
railwaysforall@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Please enter 'DPPP Consultation' in the subject line.
A list of organisations we have consulted is provided at Annex C of the main consultation document. If you are aware of any people or organisation who have not been included on the list, but who may wish to respond to the consultation, please advise the Railways for All team at the above address.
This consultation has been produced in accordance with the principles of the Government's 'Code of Practice on Consultation', the key principles of which are reproduced in the main consultation document. We have not produced an Impact Assessment to accompany the consultation because we are not aware of any new requirements on operators contained in the proposed document. If you disagree, we would be grateful if you could indicate this in your response, including details of any additional burdens that you feel may be placed on the rail industry as a result of the proposed new guidance.
According to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, all information contained in your response to this consultation may be subject to publication or disclosure. This may include personal information such as your name and address. If you want your response or your name and address to remain confidential, you should explain why confidentiality is necessary. Your request will be granted only if it is consistent with Freedom of Information obligations. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your email system will not be regarded as binding on the Department.
We intend to hold a stakeholder event during the consultation period, in order to discuss the consultation and our proposals. If you would be interested in attending, please respond to the Railways for All Team at the above address, by Friday 17th March 2008, along with an approximate number of delegates and any dates - within the consultation period - which are not suitable for you. We will then seek to secure a location and date which will be suitable for as many respondees as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Johnson
Railways for All
