Who we are and what we do

Table of contents

• What is the Accessibility and Equalities Unit and what does it do?
• How is the Unit organised?
• Disability Policy Branch
• Social Exclusion and Personal Security Branch
• Equalities and Social Policy Branch
• Personal Mobility Policy Branch
• Automobility branch
• Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) Secretariat
• Where can I find your publications?
• Where can I get more advice?
• General Enquiries
• Disability Policy
• Blue Badge Scheme
• Social Exclusion and Crime
• Equalities and Social Policy Branch
• Automobility Branch
• DPTAC Secretariat
• Feedback

What is the Accessibility and Equalities Unit and what does it do?

The Department for Transport's Accessibility and Equalities Unit (previously known as the Mobility and Inclusion Unit) was set up in 1980 to promote mobility and reduce exclusion by improving accessibility and personal mobility options. It does this by:

• enabling disabled and older people to use both the pedestrian environment and public transport services;
• enabling disabled and older people to travel safely using cars and other means of private transport;
• enabling people to travel by reducing crime and fear of crime;
• enabling socially excluded people to reach jobs and services;
• supporting the voluntary and community sector connecting people and places; and
• promoting diversity in transport planning and provision.

There are many people and communities whose interests run throughout the Unit's work. These are, in particular:

• disabled people;
• older people;
• young people;
• women;
• minority, ethnic and faith communities; and
• the voluntary and community sector.

Clicking on the group of interest above will take you to pages with more information about the Unit's work in these areas.

To be sure that we properly reflect the needs of these groups across our work, we invite people to join us from across the Department for Transport, other Departments with policy interests in our work and people outside of Government including, most importantly, end users.

The Unit is based at Great Minster House in London.

How is the Unit organised?

AEU employs over 25 people and comprises seven branches each of which is responsible for a discrete area of the Unit's work. These are explained in more detail below. Contact details for each branch are available on the Where can I get more advice? section.

Disability Policy Branch

DPB develops and implements policies and provision for disabled people as pedestrians, public and special transport users and as motorists through:

• implementing and monitoring compliance with the transport provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
• taking forward the transport provisions in the Disability Discrimination Bill and implementing the Disability Rights Task Force recommendations on transport;
• working with the transport industries and local authorities to promote a better understanding of the needs of disabled and older people;
• great accessibility on public transport - buses, coaches and taxis;
• benchmarking quality of service provision for disabled air travellers, in particular monitoring compliance with the Code of Practice on Access to Air Travel; and
• working with other countries in Europe and internationally to establish and promote common best practice.

Social Exclusion and Personal Security Branch

SEPS is responsible for:

• reducing crime and fear of crime on public transport by evaluating and publishing good practice, encouraging a multi-agency approach, and promoting crime reduction initiatives; and
• reducing social exclusion by examining the role transport plays, and working with other government departments and local authorities to promote access to jobs, goods and services, and overseeing the implementation of the Social Exclusion Unit's report "Making the Connections".

More information on SEPS's work.

Equalities and Social Policy Branch

develops policy on the transport needs of different social groups and promotes diversity in transport policy development across the Department including implementation of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000;

implements the Department's Race Equality Scheme;

implements the Department's Gender Equality Scheme;

co-ordinates the Department's response to the Human Rights Act 1998;

co-ordinates the Women's Transport Network;

takes forward the voluntary and community sector strategy and action plan and works across Government on initiatives to support and build transport capacity within the sector; and

liaises with the voluntary and community sector working towards the agreed aims of the Compact between the Government and the sector.

More information on ESPB's.

Personal Mobility Policy Branch

PMPB:

• providing policy advice and implementing changes to the Blue Badge Scheme on the basis of agreed recommendations;
• working with the transport industries and local authorities to promote a better understanding of the needs of disabled and older people;
• develops and implements policy and monitors developments in the field of personal mobility for disabled and older people;
• develop and implements policy on the use of powered wheelchairs and powered scooters on the highway; and
• commissions research into aspects of personal outdoor mobility.

Automobility branch

The Automobility branch:

• Works with organisations to increase the availability / accessibility of information, advice and assessment services for disabled and older car users
• Works with service providers to improve standards and consistency of outcomes, taking account of the multiplicity of individual users' needs
• Commissions and manages research to provide an evidence base for best practice in the provision of information, advice and
• Administers and monitors Government funding of mobility services for disabled and older people, including the Forum of Mobility Centres, Mobility Choice, and Ricability (www.mobility-centres.org.uk, www.ricability.org.uk, www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk)

Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) Secretariat

The DPTAC Secretariat:

• services DPTAC's Main Committee, Working Groups and ad-hoc meetings to the satisfaction of Chairman and Members;
• ensures that DPTAC Members are fully informed about policy developments;
• advises Members on the formulation of policy;
• ensures DPTAC submits timely, focussed and credible advice to Government and, where appropriate, external organisations;
• helps to raise DPTAC's profile both within Government and external organisations and individuals; and
• ensures that DPTAC fulfils its role as a cross-border public body.

More information about DPTAC's work.

Where can I find your publications?

More information on the Unit's publications.

The Unit also maintains a list of all the consultation papers and Regulatory Impact Assessments it produces.

The Department for Transport has its own publications database which includes details of all publications issued by DfT since it was formed in May 2002.

The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) has made available a list of their publications.

Where can I get more advice?

General Enquiries

Accessibility and Equalities Unit (AEU)
Department for Transport
Zone 2/25
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Fax: 020 7944 6998
Email: AEU@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Disability Policy

Department for Transport
Zone 2/23
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Fax: 020 7944 6998
Email: AEU@dft.gsi.gov.uk 

Blue Badge Scheme

Department for Transport
Zone 2/23
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 4906
Email: blue.badge@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.dft.gov.uk/bluebadge

Social Exclusion and Crime

Department for Transport
Zone 2/23
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 4906
Fax: 020 7944 6998
Email: AEU@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Equalities and Social Policy Branch

Department for Transport
Zone 2/23
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 5281
Fax: 020 7944 6998
Email: AEU@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Automobility Branch

Department for Transport
Zone 2/22
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 4915
Fax: 020 7944 6102
Email: automobility.branch@dft.gsi.gov.uk

DPTAC Secretariat

Department for Transport
Zone 4/24
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 6441 
Fax: 020 7944 6998
Email: dptac@dft.gsi.gov.uk 

Feedback

We are committed to making this site as accessible and easy to use as possible and would welcome your views on any aspects of this website or AEU's work. Send to us comments or questions at AEU@dft.gsi.gov.uk.