Equality Act & Accessibility

Your Duty Under the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 brings together legislation relating to discrimination. As service providers, churches have a legal duty to be inclusive and ensure that their buildings and activities are accessible to people with disabilities.

This means church trustees (Elders) must:

• Not treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability.
• Make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled people.
• Take all reasonable steps to remove physical barriers to access.

This duty requires churches to think ahead and anticipate the needs of disabled people, rather than waiting for a disabled person to experience a problem.

The Access Plan

To comply with the Act, your church should carry out an access appraisal and create an Access Plan. This will help you to identify barriers and plan for the reasonable changes you need to make to your practices, policies, and buildings.

The appraisal should consider:

• The services you provide.
• Physical barriers to accessibility.
• The needs of disabled people in your congregation and community.

Becoming fully accessible can be expensive, but a lack of funds does not remove the legal duty. Your Access Plan should identify priorities and phase the necessary work over time. Many adjustments, such as providing large-print service sheets or improving signage, can be implemented at little cost.

Further Information

For more detailed technical guidance, you can refer to Part M of the Building Regulations and British Standard BS8300. You can also get valuable advice from Christian disability organisations like Through The Roof.

You can download the 'Equality Act 2010' guidance note from our Property Resources & Forms page.