to you. If you cannot agree between you how to set things right, then you need to decide if you want to get help from someone else (alternative dispute resolution) or make a claim in court. Alternative dispute resolution The first part of this section assumed you would make the complaint yourself, or with the help of someone you already know. If you want to get help in sorting out a complaint about discrimination, you could try to get the person or organisation you are complaining about to agree to what is usually called ‘alternative dispute resolution’ or ADR. ADR involves finding a way of sorting out the complaint without a formal court hearing. ADR techniques include mediation and conciliation. You can find out more about ADR, whether any of the options might be suitable in your situation, what you have to do, and how much it might cost from the: (see 'Further sources of information and advice' section). Scottish Government publication Resolving Disputes Without Going To Court (if you are in Scotland). For some sorts of cases mediation services are available through the courts service, and these can be used instead of waiting for a case to be heard by a judge. Mediation has the advantage of generally reducing cost and may successfully settle a claim without the inconvenience of a trial. You can find information about mediation services, including how to find mediators registered with the Civil Mediation Council for England and Wales here: and for Scotland here: The questions procedure If you believe you may have experienced unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation under equality law it is good practice to seek relevant information from the person or organisation you think is responsible. This can help you decide if you have a valid claim or not. How you can do this will depend on whether or not the claim is about something that happened before 6 April 2014. Claims about events which happened before 6 April 2014 If the claim is about something that happened before 6 April 2014, there is a set procedure which you can use to obtain information from the person or organisation you think is responsible. It includes a set form called 'the questionnaire' or 'questions procedure' available at:
The voice of carers. Carers provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner. England Website: Telephone: 0808 808 7777 (Mon to Fri, from 10am until 4pm) Email: Disability Disability Law Service (DLS): The DLS is a national charity providing information and advice to disabled and Deaf people. It covers a wide range of topics including discrimination, consumer issues, education and employment. Website: Telephone: 020 7791 9800 Minicom: 020 7791 9801 Mencap: Mencap is the leading UK charity for people with a learning disability and their families. It provides a range of services including advice and information. Website: Telephone: 0808 808 1111 Fax: 020 7608 3254 Email: Mind: Mind is the leading mental health charity for England and Wales. It provides information to help promote understanding of mental health and campaigns to promote and protect good mental health. It has an info-line and a legal services line, and also provides online advice. Website: Infoline: 0845 766 0163 Legal Advice Service: 0845 2259393 Email: Disability Rights UK:
disability A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Certain medical conditions are automatically classed as being a disability – for example, cancer, HIV infection, multiple sclerosis. disabled person Someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. discrimination arising from disability When a person is treated unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability; for example, a restaurant does not allow a visually impaired customer to come in because they want to bring their dog inside. The dog is a guide dog and the reason the customer has the dog is because of their disability. If it is objectively justifiable to treat a person unfavourably because of something arising from their disability, then the treatment will not be unlawful. It is unlikely to be justifiable if the service user has not first made any reasonable adjustments. disproportionately low Refers to situations where people with a protected characteristic are under-represented (e.g. among service users) compared to their numbers in the population. diversity This tends to be used to refer to a group of people with many different types of protected characteristic, e.g. people of all ages, religions, ethnic background etc.