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Company: Buyers Guide
Project: Disability Discrimination Act Database
Dates: Dec 2007 to Jan 2009
How did the project start?
As a company, we work with all public sector bodies and the companies that supply products and services to them. One of our 25 core areas that we focus on is around solutions for Disability Discrimination Act access and human resource issues.
We found out through our discussions with hospitals, schools, councils, universities, the MOD and central government that there was no one place to find out the DDA issues facing public bodies across the UK, how individual organizations had dealt with them and, if necessary, what 3rd party companies they used to resolve the issue.
The information of particular interest was around what penalties, fines, court judgements or ombudsman’s decisions public sector organizations faced if they chose not to act upon a complaint.
Our DDA database lists situations where a public body has had a complaint based on their DDA infrastructure or services. Each case mentions if a specific financial fine was awarded, they range from £250 to £650,000, by what body (courts, tribunal or ombudsman), additional changes agreed in a decision and, if available, who carried out the corrective work.
It is the largest database of DDA issues in the UK and can be fully searched in seconds online by users.
What options did you consider?
We considered a newsletter, but all parties said that a paper solution wasn't interactive enough in a world where they need to have information right away. We also considered a consultancy that could response to individual public sector requests for information. However, confidentiality and cost were issues that discouraged the public sector from embracing this option.
What help and expertise did you receive?
Our MD previously worked for Dow Jones and Reed Elsevier and saw that a database was the most appropriate solution.
Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?
We learned that there was very little information publicly available about fines and the other penalties around DDA violations by public sector bodies. The key to our success was to get the information on DDA solutions directly from the public sector organizations and the companies implementing the solutions.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
The outcome has been that Buyers Guide is now seen as a "hub" of DDA knowledge. This helps all the people coming to our website, but more importantly, this information can potentially reduce the costs to a public sector body of managing their DDA access and service costs.
What are your plans for the future?
Buyers Guide plans to create additional "information hubs" to help the public sector employees do their jobs more efficiently.
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