RAD are pleased to announce the launch of The Money Advice Service, covering locations such as Greater London, Kent, Surrey and Essex. The service offers face-to-face sessions for d/Deaf/deafblind customers and not only do all our Advisor’s use British Sign Language but the service is entirely free and offers a wide variety of money advice from budgeting to debt advice.

So, why not check out our new web page and take advantage of this great service. Click here.

For further information or to book an appointment, please email money.advice@royaldeaf.org.uk or SMS  07749 965725

The vast majority of the Equality Act 2010′s provisions will come into force today. This new Act strengthens, harmonises and streamlines 40 years of equality legislation, providing protection from discrimination across all the “protected characteristics”: age, disability, sex (including gender reassignment), race, religion and belief, and sexual orientation.

“It’s not “the DDA” any more; it’s “the EA”!

The Equality Act 2010 will have a far reaching impact on how disability discrimination claims are dealt with in new Employment Tribunal and County Court proceedings. Please ensure you receive full legal advice before taking any legal action for disability discrimination to ensure that you make your claims under the correct act.

We are pleased to announce that the Management Committee for the first Deaf Law Centre met for the first time on 24 September 2010 and formally constituted the Deaf Law Centre, which will called “RAD Deaf Law Centre” from now on.

The members of the Management Committee include:

• Ann Goldfinch, Chair – RAD Trustee
• Tom Fenton, Treasurer – RAD Chief Executive
• Clare Norriss, Secretary – BP Compliance Manager
• Lousha Bryl – Hugh James Assistant Solicitor
• Donal Mac Cionaoith
• Lawrence Power – 4 Kings Bench Walk Barrister and Head of Chambers
• Mark McAleer – HR Consultant
• Kabir Kapoor
• Rob Wilks – RAD Solicitor and Head of Legal Services

The Management Committee will now prepare the application to the Law Centres Federation to formally become a member and permitted to call itself a “law centre”, and some Committee members will be attending the Law Centres Federation’s Annual General Meeting and Conference on 26-27 November 2010 in Manchester, during which the LCF’s board will decide whether or not to accept our application.

For more information about the RAD Deaf Law Centre, please contact Rob Wilks.

Dering Employment Services has reported that it has called in the administrators. The Croydon based company, founded by Stephen Dering in 2006, specialised in delivering employability programmes for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf/blind people and positioned itself as the only deaf-owned and deaf-run company supporting people to get jobs. The company’s reputation had grown rapidly after securing multiple subcontracting agreements across the UK through DWP programmes such as Pathways to Work and the Flexible New Deal.

All of Dering’s employees were notified of the situation last Friday, and placed on garden leave, with a redundancy consultation period now underway. DWP and other providers for whom Dering is a subcontractor have also been notified.

The company has claimed that the reasons for its failure stem from alleged non-payment of invoices and breach of contract on the part of one of the largest prime contractors with whom it works, and it is understood that Dering are considering legal action.

Stephen Dering told us: “The current circumstances have been very difficult for us, and we are bitterly disappointed that we have had to call in the administrators at this time. We are very proud of what we have achieved, and my first thoughts are for the loyal and talented staff who have been instrumental to our journey and who now face a very uncertain future. Equally, the situation means that we can no longer take forward the valuable work that we do in supporting the needs of long term unemployed people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We will be working pro-actively with our industry partners in the weeks ahead to ensure disruption to the services to these customers is kept to a minimum”.

Source: Carley Consult

We have previously advised some clients on possible legal action against the Ministry of Justice due to the fact that Deaf people are generally not allowed to serve on juries.

This article is a useful summary of the current position.

On 17 May 2010, RAD Legal Services team participated for the first time in the London Legal Sponsored Walk and raised over £1,500! The funds will provide webcams at Citizens Advice Bureaux and Law Centres enabling Deaf people to access RAD’s Legal Advice Online in BSL Service. A huge thank you to everyone who has already donated. Donations can still be accepted, if you would like to contribute, please visit the Justgiving page.

Citizens Advice Bureau has launched its first ever web pages in BSL. The signed films provide details on how and where to get help at Citizens Advice Bureaux as well as information on debt, benefits, employment and discrimination. Citizens Advice is currently working with RAD Legal Services to provide access points where Deaf people can access legal advice online in BSL via webcams. Click here to visit the Citizens Advice website.

RAD is exhibiting at Deaf Day at City Lit in London on Saturday 10th April from 10am to 4.30pm. Please come along and visit our stand in room 116, where you can find out more about RAD’s services and meet members of staff.

At 2pm in room 219, Desmond Masterson from RAD will give a presentation on his report ‘Disability Discrimination Act 1995: Why do barriers still exist for D/deaf people’. City Lit will provide BSL/English interpreters, speech to text and loop systems for all presentations.

The British Deaf Association (BDA) Congress takes place from 6th – 10th April at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth. RAD will be exhibiting at the event on the 7th and 8th April. Please come along to our stand to find out more information about RAD’s Services and meet members of staff.

At 11.30am on 7th April, Desmond Masterson from RAD will give a presentation on his report ‘Disability Discrimination Act 1995: Why do barriers still exist for D/deaf people’. For further information on the Congress can be found on the BDA’s website.

Funmi sought advice from RAD Legal Services after her local solicitor had filled out an application incorrectly which resulted in rejection. RAD Legal Services gave Funmi full advice in British Sign Language about the immigration process, and were successful in getting citizenship for Funmi. Amanda Everitt from RAD Legal Services (left) accompanied Funmi Olaniyan at a citizenship ceremony at Brent Town Hall. For the full story, click here.