Reasonable Adjustments Policy for customers

This policy supports people who interact with the Council by removing or reducing barriers to accessing our services, policies and public buildings that might disadvantage people with disabilities. There is a separate reasonable adjustments policy for employees of the Council.

If English is an additional language for you, we can also give you information about our services and policies in alternative formats or languages wherever practicable. We can also arrange meetings with an interpreter so we can communicate with you and better understand how we can support you.

We also know that people can face several barriers at once, such as a disability and caring responsibilities so we will take time to understand your situation and offer the support that best works for you.

Our approach to making reasonable adjustments in relation to services is anticipatory rather than reactive while recognising that not all individual needs can be anticipated in advance. We consider in advance what the impact of our services, policies, and access to public buildings are on people and take reasonable steps to avoid causing disadvantage.
However, while we take all reasonable steps to remove or reduce barriers that may disadvantage certain people, we acknowledge the need to provide other reasonable support on a case-by-case basis to ensure individuals can access our services.
We will:

1. Work with you to understand your individual needs and find practical solutions.
2. Respond flexibly and with empathy.
3. Where we can’t provide your preferred solution, we’ll explain why and look for alternative solutions.
4. Review and learn from feedback so we keep improving accessibility and service delivery.

Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council has a duty to make reasonable adjustments for people who are at a substantial disadvantage because of a disability compared with people without that disability.

This duty requires the Council to think in advance about the needs of people with disabilities who access our services, not only when someone asks for an adjustment.

Definitions

Disability: The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities”. In plain terms, a disability could include a long-term physical, mental or neurodivergent condition that makes everyday activities harder to do.

Substantial disadvantage: This means a real and meaningful disadvantage compared with others which is more than just a minor inconvenience. For example, if it takes someone much longer to use a service, understand information, or get into a building because of their disability, this would be a substantial disadvantage.

• Check if you’re disabled under the Equality Act – Citizens Advice

Under the Equality Act 2010, the law requires reasonable adjustments to be made in three different situations:

1. When a physical feature of a building or space makes access difficult.
2. When a policy, rule or practice creates a barrier.
3. When the lack of equipment or support (such as an interpreter or hearing loop) makes it hard for someone to use our services.

While this is a legal requirement, we aim to meet this duty in a thoughtful, inclusive and service-focused way. We see reasonable adjustments as part of how we deliver fair, inclusive and high-quality public services.

If you need an adjustment or would like to discuss how we can support you, please let us know. You do not need to make a formal request or use specific wording.

You can contact the Council in any of the following ways:

Phone: 01323 443322

Email: info@wealden.gov.uk

Post: Wealden District Council, Council Offices, Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, BN27 2AX

You can also tell a Council officer during a meeting, visit, or call. We’ll listen, discuss your needs, and agree the best way to support you.

If you are a tenant of the Council, please bring any required reasonable adjustments relating to your property to the attention of your housing officer or contact the Council’s Housing Team.

Examples of Reasonable Adjustments

There’s no set list of reasonable adjustments, as every person’s needs are different.
Here are some examples of what we can do:

• Allowing comfort breaks during longer meetings.
• Offering appointments or communications in your preferred way (e.g., phone, text, letter, video call).
• Offering meetings in accessible spaces.
• Providing aids or support.
• Providing British Sign Language interpreters or hearing loops.
• Providing ramps, automatic doors or improved signage.
  • Supplying information in large print, easy read, Braille, audio or in another language.

How We Decide What’s Reasonable

Our guiding principle is to act with compassion, fairness and common sense.

We look at each request individually and consider:

• Effectiveness: Will the adjustment remove or reduce the disadvantage?
• Practicality: Can it realistically be implemented?
• Resources: Is it affordable and do we have available resources?
• Health and safety: Will it impact the safety of others or access?

Cost will never be the only factor in our decision making.

We are committed to continuously improving accessibility across all Council services.

We do this by:

• Appointing an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion within the Corporate Management Team.
• Employing a dedicated officer to support and promote accessibility and inclusive practices across Council services.
• Following an Equality & Fairness Impact Assessment (EFIA) process to help us identify and reduce barriers before introducing or changing a service, process or policy. This supports compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
• Including accessibility statements on Council documents.
• Learning from feedback and using it to shape better services.
• Providing accessibility tools on our website.
• Publishing our Reasonable Adjustments Policy and Five Star Customer Service Standards on our website.
• Working with groups such as the Wealden Disability Involvement Group (WDIG) and the Wealden Community Equalities Reference Group (WCERG) to help inform inclusive practice.

We aim to get things right first time, every time. If you feel we haven’t provided the support you need, or that your request for an adjustment hasn’t been handled well, please tell us.

You can raise a concern through our Customer Complaints Process, and we will:

• Review what happened and explain our decision clearly.
• Treat your concern fairly and respectfully.
• Use your feedback to improve how we work.

Learning from feedback is central to our Five Star Customer Service Standards, and we take every opportunity to make our services better for everyone.

The effectiveness of this policy will be reviewed regularly through service feedback and complaints data, and this will be discussed by our Internal Equalities Group and Senior Leadership Team. Monitoring will include consideration of equality outcomes where appropriate.

This policy will be formally reviewed every five years, or sooner, if legislation, best practice or Council priorities change.