The issue of post office closures has become bedevilled by a crucial failure to assess the potential catastrophic impact on the disabled, London's High Court heard yesterday.
Elisabeth Laing - QC for Judy Brown who is battling to save her local Hastings post office from the axe - argued there was "no evidence" that public bodies complied with their duty to promote disability equality, as required under the 1995 Disability
Discrimination Act.
Miss Laing told Mr Justice Davis the judicial review challenge was directed at ensuring that decisions regarding post office closures are made "lawfully".
Although conceding she cannot "unravel" past closure decisions, Miss Laing said she was "asking for the court to investigate the decision-making process and then decide whether or not the duty has been breached".
And she claimed there was scant evidence that John Hutton - Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - properly considered the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act when formulating his post office closure policy.
There was nothing to demonstrate that the Secretary of State "expressly considered" whether to carry out a formal "impact assessment" in relation to the effect on the disabled, Miss Laing urged.
Mrs Brown wants ministers to re-examine the question of post office closures in light of the Disability Discrimination Act and is campaigning to save her own local post office from extinction.
The hearing continues today (Tuesday)
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