1. New Street Chambers is committed to making reasonable adjustments in order to remove or reduce substantial disadvantage for disabled people working with chambers or receiving legal services. This policy covers all employees of chambers, barristers, clerks, pupils, mini-pupils and visitors to chambers.

2. Circulation
This policy is circulated to all members, staff, pupils, clerks and those who are required to read and understand it.

3. Definition of disability
For the purposes of this policy the definition of disability follows that set out in the Equality Act 2010 s.6. A person is therefore disabled if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. “Substantial” means more than minor or trivial and “long term” means 12 months or more”.

4. Types of reasonable adjustment
This policy does not provide an exhaustive list of the reasonable adjustments that chambers will make for staff, barristers, pupils or visitors however the following types of adjustment that may be made are listed below:

Provision of information in alternative formats (e.g. large print, Braille etc)

Paid leave for disabled employees of chambers

Provision of auxiliary aids e.g. induction loops

Provision of accessible conference room facilities

Provision of a reader or interpreter

5. Staff, barristers and others in chambers
Staff or barristers with specific requirements should make requests to Miss Barnett, Head of Chambers, for reasonable adjustment decisions. All requests for reasonable adjustments will be considered on a case by case basis with the advice and assistance of chambers’ Equality and Diversity Officer and where it is not possible to make the adjustment requested New Street Chambers will discuss viable alternatives with the applicant.

Head of Chambers is responsible for considering whether or not disabled staff, barristers or pupils require assistance during an emergency evacuation and if so whether or not a personal emergency evacuation plan is required for the individual/s concerned. If so, the plan will be developed in partnership with the individual concerned in order to ensure that adjustments to the emergency evacuation procedure may be made.

6. Visitors to chambers
Barristers are responsible for considering reasonable adjustment requests for their visitors. They are also responsible for anticipating any likely reasonable adjustments that will need to be made for visitors whom they know to be disabled and are likely to require assistance. Visitor requests for specific reasonable adjustments may be made by contacting Ben Leuty or Jack Wood on 0116 262 5906.

7. Cost of making reasonable adjustments
In no circumstances will New Street Chambers pass on the cost of a reasonable adjustment to a disabled person.

8. Monitoring and review
This policy is reviewed by chambers’ Equality and Diversity Officer every two years.