Since the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (DDA), employers have increasingly put in place policies and practices designed to shape their disability management practice (EOR, 2003; IRS, 2003; Hurstfield et al, 2003). The amendments to the DDA in the form of the Disability Discrimination Bill (DDB) (now the Disability Discrimination Act 2005) are likely to increase such activities. While all employers are required to ensure that they comply with the legislative requirements, in the public sector the replacement of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) with ‘Best Value’ has placed further requirements on Local Authorities (LAs) to improve their service provision and their corporate employment policies and practices in order to ensure the social inclusion of different groups within their local community. These initiatives are being given further impetus via the DDB which includes a disability equality duty on public authorities to have due regard to:

Equality, therefore, has become a mainstream issue in local government and is evidenced in The equality standard for local government, which aims to “combat the institutional processes that lead to discrimination and which form part of the culture and administration of governance in Britain” (LGEO, n.d., p 1). Mainstreaming equality according to Speeden (2004, p 1) means:

As part of achieving Best Value and mainstreaming equality, central government has provided indicators to be used in auditing progress on equality and social inclusion in the form of Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs).