The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) was established by the British Labour government in 1999. At that time, the DRC was the UK's third equality commission alongside the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission. Its chairman from 2000 to 2007 was Bert Massie. The DRC was charged with reviewing the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and recommending its amendment. It had rights of investigation and enforcement of disability legislation, and was responsible for advising employers on how to secure equal acceptance of disabled employees in the workplace. The DRC replaced an earlier and weaker body, the National Disability Council, established by the Conservatives in the 1990s. The passing of the Equality Act 2006 means that in October 2007, the DRC was replaced by a new Equality and Human Rights Commission with powers across all equality law (race, sex, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age). The DRC was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

(NDPB) of the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

. Its head office was in Manchester city centre with other offices in central London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

External links

Archive Disability Rights Commission WebsiteDisability Rights Commission page on gov.uk
Health and disability rights organisations in the United Kingdom Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub