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 In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

and the Equal Opportunities Commission. Its chairman from 2000 to 2007 was

Bert Massie Sir Herbert William Massie, (31 March 1949 – 15 October 2017), known as Bert Massie, was a British disability rights campaigner. He served as Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission from 2000 to 2007, and was a founding Commissioner of ...

. The DRC was charged with reviewing the

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c. 50) (informally, and hereafter, the DDA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010, except in Northern Ireland where the A ...

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 The Equality Act 2006 (c. 3) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom covering the United Kingdom. The 2006 Act is a precursor to the Equality Act 2010, which combines all of the equality enactments within Great Britain and provide com ...

means that in October 2007, the DRC was replaced by a new

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of e ...

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