Your local authority can be approached in two ways:

• through an elected member
• through an officer

Elected members
These are your elected councillors. Your main contact with them is likely to be on the development and implementation of access policies. You can lobby them to:

• fight for good access policies within the council itself
• ensure that the group’s views are made known to the full council
• see that your Access Officer is properly supported (or to have one appointed in the first place!)
• introduce policies on equal opportunities for the employment of disabled people by the authorit
• introduce policies on the provision of information in suitable formats for people with sensory impairments
• introduce policies for staff training in disability equality issues

Officers
These are the employees of the local authority. They are responsible for advising the council on the implementation of its policies (planning, enforcement of building regulations, and so on). Some of the more senior officers have delegated powers from the council to act on their behalf in the implementation of these policies and responsibilities.

Access Officers

Some local authorities now have a designated Access Officer. A few of these are full time, but most have had access responsibilities tagged onto the side of their existing work, so often have insufficient time to deal with access issues in enough detail.

The role of an Access Officer is to develop and often to monitor improved access to services and facilities across all sectors. This has become an increasingly important role since the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force. The DDA has resulted in a higher demand for information, advice and policies that facilitate the development of accessible environments.

Access Officers may operate from a number of different departments, depending on where the local authority chooses to place them. Most of the time, however, they are employed within the Planning or Building Control departments. Despite this, they are often empowered to work across departmental divides to ensure consistent policy development. He or she will also be empowered by his or her links with local disabled people and in particular, the local access group.

Key advice for access groups: If your local authority has a designated Access Officer, he or she should always be your initial point of contact with the authority. If you want the Access Officer to work with you, it is only courteous to let them know what you are doing with the authority, even if they are not directly involved themselves.

However, if your local authority does not have an Access Officer, you should seek to negotiate with them for the appointment of one. This can be instigated by recruiting the support of an officer from the local authority, who will help get the suggestion onto the agenda at one of the local authority’s committee meetings.

Development of policies

Responsibility for the development of local authority policies used to lie with their various committees. These comprised elected councillors, advised by officials. In some local authorities, these have been replaced by a 'cabinet' system, in which one elected member is appointed as the person responsible for a particular issue. They can bring together working groups, advisory panels and other more flexible mechanisms to develop policy.

Key advice for access groups: You should find out what system your authority has adopted and ensure that you are known to the 'cabinet' member and relevant staff. Doing so will encourage them to involve you in relevant working parties and other consultation mechanisms.

Because planning issues are a regular item of business and there is a statutory duty to retain a formal planning approval body, your authority will have a standing Planning Committee. Your group may find it particularly useful to attend the Planning Committee meetings. Some local authorities also have specific Equal Opportunity Committees that should be able to support disabled people putting their views forward.