Continuing our behind-the-scenes posts, Andrew talks about his work as one of our evidence checkers.
“I’m Andrew and I’m an evidence-checker on the Fair4All Card team. My role is to look at the evidence which people send in with their card application and see if it meets the legal tests for disability and reasonable adjustments. I meet the application team usually once a week on Teams and they present to me what people are asking for on their card and the evidence sent in to justify it. I then say if the evidence is enough or whether we have to clarify anything or ask for more evidence.
Sometimes, when we don’t have enough written evidence or when a person would find it hard to send us written evidence, the applications team make me an appointment to ring people to talk about their application. I always look forward to these calls – it’s so nice to talk to people, get to know more about the issues they face, and be able to help them with a Fair4All Card.
In my role, I have to know about a wide range of disabilities and conditions and how they affect people, as well as understanding the legal side such as the Equality Act 2010 and the decisions of courts looking at disability issues. Being an evidence checker means making balanced and evidence-based decisions about tricky and sometimes complex issues, but fortunately this is something I enjoy doing. I am always thinking ‘what would a court decide if this went before a judge’? Our aim is that a court would always back BuDS’ decision if an issue or disagreement ended up in court. This means that sometimes we do have to disappoint disabled people who ask for something on their Fair4All Card which would definitely help them, but which we think a court wouldn’t rule was legally necessary. But thankfully this is rare.
I’m very proud to be associated with the Fair4All Card. It’s a marvellous practical way to make life easier for disabled people.”
As always, you can find out more and apply for a Fair4All Card on our website https://fair4all.org.uk/apply-for-a-card/