Law Commission launches three-year review of current legislation on transport accessibility

The Law Commission will undertake a review of the current legislation on transport accessibility, considering laws governing the accessibility of transport for disabled people in England and Wales and the wider frameworks in which they are contained.

The objective of the review is to make recommendations aimed at simplifying and consolidating the legal framework and supporting end-to-end journeys by disabled people.

The review comes after the Transport Select Committee found in its 2025 report “Access Denied” that “ingrained” accessibility failings across all modes of transport are having a “significant negative impact” on the lives of disabled people.

The “overly complicated and fragmented” legal framework was identified as one of the factors contributing to this situation.

The review will assess whether the different mechanisms for enforcing and promoting compliance with the law are working effectively and are sufficient to cover all transport modes.

It will consider:

• whether the law needs to be strengthened and made more consistent;
• the adequacy of current remedies;
• whether enforcement bodies have sufficient powers; and
• how to reduce the need for individual enforcement.

The Law Commission has set an aim to report in February 2029. A full-public consultation will be carried out as part of the review, likely to take place in Autumn 2027.

Harry Rodd