A disabled access expert has questioned why 10 Downing Street – which has one of the most iconically-inaccessible front doors on the planet – has been presented with a high-profile access award.
Images of the front entrance to the prime minister’s home and offices – with its two steps to the front door – are shown every day all over the world.
But despite staff needing to bring out a portable ramp if a wheelchair-user wants to enter the grade I listed building through the front entrance, 10 Downing Street was presented with an award at last month’s Blue Badge Style Awards.
The awards recognise venues that have “made an effort to attract guests with disabilities”, and those nominated are rated on their style, facilities and accessibility, with other winners including the Ritz Carlton in Wolfsburg, Germany, the Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair, and the Dandelyan cocktail bar on London’s South Bank.
The citation for the “above and beyond” award said that 10 Downing Street had “pulled out all the stops” on access.
Historic England – the government-sponsored public body responsible for “championing England’s heritage” – told Disability News Service this week that it had advised the Cabinet Office on recent access improvements to the building, including a new internal lift, but that so far there had had been no discussions about the steps at the front entrance.
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