[5] The legislation was introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Alf Morris after he gained first place in a ballot held on 6 November 1969.

From some 550 contenders, Alf Morris was afforded the opportunity to introduce his Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Bill.

[6] The provisions of the Act are wide-ranging and place a legal obligation on local authorities to make arrangements in relation to access for disabled people to public buildings, such as libraries.

[7] There have been a number of legal cases which have brought about a body of caselaw which should be taken into account when considering the meaning and scope of this Act.

R v Gloucestershire CC Ex p. Barry (1997) allowed an appeal by Gloucestershire County Council of the Court of Appeal's decision that the local authority could not take into account the available financial resources in establishing need and that this could not be assessed in the absence of some consideration as to the potential financial expenditure involved in addressing the need.