Consultations

�SDEF Consultation Response

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SDEF

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The Scottish Disability Equality Forum works for social inclusion in Scotland through the removal of barriers and the promotion of equal access for people affected by disability.

It is a membership organisation, representing individuals with any type of impairment, disability organisations and groups who share our values. It aims to ensure the voices of people affected by disability are heard and heeded.

SDEF promotes access in its widest sense: access to the built and natural environment and access to the same opportunities as are enjoyed by other people in our community. It takes a broad definition of access, within which it focuses on access to the environment and access to information and mechanisms promoting two-way communications. It campaigns to improve access in these areas and seeks to become a free source of high quality information on them.

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General

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3. Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit Report

SDEF notes the work currently being carried out at the Disability Working Group at the Scottish Executive on the issues arising from the Report.

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5. Mainstreaming by the Scottish Executive

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The mainstreaming of equalities should be a priority of the Executive at the present time and the Disability Equality Duty could be a focus for this.

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8. Sharing good practice by local authorities

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COSLA might also encourage its members to support the network of access panels as a means of continuing the involvement of people with disabilities in the Disability Equality Schemes that will inform service provision.

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Access to Work

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People with disabilities should be given the necessary support to sustain employment. However, should a change in circumstances mean that a person can no longer continue at their present employment that person should be treated with respect by those making decisions regarding recommencement of benefits.� SDEF has made additional comments relating to this subject in its response to the UK consultation on Welfare Reform

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Engaging employers

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Not only should enterprise agencies disseminate good practice with regard to employment of people with disabilities they should promote the benefits of recruiting people with disabilities and provide information and training around misconceptions and negative perception. Agencies also have a role in working with employers to reduce harassment and promote cultural change within the workplace.

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20 Larger employers

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Public bodies should promote best practice in the employment of disabled people and should use the impact assessment requirement of the Disability Equality Duty to monitor how and where change has taken place. Performance indicators, for example, could include data on disabled people gaining promotion rather than simply counting those taking up entry level positions and not progressing through the organisation. This would also apply to Supported Education Units.

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59 Expectations

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Greater awareness of and training on the social model of disability would better prepare careers advisors for their role and would enable them to help people identify career options.

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87 Accommodation

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Higher education providers should carry out access audits by trained personnel on student accommodation. Disabled students/people should be involved in planning process for building upgrades or the provision of new accommodation.

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Access to Leisure

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Public and community life

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The Executive and COSLA members could promote guidelines and toolkits which already exist to promote better participation in public and community life and ensure existing networks, such as community planning partnerships, are better able to remove barriers to people with disabilities.

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VisitScotland

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VisitScotland should adopt a proactive approach to encourage tourist service providers to ensure premises and services are accessible to all people with disabilities, whether they are tourists or local people. VisitScotland should work with local access panels, many of which provide their own access guides to local services and are trained to carry out access audits. At present there are still too many barriers that prevent those with disabilities from staying in accommodation and making use of facilities available to the non-disabled. People with disabilities have the right to participate in tourism and leisure and had an economic spending power that has not been fully recognised.

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Sportscotland

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Sportscotland should work to address the needs of people with disabilities participating in sport who are not of school age and not elite athletes. The Sportscotland should work with other service providers, for example, transport providers to remove barriers to uptake.

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107 Charging schemes

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Harmonisation or clear guidance on charging schemes would be useful. Carers and guides should not be charged.

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Volunteering

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People with disabilities should have the opportunity to take part in mainstream volunteering activities in addition to specific projects.

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Disability Equality Training

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SDEF supports the view that disability equality/awareness training should be mainstreamed as a way of changing attitudes and improving services. It should be undertaken by everyone, not just those that work in the care professions.

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The development of an accreditation scheme would help to ensure that training was of a high and consistent standard. At present training available is of a disparate quality and there is no quality assurance. Disabled people have a key role to play in the development and delivery of DET. The Executive has a role to play in seeking the support of public service and business leaders to inspire commitment to equality. Commercial businesses can include DET as part of customer care training, which would result in benefits to society as a whole and the economy.

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Education for citizenship

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All teachers should have disability equality training and schools and learning centres should promote inclusion.

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Physical Access

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160. �Education in building standards is an issue. SDEF members would like to see inclusive environmental access and design as part of architects’�training. Those designing and/or fitting facilities for disabled people should be able to demonstrate a qualification in this area or several years experience.

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British Standards are often cited as the method of best practice. However, it is felt that the Standards are a minimum that do not adequately meet the needs of disabled people and that builders/planners are doing the least they can rather than aiming for the best solutions.

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There are still problems with affordable, accessible housing and properties continue to be built that do not meet the needs of disabled people.

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165. SDEF notes the letter from the Head of the Scottish Executive Community Care Division in August 2004 to local authority chief executives that urged them to support local access panels. The panels not only have a wealth of knowledge on access to the built environment but could act as representative groups on authority disability equality schemes.

� Copyright Scottish Disability Equality Forum 2003-2006

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