Scottish
Disability Equality Forum����
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Scottish
Disability Equality Forum���� |
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� SDEF News���������������������������������� � December
2001
Welcome to this
first edition of SDEF News, available free to all members and associate members
of SDEF.� We will keep you up to
date on our own activities and relevant events and publications in the field of
disability. �If you would like your
work publicised in future editions, or would like to tell us about something
new, please contact us at the address below.
This newsletter is available by email, on disc or in other formats if preferred.� Please contact us to let us know how you would like to receive it. SDEF Update You�ve joined
the new-look SDEF � what have we been up to since our conference in July?
We have amended
our constitution and now have charitable status (charity no. SC031893).�
We also changed our rules of membership to make it easier for a wide
range of organisations to join us.� You
will find a list of our current members at the end of this newsletter.�
We have consulted with members and drawn up a strategic plan for our next year�s work, and identified priorities for longer term work.� Our immediate priorities are to:
We
have responded to four recent Scottish Executive consultations.�
The Management Committee drafted a response to the recent consultation on
the draft regulations for a Mobility and Access Committee (Scotland), and
circulated this to Scottish Access Panels before submitting it to the Executive.�
We also responded to recent consultations on legislation surrounding
special educational needs and building regulations.�
We
are now setting up a fully representative system for responding to
consultations, which will allow members to input at every stage.�
This involves setting up an �early warning� system of monitoring
Scottish Executive publications to ensure that we have the maximum notice of
relevant consultation papers.�
We
have started to make links across the voluntary sector and develop relationships
with decision-makers.� We have
joined the Paths for All Partnership to represent disability interests.�
We have met with SATA and Disability Agenda Scotland.�
We have been in touch regularly with the Disability Rights Commission in
Scotland. Our Convenor has been made Vice-Convener of the Scottish Parliament
Cross Party Group on Disability.�
We
have compiled a database of 1300 disability voluntary organisations from a
variety of sources and are working to contact all of these groups.
We
have met with Scottish Executive officials from the Equality Unit and the
Community Care Division to discuss financial support for our work, and have
received a further tranche of funding to allow us to continue to develop our
membership and links with other groups.� We
are funded until the end of March 2002.
We are meeting with officials later this month to discuss long term funding from the Scottish Executive for our work� - watch this space! Changes
at the Scottish Parliament and Executive
The
New Cabinet:
Deputy
First Minister/ Minister for Justice
Minister
for Education
Minister
for Enterprise, Transport, and Lifelong Learning
Minister
for Finances and Public Services
Minister
for Health and Community Care
Minister
for Parliamentary Business
Minister
for Environment and Rural Development
Minister
for Social Justice
Minister
for Tourism, Arts and Culture Deputy
Ministers
Deputy
Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs
Deputy
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
Deputy
Minister for Finances and Public Services
Deputy
Ministers for Health and Community Care
Deputy
Minister for Justice
Deputy
Minister for Parliamentary Business�
Deputy
Minister for the Environment and Rural Development�
Deputy
Minister for Social Justice
Deputy
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Committee MembershipKate Maclean (Lab) - Convener
Lyndsay McIntosh
Cathie Peattie
Tommy Sheridan
Elaine Smith
Kay Ullrich � Vice Convener
Richard Walsh
(Clerk) 0131 348 5216
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY CARE
COMMITTEE������
Margaret Smith
(LD) - Convener
Dorothy-Grace�Elder�
Janis Hughes�
Margaret Jamieson�� Vice
Convener
John McAllion�
Nicola Sturgeon�
Shona Robison�
Mary Scanlon�
Richard Simpson�����
Jennifer Smart (Clerk) - 0131 348 5210 News
on Legislation
Proposed
changes to Direct Payments Regulations
The Community Care
and Health (Scotland) Bill will make a number of changes to legislation on
Direct Payments in Scotland.� The
provisions in the Bill are based on proposals made in the consultation document Better care for all our futures (April 2001).� �The changes
will be phased in over the next two years.
What are direct
payments?
Direct payments
allow people to purchase services to meet their care needs instead of the Local
Authority providing services for them.� They
can increase the choice and control people have over their own lives by
increasing independence and freedom of choice.�
This has been possible for some years, however changes have to be made.
Changes
under new legislation
This will allow 16
and 17 year olds to use Direct Payments to purchase children�s services.� Disabled parents will also be able to access these to assist
in their parenting roles.
This Bill will impose a duty on Local Authorities to offer community care to those
people who choose this method to meet their care needs.�
These will be
extended to other community care groups who are not eligible at present e.g.
people who are frail, receiving rehabilitation after an accident, recovering
from alcohol or drug dependency, or fleeing from domestic abuse,�
may now be considered.
This money will
also now be able to be used to purchase care from Local Authorities. �At present this is prohibited.�
This will also increase choice and will also help make Direct Payments
available to people in remote areas where Local Authorities may be the only
source of services.
A representative,
such as a guardian or lawyer with the relevant powers will be able to ensure
that someone can receive Direct Payments.� This
will allow people with mental health problems or learning difficulties to
benefit from Direct Payments.� It
will also allow parents to purchase services which their children are assessed
as needing.
There will still
be a requirement for some recipients to make a personal contribution, but the
new legislation will allow payments to be made on a gross basis and the user�s
contribution recovered later.� This
will put Direct Payment recipients on equal footing with those receiving Local
Authority services.� The Bill will
however give the Local Authority a mechanism to recover the amount it has
assessed to be due.
Land Reform Bill
After a long
period of consultation and re-drafting, the Land Reform Bill was published on
Wednesday 28th November. The Bill, if passed into law, will give new
rights of access to the Scottish countryside and provide rural communities and
crofters a right to buy land.
The Fieldfare
Trust has been campaigning for greater consideration within the first section of
the Bill for the rights of disabled people to access the Scottish countryside. As is typical of so much legislation the Bill has just one reference to
disabled people. Where local authorities exercise their discretionary power
to make access improvements, they will be required �to have regard to the
needs of disabled people�.� None
of the other parties with responsibilities for access management including
landowners have any specific duties to meet the needs of disabled people.
One argument goes
that such new duties should not be necessary now that the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) is in place, and countryside accessing managers
are service providers under its provision. This misses a key issue with respect
to rights for disabled people. The onus is on disabled people to challenge
discrimination where it takes place. Countryside managers will face no sanction
or incentive to meet the needs of disabled people unless they wish to avoid
being caught out or challenged where their provision discriminates on the
grounds of disability.
If real progress is to be made in improving access for disabled people, all those responsible for delivering services must be required to act and not wait for disabled people to take the necessary steps to rectify an unacceptable situation.� How else will standards of provision ever be improved? This approach applies to many areas of social policy, not just countryside access. However, the opportunity exists for the Scottish Disability Equality Forum to influence the passage of the Land Reform Bill and set a precedent for the inclusion of disability orientated clauses in all future legislation. The principle of
people with disabilities having things by right is fundamental.�
If you feel that this is an important issue, we urge all members of SDEF
to allow us to co-ordinate the comments of your organisations, and join
Fieldfare Trust, and others to lobby the Scottish Parliament. It is vital to
ensure the rights of people with disabilities are recognised and enshrined in
law.��
Please contact
us if you would like to be involved.
You can see the Land Reform Bill on the Scottish Parliament web site (www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl_bus/bills/b44s1.pdf) �
Consultations
SDEF has responded
to several recent consultations � on access to transport, building standards,
and education.� Copies of our
responses are available on request.
Here are a few
current consultation documents:
Disability
Discrimination Act 1995: Carrying of Guide & Hearing Dogs in Taxis
There are four consultation papers now out on this issue.� Closing date is 31st December and copies of the papers can be obtained from Stephanie Bow at the Scottish Executive Local Government Division on 0131 244 7058.� If members are responding on their own behalf, we would be grateful for a copy of comments made.� If you would like SDEF to take up any issues, please let us know. �
Vulnerable AdultsA consultation
paper has just been issued looking at the provision of a legislative framework to protect
vulnerable adults, beyond those with mental disorder.�
Responses are due to the Justice Department by 8th March �
please let us know if there are any issues you would like SDEF to raise.�
The paper is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/justice/vacp-01.asp
or from Jean Wilson, Justice Department, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive,
Edinburgh EH11 3XD.
Education
for Work and Enterprise
The
Scottish Executive is currently consulting on how to educate young people for
work.� If you have any views on this
issue which SDEF could feed into the consultation, please let us know.�
Copies of the consultation paper are available from David McNeil on 0141
242 0146.� Closing date for the
consultation is mid-January 2002, so please
pass us your comments by Monday 7th January.
If you would like to comment directly, you can do so online at www.educationforwork.com - but please let us have a copy of your comments if you can. Review of the
European Blue Badge scheme of parking concessions for disabled people
A consultation document on this issue is currently being prepared.� If you would like to receive a copy, send your contact details to: Michael Toyer Esq
Email: [email protected]
Getting Involved in Planning � a consultation paper on increasing public involvement in the planning process has been produced. Comments should be made by 31st March 2002.� Copies of the paper are available from tel. 08457 741741 or at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/planning/gtcp-00.asp �
Scottish Executive PublicationsNew statistics have been released (end November) by Scottish Executive National Statistics on registered blind and partially sighted people in Scotland (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/health/infonote_2.asp) The
Social Justice Annual Report 2001 has been produced, setting out progress against the social justice
milestones (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/social/sjsu-00.asp)
National
Care Standards for Care Homes for Older People
have been produced (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/social/chop-00.asp)
Designing
Places � A Policy Statement for Scotland
has been produced by the Scottish Executive Development Department as a strategy
for improving urban and rural design and planning (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/planning/dpps-00.asp)
The Preliminary Report on the Equality Strategy was published in October � a report on progress in mainstreaming equality across the Scottish Executive.� It is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/society/equality/pres-00.asp �
News
from Around the Sector
BAYWATCH and
YOU
We all complain
about the misuse of supermarket parking spaces but what have we done about it?
In 1999, major
supermarkets launched �Disabled Link-up� � an initiative to show their
commitment to improving car parking facilities for customers with a disability.
The Disabled
Drivers� Motor Club (DDMC) were involved in their own �Give us back our
parking spaces� campaign.� The
British Polio Fellowship (BPF) surveyed a sample of supermarkets across the
country and found that nothing was known about these initiatives.�
In September 2000, BPF wrote to the head offices of all the major
supermarkets.� The overall responses
showed that a coherent policy of preventing abuse wsy not being followed despite
the existence of �Disabled Link-up�.
BAYWATCH was
formed, involving BPF, DDMC and DDA (Disabled Drviers Association) and the work
is being publicised by �Disability Now�.
At the mobility
Roadshow in Crawthorpe, an opportunity to complete a questionnaire on
supermarket parking was available at the stands of the participating
organisations.
The BAYWATCH
survey undertaken by BPF revealed that although supermarket chains had good
policies on parking, there was a high level of ignorance at individual store
level.� The findings were similar to
those of DDMC�s �Give us back our parking spaces� and although there are
shining examples of good practice, supermarket parking is still a major headache
for people with disabilities.
The aims of BAYWATCH are:-
Where does
BAYWATCH and YOU come in?
YOU can look out for bad practice and turn it to good practice YOU can publicise BAYWATCH in your area YOU can offer to
get involved.
To get involved, phone BPF on Freephone 0800 018 0586 � |
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� Scottish Disability Equality Forum Working together for the disability movement SDEF is a recognised Scottish charity no. SC031893 end of page |