Meeting of the Parliament 25 September 2014
I, too, welcome the use of BSL in the chamber today.
When I first thought about writing this speech, I thought about my wheelchair-bound brother, who has travelled extensively since being confined to a wheelchair. He has been to Canada, America and New Zealand, yet when he wanted to do a coach tour of the Scottish Highlands, he was told by the tour company that he could not, because private coaches in Scotland do not have to provide access for people with disabilities until—I believe—2020. He was offered a coach tour in England, because coaches there do provide for the disabled. I sincerely hope that my brother is still fit and able enough to go on his coach tour of the Highlands in six years’ time.
I ask the minister whether this Government has any plans to bring forward legislation on the matter, because it is vital that we ensure that, where possible, our tourism attractions and destinations in Scotland are easily accessible and have the required facilities and that all hospitality and tourism industry staff have adequate training on accessibility.
“VisitScotland Accessible Tourism Involvement Events: Report of Findings”, which was published in December 2011 by Capability Scotland, highlighted numerous barriers to disabled people. They included physical access problems and a lack of information, and the most highlighted problem was with staff attitude and customer service. On physical access, I wish to speak about the specific aspect of access to toilet facilities. The Capability Scotland report quotes a participant who stated:
“It’s no good the restaurant, bar or tourist attraction being accessible if they don’t provide an accessible toilet.”
The changing places website lists 99 fully accessible public toilets in Scotland. They are toilets that have space for two carers to support the person, a changing bench and a tracking hoist. Although the number is up from 57 when the report was produced, Scotland still pales in comparison with the rest of the UK, which has 565.
It would be beneficial if better guidance could be produced on people’s expectations of accessible toilets, and I wonder whether VisitScotland will consider installing them in larger visitor centres. It would also be helpful if better guidance was made available on what constitutes an accessible toilet.
My second point is that there is still a huge gap in the availability of information across Scotland. For example, before making my speech today, I looked on the CalMac Ferries website for accessibility information about the Arran and Cumbrae ferries. The information was difficult to find and, when I did find it, there was little of it, perhaps, as Rob Gibson said, because not much is available for disabled people. All that I could really find out was that disabled toilets are available on some of the larger ships.
It is just not acceptable that, if a disabled person manages to find suitable accommodation such as a hotel or a self-catering cottage—we heard about accommodation earlier—they then find that they are trapped there because there are no accessible facilities in the surrounding area, or there is no suitable transport to get them there in the first place. Disabled people should not have to go hunting for that information. Clear and concise information should be easily accessible so that everyone knows exactly what kind of facilities, conditions and access they can expect before they travel. That is all the more important given that such information is crucial to people’s ability to make an informed choice, and as our islands and our economy are so reliant on tourism.
Of course, that does not apply only to CalMac. No matter what the organisation is, and be it public or private, the onus should be on it to ensure that information can be easily found. It should be provided in a range of formats, and staff should have proper training so that they can deal with questions about access and which alternative formats information is available in.
It would also be helpful if people with disabilities were involved in access audits of accommodation and tourist attractions. That would facilitate the provision of better information.
On staff attitude and customer service, it seems that issues arise when staff lack understanding of certain conditions. The best way to provide support for them is through training, which is essential if we are to improve in this regard.
In advance of the Commonwealth games it was great to see VisitScotland launching a website to provide Scotland’s hospitality industry with the knowledge needed to cater for the requirements of people with access needs, including those with physical, sensory or learning disabilities, elderly visitors and parents with small children. It was an excellent example. Accessibility information was easy to find for all venues and all organisations were linked up to provide the best support possible to those with access needs.
I welcome the fact that the e-learning accessible tourism course will also be used for the Ryder cup. Can the minister confirm whether the site will be rolled out across Scotland so that the whole industry can have the knowledge and confidence to cater for the requirements of people with accessibility needs?
We have made great strides in accessible tourism through the Commonwealth games. We must keep that momentum going. I would love to see the e-learning accessible tourism course used more widely and I would love to see all organisations in Scotland working together to provide up-to-date and easy-to-access information. If that happens, more people with disabilities will be able to enjoy a holiday in Scotland.