Hansard

I thank the Equal Opportunities Committee for the fantastic job that it has done in the past two and a half years in its disability inquiry. I commend the thorough approach that was taken, particularly the engagement with disabled people throughout the country to ensure that the findings were properly informed by and correctly reflect disabled people's views and experiences. I am delighted to have the opportunity to explore the issues in the debate. I will deal with essential general issues in my opening speech and with specific policy areas later on. A full response to the committee's report will be available in the new year.

The committee's focus is on removing barriers and creating opportunities for disabled people. I acknowledge that we still need to do significant work on that, but it is important to recognise that the Scottish Executive, which has a long-standing commitment to disability equality, has an appetite for and a commitment to the agenda. We believe that disabled people should have the opportunity and choice to play an active part in Scottish society, to improve their quality of life and to be respected and included as equal members. These are essential ingredients in achieving a just and inclusive Scotland and in forging a successful, civilised and fair society in which we all feel proud to live.

To achieve that, we all need to make changes in the way we work and become more responsive to disabled people's needs. The public sector has a major role to play in securing improvements in the lives of disabled people, whether that is done through delivering services, shaping the nation's infrastructure or protecting and providing for our citizens. In particular, the new public sector duty to promote disability equality, which came into force on 5 December, will help the public sector to deliver the changes that are needed to improve people's lives.

The Scottish Executive also has a key role in ensuring that the frameworks that we create help to deliver disability equality and that the policies that we develop take account of disabled people's needs and experiences. Since 2000, we have been pushing forward activities to embed equality, including disability equality, into all our activities. We established an equality unit, which has been working to encourage all departments to think about equality issues in the development of their policies and programmes and to ensure that the systems of the Executive are geared to supporting staff in this. That mainstreaming approach, where disability equality is integrated into the everyday work of the organisation, has allowed us to make significant progress on disability equality through a number of routes, including legislation introduced through the Scottish Parliament, such as the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004; improving data, information and research through initiatives such as the "Social Focus on Disability 2004"; increasing consultation and dialogue with equality groups through our support for Inclusion Scotland and the Scottish Disability Equality Forum; and raising awareness of equality through campaigns such as the see me campaign to tackle stigma and discrimination in relation to mental ill health.

However, there is more to do and this is an important moment for setting the agenda for the next phase of work. Not only do we have the introduction of the disability equality duty, we also have the committee's disability inquiry and the Executive's disability working group report.

The disability working group was established by the Scottish ministers at the end of 2004. The group determined its own remit, which was

"to establish priorities for the Scottish Executive and partner organisations to promote equality for disabled people in Scotland".

The group reported in November 2006, making 48 recommendations aimed at changing institutions, tackling attitudes and promoting participation. The final objective of all the recommendations is to achieve improvements in disabled people's lives so that they can participate in society as equal citizens. That does not just mean tackling issues in particular policy areas, because some barriers are strategically significant and cut across initiatives. Addressing those barriers has scope to make a particularly positive difference in wide-ranging ways. For example, independent living is about disabled people having the same choice and control in their lives that non-disabled people take for granted; accessible and inclusive communication is clearly essential to social inclusion and empowerment and is an integral part of day-to-day interactions and relationships; the promotion of full citizenship demands tackling negative public attitudes and ensuring access to public life in its widest sense; and we are keen to develop disability equality training.

The working group's recommendations include many on specific policy areas such as employment, education, health and community care. However, all are set in the context of the need to move towards full citizenship in which disabled people can access information and services and live independently. In the main, we have accepted its recommendations. We have also announced £1 million to make a start on delivering some of the key strategic changes that were called for by the working group.

I am pleased to see that the findings of the working group are consistent with those of the committee's inquiry, which also stress the importance of tackling the strategically significant barriers that prevent full participation. However, the committee's report goes further than the disability working group's report. It encompasses a much broader range of issues and makes detailed sets of recommendations across employment, further and higher education, transport, access to leisure, information, awareness raising and physical access.