MSP Briefing
Briefing for Scottish Parliament debate on Finance Committee Report,
Draft Budget 2014-15; Thursday 19th December 2013
1,
Introduction
1.1 This briefing has been produced by Inclusion Scotland, with input from the Independent
Living in Scotland project (ILiS) and other national Disabled Peoples Organisations
(DPOs).
1.2 Inclusion Scotland (IS) is a network of disabled peoples' organisations and individual
disabled people. Our main aim is to draw attention to the physical, social, economic,
cultural and attitudinal barriers that affect disabled people’s everyday lives and to
encourage a wider understanding of those issues throughout Scotland. Inclusion
Scotland is part of the disabled people’s Independent Living Movement.
1.3
2
The Independent Living in Scotland project (ILiS) aims to support disabled people in
Scotland to have their voices heard and to build the disabled people’s Independent
Living Movement. It is funded by the Scottish Government Equality Unit to make the
strategic interventions that will help to make independent living the reality for disabled
people in Scotland and hosted by Inclusion Scotland.
DPO Involvement in 204/15 Draft Budget Scrutiny
2.1 Inclusion Scotland and ILIS were pleased to jointly give written Evidence to the Finance
Committee1. We also gave written evidence to the Equal Opportunities Committee2 3;
and to participate, along with representatives of other national DPOs, in the panel
session with the Equal Opportunities Committee4.
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Equal Opportunities Committee Report5
3.1 Inclusion Scotland were pleased that the Equal Opportunities Committee chose to
focus its scrutiny of the draft budget 2014-15 on the impact on disabled people. We
welcome the Committee’s report to the Finance Committee which raises a number of
important issues, and we hope that MSPs will take time to read the Committee’s report
in full.
3.2 In particular we welcome many of the Equal Opportunities Committee’s conclusions
which echo many of the concerns raised by Inclusion Scotland and the other national
Disabled Peoples Organisations on behalf of the disabled people we represent,
including:
1
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_FinanceCommittee/Joint_response_from_ILiS_and_Inclusion_Scotland_web.pdf
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_EqualOpportunitiesCommittee/Inclusion_Scotland.pdf
3
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_EqualOpportunitiesCommittee/Independent_Living_in_Scotland.pdf
4
Equal Opportunities Committee, 10th October 2013, Official Report
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=8560&mode=html
5
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/70876.aspx
2
 Human Rights:
Human rights, as well as equality, should be integral to the budget process and
involving disabled people in the budget planning process. (Paragraph 14)
 Third Sector support and advocacy
Acknowledgment of the third sector’s role in providing support and services, but its
funding streams are not immediately evident in the Draft Budget (paragraph 24)
 Local Authority funding and charging for care
The evidence we received set out a clear view that the funding currently being
provided through the public sector is insufficient to meet the needs of many disabled
people (paragraph 37).
There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that care charging is impacting unfairly
on disabled people and there is a great deal of variation in how they are being
applied across the country. This means that many disabled people are not able to
easily move from one location to the other, either for work or for social reasons
(paragraph 39-40).
In summary, on issues of funding for care and support, we ask that the Scottish
Government, CoSLA and private providers of social care form an
independently chaired review group, involving stakeholders, to address the
long-term problems of care and support, and report back on progress (paragraph
74).
 Self-directed Support
Concern that the roll-out of Self-directed support at a time of austerity, spending cuts
and efficiency savings has meant that, in some cases, it is perceived by some
disabled people as being used as a way of achieving reductions in budgets
(paragraph 60)
 Independent Living Fund
ILF is vital for many disabled people both in terms of meeting their care needs and
enabling them to be active members of their communities but there do not seem to
be any policies in place to meet the needs of those who have become eligible
subsequent to the closure of the scheme (pargraph 72)
 Welfare Reform:
We also ask the Cabinet Secretary to respond on the concerns raised around
discretionary housing payments and the disability living allowance (paragraph 86).
 Modern Apprenticeships
We recommend that the Scottish Government investigates further why the Modern
Apprenticeship Programme performs poorly for disabled people and other protected
groups, and puts in place future spending plans that will promote equality of
outcomes in respect to the promotion of, the recruitment to, and the performance of
Modern Apprenticeships (paragraph 100).
 Access to education, training and employment
Whilst the budget is clear in its commitment to the promotion of equality, we ask the
Scottish Government to identify specific funding streams aimed at tackling the
inequality experienced by disabled people in accessing training and employment,
and policies aimed at mitigating their exclusion from the mainstream (paragraph 101)
 Rural areas:
There is evidence to suggest that disabled people in rural communities experience
even greater inequality in accessing health and social care than their peers in more
urban environments (paragraph 108)
 Transport:
It is clear that improved access to transport services would have a dramatic effect on
disabled people‘s ability to live and work independently (paragraph 114)
 Children with Disabilities
We invite the Scottish Government to comment on the evidence that, although
budgets may not have been directly cut, local services are facing increased
expectations and demand leading to more pressure being placed on the families of
disabled children. (paragraph 128)
 Transition into adulthood
The issue of transition to adulthood for disabled young people is an area of major
concern for many people and one that is significantly impacting on opportunities for
disabled people (paragraph 134) We would also like the Scottish Government to
consider any additional measures which could be taken to help disabled young
people make a smoother transition to adult services (paragraph 135).
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Conclusion & Recommendations
4.1 Inclusion Scotland urges the Scottish Government to give serious consideration to the
conclusions on support for disabled people included in the Equal Opportunities
Committee report, and asks MSPs to raise these issues during the Finance Committee
Debate on Thursday.
4.2 In particular, we would like to hear how the Scottish Government plans to involve
disabled people in the budget process, as recommended by the Committee.
4.3 We would also like to hear what the Scottish Government’s views are on the
recommendation that the Scottish Government, CoSLA, private providers of social care
form an independently chaired review group, involving stakeholders, to address the
long-term problems of funding care and support, and in particular how the Scottish
Government will ensure that disabled people and their representative
organisations are fully and directly involved as key stakeholders in the review.
If you have any questions on this briefing, or for further information, contact:
Iain Smith; Policy & Engagement Officer
Inclusion Scotland
Edinburgh Office: 0131 555 6887; Glasgow Office: 0141 221 7589;
Email: iain@inclusionscotland.org Visit our website: www.inclusionscotland.org