CEQ002/2006 | 28 November 2006

After a two-year inquiry into the barriers to participation faced by disabled people, the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee today publishes its disability inquiry report.

View the report

The 340-page report entitled ‘Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities’ centres on the key issues of work, further and higher education and leisure. It also examines the barriers caused by inaccessible transport, poor physical access, limited information provision and the attitudes of people towards disabled people.

Convener of the committee, Cathy Peattie MSP, pictured, said:

"Over the course of the last two and a half years the committee has gathered extensive evidence about the barriers to participation faced by disabled people across the length and breadth of the country.

"We believe that these far-reaching recommendations for change listed in the report will result in real improvements in the lives of disabled people in Scotland and we challenge all organisations named in the report to raise their service provision to a level which ensures equal access to all disabled people.”

The unanimous report makes 156 wide-ranging, far-reaching recommendations, including:

• A new approach to employment support for disabled people;
• More information for employers to assist them in employing disabled people – and a need for them to make their recruitment methods more flexible;
• A fundamental review of careers guidance to young disabled people in schools to help them move more easily into higher or further education;
• A call for the Scottish Executive to develop a coherent and comprehensive transport strategy for disabled people – and to work with rail companies to improve accessibility at railway stations;
• A strategic and national approach to tackling negative attitudes towards disabled people, including disability equality training, high profile media campaigns and education for school children; and
• All equality training should include disability equality training devised by disabled people themselves

A key objective of the inquiry was to ensure that disabled people were involved at all stages. The committee held eight consultation events across Scotland, from Kirkwall to Ayr, with the aim of hearing at first hand the views of disabled people, service providers, employers and other key stakeholders.

The committee then consulted disabled people on the draft recommendations before publishing the final report today.

The report will be the most accessible report published by the Parliament. As well as being published in larger size 14 font, alternative formats of the summary of recommendations will also be available in Easy Read, Braille and British Sign Language DVD.

For more information on the disability inquiry and to download a copy of the report, go to:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/equal/inquiries/disability/disability-home.htm

Background

The Equal Opportunities Committee agreed the approach for its inquiry at its meeting on 1 June 2004. Members agreed that they would identify the issues that create barriers to the participation of disabled people, in particular in relation to accessing work, further and higher education and leisure.

The committee also agreed to examine how situations might be changed in order to open up opportunities to disabled people by hearing from a range of groups, individuals and organisations.

Members held eight consultation events across Scotland, in Edinburgh, Melrose, Glasgow, Ayr, Stirling, Thurso, Dundee and Kirkwall . In addition, the committee held 13 visits with individual organisations. These consultation events and visits allowed the Committee to speak to disabled people directly.

In April 2005, the committee issued a call for written evidence which closed on 22 July 2005. The committee heard oral evidence at 17 meetings from November 2005 to June 2006. The committee then consulted disabled people who had been involved in the inquiry on the draft recommendations between June and September 2006.

The committee sent a delegation on a fact-finding visit to Oslo in February 2006 to look at the Norwegian experience of supported employment.

For further information the media contact is:

Richard Holligan: 0131 348 5605
E-mail: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk

Equal Opportunities Committee contact information

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0845 270 0152 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk