A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People

Posted by Allan Wilson on the 5th December, 2016

The Scottish Government has published A Fairer Scotland For Disabled People as a Delivery Plan to 2021 for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document outlines five main ambitions of the Scottish Government for changing the lives of disabled people in Scotland and ensuring that their human rights are realised:

1. Support Services that meet disabled people's needs;
2. Decent incomes and fairer working lives;
3. Places that are accessible for all;
4. Protected rights;
5. Active participation.

The plan sets out 93 actions which will be taken forward during the current parliamentary term, and includes halving the employment gap for disabled people; setting a target to increase the percentage of disabled people in the public sector workforce; and increasing supply of wheelchair accessible housing.

Action Point 89 is particularly relevant to the work of CALL Scotland, and to the lives of people with communication difficulties:

"We will actively promote a new Inclusive Communication hub across the public sector in early 2017, providing advice and practical assistance. We are also taking forward a programme of work on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), which is focused on the provision of communication equipment and support."

The plan doesn't outline any new initiatives or legislation, but brings together various policies and aspirations that have been put forward by the Scottish Government and which are intended to be implemented over the next five years.