Action needed to improve lives of disabled people, says committee

Disabled people feel “abandoned by public bodies”, the convener of a Holyrood committee has said as a new report was published.

The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee took evidence on the Disability Commissioner (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour.

The legislation would create a post which would advocate on behalf of those with disabilities, but the committee refused to make a recommendation after the Finance and Public Administration Committee pushed for a moratorium on new commissioners.

But the panel did hear from a number of disabled people’s groups, with Glasgow Disability Alliance chief executive officer Tressa Burke telling MSPs members of her group were “desperate, given dehumanisation, deprioritisation and the lack of political leadership in allocating resources that would change disabled people’s lives”.

“We are left asking this question: if we do not have a disability commissioner, what are we going to do and who will do that work?” she added.

The committee’s convener Karen Adam said: “We heard upsetting evidence about the challenges experienced by disabled people and their advocates during this inquiry.

“Their feedback was clear – disabled people too often feel let down and abandoned by public bodies.

“While we have not made a recommendation on the Bill, we do believe that the Scottish Government must take strong and positive action to address the barriers that disabled people continue to face in realising their rights.

“It is crucial that disabled people and disabled people’s organisations, who frustratedly told us that any trust they had in the current system has been lost, are able to play an active role in the development of the policies and approaches that are required to overcome these barriers.”

Equalities minster Kaukab Stewart said: “We are determined to do everything we can to address the challenges faced by disabled people.

“That is why the Scottish budget has prioritised action to address these challenges – investing an additional £2 million into the disability equality plan.

“I am grateful to the committee for their work on this important issue and I will carefully consider the report.”