CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION TO DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME ANNUAL REPORT 2008
Background
1.1 The Scottish Government's stated purpose is to focus the Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. The Scottish Government's Economic Strategy is geared to delivering the Government's purpose. A key element of the Government Economic Strategy is equity, including ensuring that there are opportunities for all to contribute to Scotland's sustainable economic growth.
1.2 Scottish Government's stated purpose will be achieved through 5 strategic objectives and a suite of national outcomes. Progress on outcomes will be measured through national indicators and targets. A key national outcome is that "we have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society."
1.3 The Scottish Government and local government share this ambition for an outcome based approach to the planning and delivery of public services in Scotland. That ambition is expressed in the Concordat agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA in November 2007 which underpins the move to Single Outcome Agreements ( SOA). Having full regard to issues around equality is a key element in the delivery of an SOA.
1.4 Equality legislation has developed significantly over the last forty years and has been extended in the last seven years to create a more proactive approach to addressing prejudice and discrimination through the public sector equality duties. These duties apply across the public sector and provide a framework to assist public bodies to take account of equality.
1.5 There are three public sector equality duties for race, disability and gender. They place a duty on public authorities to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and promote equality of opportunity. These positive duties aim to ensure that public policies, practices and services take into account the different needs of ethnic communities, disabled people and women and men in their development and delivery and make real improvements to people's lives.
Disability equality duty
1.6 The Duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people was introduced under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, and requires all public bodies to have 'due regard' to:
1)The need to promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people;
2) The need to eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the DDA;
3)The need to eliminate disability related harassment;
4) The need to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people;
5) The need to encourage participation by disabled people in public life; and
6) The need to take steps to meet disabled peoples needs, even if this requires more favourable treatment.
1.7 In addition, Scottish Ministers placed specific duties on listed public authorities through the Disability Discrimination (Public Authorities) (Statutory Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2005, and 2006. These specific duties require listed bodies, including the Scottish Government, to publish a disability equality scheme and to report annually. This document is the Scottish Government's 2008 annual report.
1.8 Further information and advice about the disability equality duty, including the statutory code of practice, is available from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the enforcement body for the public sector equality duties.
Scottish Government disability equality scheme
1.9 The Scottish Government's published a revised disability equality scheme on 24 May 2008. It sets out the Scottish Government's commitment to progressing disability equality, and the steps that will be taken across Government to implement the disability equality duty over 2008-2011.
1.10 The development of the scheme was led by the Scottish Government Equality Unit and supported by our Equality Scheme Implementation Group ( ESIG). It was also informed by ongoing work with disabled people and organisations and the involvement of disabled people through a series of events in March 2008. Further details about our approach to disability equality and the development of our disability equality scheme are set out in the first three chapters of the scheme, which is available on the Scottish Government's website at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/05/DES2008
1.11 As part of our disability equality duties we are required to publish an annual report containing a summary of the steps we have taken to implement the actions in our scheme, and the outcome of information gathering.
Structure of the annual report
1.12 This report provides an overview of the actions that have been taken by the Government over the last 6 months, since publication of our revised scheme in May 2008. It contains 5 chapters, structured as follows:
- chapter 1 (this chapter) provides the background, context and approach to our disability equality scheme annual report.
- chapter 2 reports on headline policies across Government which are delivering progress on disability equality
- chapter 3 reports on the progress being made through processes, including impact assessment
- chapter 4 reports on progress across our HR functions
- chapter 5 summarises progress made in relation to gathering information
- appendix 1 provides data on a range of measures of progress on disability equality.
Coverage of the Scottish Government's disability equality scheme and annual report
1.13 The work of the Scottish Government is carried out by Directorates and agencies. The Scottish Government's disability equality scheme covers all Scottish Government Directorates and agencies (other than those listed at paragraph 1.15).
1.14 Agencies are established by Ministers as part of the Scottish Government to carry out a discrete area of work. Current Scottish Government agencies are:
1.15 The National Archives of Scotland and the Registers of Scotland are Scottish Government agencies which also have the duty placed on them directly and must produce their own scheme. The Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Courts Service are Scottish Government agencies that have chosen to publish their own associate schemes rather than be included within the Government's document. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will produce its own annual report.