Chamber and committees

Pauline, have you carried out any analysis of the impact of shielding on disabled people’s ability to continue to work during the pandemic? What support has been provided by employers to enable that to happen?

It was. Thank you.

I have other questions, convener, but not on this theme.

I will stick with employment for my first question, if that is okay, and then I have a question on social security.

You have highlighted some of the significant barriers to employment that disabled women experience in general. What specifically do we need to do as a result of what we have seen during the pandemic and the rolling back of rights that it caused? Can you also talk a little bit about the inclusion of disabled people and unpaid carers in the Government’s main initiatives on employment, such as the no one left behind approach, the parental employability fund, green jobs, the women in business centre and modern apprenticeships, and about what it would need in order for those initiatives to take account of disabled people’s needs?

I thank the witnesses for the evidence that they gave us in advance and for joining us today. On international women’s day, it is particularly special that we are taking evidence on disabled women because, in order to break the bias for women in general, we have to look at us in all our glorious shapes and sizes. I am delighted to be joined by all the witnesses.

I point members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I was an employee of Inclusion Scotland from 2009 to 2015.

I would also like to take a moment to remember Susan McKinstery. I thank Pauline Nolan for reading out a quote from Susan, who was an absolute powerhouse of the disability movement and a woman who shall be sorely missed.

The evidence that you have already given this morning has been moving and stark. I have a couple of questions. My first question is for Pauline Nolan—it is lovely to see you again, Pauline. I want to ask about the “Rights at Risk” report and the fact that you have highlighted that many disabled people’s human rights were breached and that we could be seeing a regression in disabled women’s rights. Will you tell us a bit about what you think needs to be done to address that?

In that context, will you set out your aspirations for the new disability equality plan? What is the scale of the challenge and what do we need to do to improve circumstances and reverse regression?

Thank you. Convener, may I ask two further questions?

I want to ask about the care-dependency relationship, but Pauline Nolan has just outlined the situation, so I do not need to ask my question because it has already been covered.

I am keen to understand the financial impact of the pandemic, particularly on disabled women but also on unpaid carers. In her opening remarks, Jenny Miller made a point about families being expected to pick things up and someone being told, “You’re their mum—you should just do it.” I recall, and I thought that it would be nice to put it on the record, that when I finally got the social care and support that I needed, my mum said—I remember this very specifically—“I can now be your mum and not your carer.” I was 18, incidentally, so she had done that for 18 years. It is very important that we do not make assumptions about unpaid care.

Will you both say a little about the financial impact of the pandemic and how helpful the support that was put in place, such as the doubling of the carers allowance supplement, has been?

Thank you for that information, Dr Scott. It is grim, but I appreciate you sharing it with us.

This question is possibly for Eilidh Dickson. You note that the way in which social security is designed is often one of the reasons for women’s inequality persisting. What do we need to look out for in relation to devolved benefits in Scotland? More specifically, is there anything that we need to do differently so that we do not replicate the existing problems?

Good morning to the panel members, and thank you for the written submissions that you have sent in. I also put on record my thanks for the work that you have done in all the years that you have been doing it, but in particular for your work during the pandemic. It has been a particularly hard time, especially for women and for your organisations, so I thank you for that.

First, I am keen to talk about the impact of the pandemic. Zero Tolerance’s written submission highlights that

“the failure to address equality and human rights in the terms of reference for the Covid Inquiry indicates that we have some way to go in the mainstreaming of equality and human rights.”

I ask Laura Tomson, Eilidh Dickson and Marsha Scott to tell us a bit about the effects of the pandemic on women, particularly in relation to domestic abuse? Are the fears about the effect of lockdown on violence against women and girls being realised? What can we do to improve the work of the inquiry in that regard?

I asked about the realisation of the fears, at the early stages of the pandemic and throughout it, that lockdown would have a significant impact on violence against women and the violence that they experience.