Chamber and committees

Gregor Irwin, did you want to come in?

A couple of weeks ago, we had a round-table event where we had the opportunity to meet some young people with experience of using employability services. They were not very complimentary. I realise that that was a small snapshot, but nevertheless it was quite interesting to hear. Primarily, they were talking about schools and jobcentres. Do employability services in Scotland meet the needs of disabled people in accessing the labour market and staying in work? I ask Heather Fisken to come in on that.

Vikki Manson, do you have a comment to make on those questions? If you want me to repeat the questions, I will do so.

It was about whether we have any understanding of the unmet needs. You have answered the question about specific data gaps.

Angela Matthews, you nodded your head a lot while Chirsty McFadyen was speaking, so I will bring you in. It is clear that there is a lack of data on the individual needs of disabled people and on the different types of disabilities. How do you break down a condition such as autism, which has a huge spectrum? How do you decide which segments to push together to provide meaningful data?

I will take a slightly different angle. Maybe Chirsty McFadyen can respond first. There is always a problem with data. There is always a problem with getting information to back up whatever initiative is being considered. Is there enough understanding of the experience of disabled people in the labour market? Do we understand how much unmet need there is in the market? Are there any specific areas in which we lack data that would make a huge change to our understanding of where to put resources? I suppose that there are three questions in one, there.

Finally, Heather, do you want to comment on this?

Do you engage at all with high schools, for example, which are fairly important at helping disabled people and so on, and at pointing them in the right direction and signposting them as to where to go? There seems to be a bit of a deficit there.

On 6 February, HMIPS wrote to SPS noting that this was

“not the first time that HMIPS has raised serious concerns about the prisoner transport provision since its inception, but despite being repeatedly reassured that steps are being taken to address the issue ... the situation is not improving and ... ‘access to health’ standards are being routinely breached.”

Is she correct?

If you have been having continual consultations, up to and post-Covid, no surprises should have come down the line in terms of any deterioration in service, because the consultations presumably would have thrown that up.