Chamber and committees

The Parliament has a webpage dedicated to BSL and is currently working towards enhancing the use of BSL on the website.

This is being carried out through the web development project where accessibility issues are being fully considered. BSL users will be properly consulted to identify areas where BSL translation would be most effective on the Parliament''s website.

Further improvements are being made to accessing BSL videos by embedding these on the Parliament website using Flash, and by providing access via other channels such as the Parliament''s YouTube channel.

If the Member would like further information on the provision of BSL within the Parliament, the SPCB''s Equality Team is happy to arrange a meeting to discuss the various arrangements in place.

A contract was awarded to MPH Accessible Media on 26 March 2007 to translate parliamentary information into BSL. They have completed eight videos, since then, seven of which are on the Parliament website. The contractor is currently translating a further publication on engagement. 

The SPCB is committed to the provision of BSL in the Parliament. Routinely, the SPCB considers BSL for all new publications produced by the Parliament and has translated most of the public information leaflets into BSL. The new engagement publication for instance will be the next BSL video produced. BSL translations can also be provided for parliamentary business and public engagement on request.

Continuous efforts are made to enhance the accessibility of information in the Parliament including its website, publications and official documents which are regularly reviewed through the SPCB Disability Equality Scheme.

 

The abandonment procedure for Scottish secure tenancies is set out in sections 17 and 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. Section 19 of that act provides that a tenant whose house has been repossessed in accordance with that procedure has a right of appeal to the court within six months of the repossession. Under section 21 of the act, a joint tenant has the right of recourse to the court within eight weeks after the date the landlord serves the notice bringing the abandoned tenant''s interest to an end.

A Detective Superintendent from Strathclyde Police has been involved in this matter since July 2008. In early September, following discussions with the Area Procurator Fiscal for Argyll and Clyde, the police were asked to examine the medical records of all patients involved and further assess the circumstances before a police investigation could be instructed. In late September 2008, officers from Strathclyde Police met with representatives of Kent Constabulary who had been involved in the investigation a similar outbreak at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. The purpose of that meeting was to scope the extent of an investigation, access the specialist assistance and knowledge required to undertake such an investigation and to benefit from the experience gained by Kent officers.

The incident room was established at Dumbarton Police Office on 20 November 2008, following consultation with the Area Procurator Fiscal and after appropriate preparatory work had been scoped by senior detective officers.

The Scottish Executive and the NHS in Scotland have a legal duty to undertake equality impact assessments of their existing and proposed policies and procedures under the race, disability and gender legislation to ensure fair and equal access. This requirement extends to ensuring health campaigns are inclusive of and accessible to disabled people.

A range of central resources and support, including an Equality Impact Assessment Toolkit has been provided. National guidance entitled Achieving Fair Access, published in July 2007, provides advice to the NHS in Scotland on removing barriers disabled people face in accessing health services and this includes advice on appropriate and accessible communication.

A new Equalities and Planning Directorate was established on 1 April 2008 within NHS Health Scotland to provide support for the NHS in Scotland and will build on the work already undertaken under the Fair for All framework.

NHS24 is currently developing a National Health Information and Support Service for Scotland, bringing together quality assured information from across the NHS and the voluntary sector and making this information accessible through telephone helpline, high street facilities and the web. This information will be developed in a range of formats to ensure it is accessible and appropriate for disabled people.

The administration of elections in Scotland, including the provision of polling stations, is the responsibility of the individual Returning Officer within each local authority area. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, places a duty on all public authorities to promote equality and eliminate discrimination against those with disabilities while exercising their functions. Returning Officers should have regard to their duties under this legislation when considering access to the democratic process.

The member received written replies from Scottish Government officials, dated 14 July and 11 November 2008 outlining the reasons for refusing to provide the information requested. The member was advised in S3W-15495 to follow the standard procedures as set out in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. If the member is dissatisfied with the government''s responses to her requests for a review, the next step in those procedures is to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 places duties on education authorities to ensure that the additional support needs of all children and young people are addressed and that they have access to the same range of learning opportunities as other pupils. Education authorities are required to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all pupils and to tailor provision to meet their individual needs.

It is for education authorities to ensure that they have in place a range of suitably qualified staff with the appropriate knowledge, skills and understanding to undertake the teaching required of them and fully support the needs of all pupils with additional support needs.

Through the continuing professional development (CPD) framework, the Scottish Government fully expects all teachers to be able to recognise and know how to support pupils with additional support needs. Teachers should know where to go for specialist advice and support with regard to the educational provision for pupils to ensure that the appropriate assessments, interventions and strategies can be put in place. A national CPD team is also in place to support a network of local authority CPD co-ordinators to help share best practice. The team has particular expertise in additional support needs.

In addition, we are supporting the Scottish Teacher Education Committee (STEC) Action Plan “ Framework for Inclusion, a two year action plan to take forward inclusive education in initial teacher education and continuous professional development.

We will also soon publish The Autism Toolbox, an autism resource for Scottish local authorities and schools. This will draw on a range of practice experience, literature and research to support education authorities and school staff develop innovative and individualised approaches to teaching pupils with autism.

The Scottish Government has taken a number of steps to ensure that accessible curriculum material is available for those with additional support needs.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is responsible for determining the entitlement of all individuals to national qualifications. SQA provides a range of advice to enable centres, pupils and their families to gain an understanding of the alternative or accessible formats that can be made available to those taking National Qualifications examinations. These alternative formats include the provision of question papers in braille, large print and digital media. Centres, pupils and their families can obtain information about alternative formats available through SQA''s website or by telephoning their customer contact centre.

The Scottish Government funds the CALL Centre (Communication Aids for Language and Learning), University of Edinburgh, which provides specialist advice, expertise and training in technology for those working with children who have speech, communication and/or writing difficulties in schools across Scotland. CALL were funded to organise a national symposium in Edinburgh in March 2008 where key stakeholders considered how digital versions of curriculum resources can be created and accessed by pupils with additional support needs.

CALL are currently working with Learning and Teaching Scotland to produce an on line database of adapted curriculum materials. This is an output of work with the Copyright Licensing Agency to extend the schools copyright licence so that it covers not only pupils with visual impairments but those who are registered disabled. CALL has also been funded to produce a resource that enables pupils to listen to digital curriculum materials spoken out in a Scottish voice. The voice can be downloaded free of charge from the CALL website. It has also been recently agreed to fund CALL to develop an accessibility guide for textual resources and they have also been working to create and develop examination papers in accessible digital formats with SQA.

In partnership with Learning and Teaching Scotland, we have made available to all schools a web-based catalogue of adapted curriculum materials.