Chamber and committees

The National Autistic Society run employment projects (Prospects and Into Work) to give adults with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) the opportunity to succeed in employment.

The Scottish Government provided funding for the setting up of one-stop-shops in Glasgow and Lothian for adults with high functioning autism or Asperger''s syndrome. These pilot projects have been very successful and we are now encouraging other local authority areas to develop similar advice centres. The one-stop-shops support people in a number of ways including building skills and giving advice and support on getting into employment.

Autism initiatives has been funded to co-ordinate an approach to the development of social firms specifically for people with autism spectrum disorders in Scotland. This will help them into real jobs compatible with their unique skills and support needs.

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with COSLA on the development of a Framework for Supported Employment. The framework is being developed to look at how we assist more disabled people, including those with ASDs into the open labour market.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of carer assessments in identifying carers'' needs for support and as a gateway to accessing this support. As the member will be aware, under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, regular and substantial carers have the right to an assessment of their ability to care, independent from any assessment of the person they are caring for. However, I am aware that at present uptake of these assessments across authorities is low.

To improve this, the Scottish Government, working with partners, has developed new National Minimum Information Standards for carer''s assessments as part of the National Outcomes Framework for Community Care. These standards should support the delivery of uniform carers assessments across local authorities. These standards focus on securing positive outcomes for carers.

Furthermore, the User Defined Service Evaluation Toolkit (UDSET) and Carer Defined Service Evaluation Toolkit (CDSET) enable staff working in health and social care to capture valuable data for planning and improving services that are personalised and appropriate to individual users and carers, respectively.

The tools described above are in the process of being adopted by partners around Scotland, and development continues in response to feedback. Early indications are that their use contributes positively to achieving good outcomes for individuals.

The Scottish Government is committed to making its information available to all, including disabled people. We take our duties under the Disability Discrimination Act seriously, and expect other organisations to do so too.

Both the Scottish Government website (www.scotland.gov.uk) and Intranet (Saltire) aim to ensure all content meets a minimum web accessibility initiative AA rating. All official publications are made available online in both html and pdf format. In addition www.scotland.gov.uk uses Dexerit text to speech software for official publications and news releases.

We will supply Scottish Government published documents in alternative formats where appropriate or on request to increase public accessibility. These will include other languages, audio, Braille and large type formats and will include availability in electronic as well as printed formats.

We currently have no plans to review this provision.

There are no targets for self-directed support. The National Performance Framework describes the national outcomes, targets and indicators agreed with COSLA.

The Scottish Government currently collects annual statistics from Scottish local authorities on the number of people in receipt of direct payments. The term direct payments is largely historical and focused on a system of delivery of social care rather than outcomes for individuals.

There is a range of both institutional and individual financial support packages available to students studying within Scotland depending on whether the student is on a further or higher education course.

Colleges receive block grants for teaching which are not split into funding for specific courses or assistance. In 2008-09, the main teaching allocation totalled £392 million. In addition to funding for teaching the courses, colleges receive funds to support their students. This includes a bursary allocation which can be used to meet the additional support needs of students to assist them accessing and participating in college. This part of the bursary allowance is called the Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance and is not subject to a means test. These funds can be used by the student (or on the student''s behalf) to fund a personal learning assistant or to pay for assistive technology. In 2008-09, the bursary allocation totalled £58 million.

The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is an non income assessed allowance intended to cover the extra costs or expenses a student may have while undertaking a higher education course which arises because of their disability. In 2007-08, 3,625 students were in receipt of DSA payments totalling £8.1 million. This is an increase of 7.1% in terms of numbers and 6.7% in terms of amounts paid out since 2006-07. As part of the DSA, students can receive support from a non-medical personal helper (NMPH), for example a dyslexia specialist support worker. From academic year, 2008-09, eligible students that require the assistance of a NMPH will benefit from an increased allowance of up to £20,000.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the personalisation agenda, including the most radical aspect of personalisation, self-directed support.

Personalisation of services has been a component of public sector reform and is a key aspiration of the Changing Lives review of social work services. Personalisation is a theme that features in all the work being done by the five change programmes and the products to be produced by those groups over the next six months or so. This includes a supported self-evaluation guide being developed with SWIA and local authorities as well as a training toolkit being developed to support the notion of citizen leadership described by the Changing Lives User and Carer Forum.

In terms of self-directed support, a reference group is currently considering a draft strategy to radically increase the uptake of self-directed support in Scotland. A key part of this strategy will be running test sites in three local authorities to consider how well specific interventions improve uptake. This work builds on research conducted in June 2008 which demonstrated the flexibility, choice, control and independence that self-directed support is able to offer individuals. The Scottish Government will consider further guidance, explicit target setting or legislation if they prove necessary in the longer term.

Local authorities'' funding has already been agreed as part of the concordat. Following agreement with COSLA, the Scottish Government will also be funding three test sites to consider how to improve the uptake of self-directed support by building on existing local authority infrastructure.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland. CSO does not therefore, have any specific plans for further investment in research into learning difficulties but would welcome research proposals into this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland. The CSO does not therefore have any specific plans for further investment in research on these conditions but would welcome research proposals in these areas which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.